Lack of Enterprise Training Isn’t Your Problem – Usability Is

April 22, 2016

*Enterprise Training Session*

User: Once I get notified of a new PO, can I pull it up from my phone to review for approval?

Trainer: That’s a great question! You can access your pending queue from your corporate workstation. You go into your queue here *points to screen*, select the PO in question here *points at a different screen*, double click to open *points to newly opened screen*, scroll down to review and click “next” at the bottom of the screen *points* and then you’ll come to a screen where you can click this checkbox *points* to approve. Click next *points* again and you’ll be asked if you’re sure you want to approve. *chuckles* Click the “yes” button *points* and that will move the PO from your pending queue to the approved queue.

User: So the answer is no?

Trainer: *chuckles* It is for now, but we’ll see about incorporating that when it’s time to upgrade the system!

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If users come out of a training session like this confused, the first thought might be that more enterprise training is necessary.

But the answer is not more training; the answer is better usability.

Usability can greatly reduce, and in many cases eliminate, the need for enterprise training. Highly usable applications have an intuitive UI that makes learning frequent tasks quick and easy. And if there there is still a need for training, the focus is on the few more demanding processes, which greatly reduces the amount of information users have to remember.

It’s easy to put the onus on the users – expecting them to create workarounds to make their processes easier. But no amount of training will get to the heart of your real issue.

• Training won’t improve user satisfaction.
• Training won’t solve the problem of a poorly-designed UI.
• Training doesn’t help with inefficiencies.

And most note-worthy? Training is a perpetual expense. New hires and system upgrades make training a necessary evil in cumbersome systems. Those expenses will only continue to increase year over year, so why wouldn’t you reallocate that money towards usability, a one-time expense which could eliminate the need for training moving forward, increase productivity and improve user satisfaction?

See how Excellis Interactive’s experts in technology, UX and strategy can do just that through on device training and highly-intuitive enterprise applications. To request a copy of our case studies, follow us on LinkedIn and send an email to info@excelliscorp.com. Or plan to meet with us during SAPPHIRE NOW at Booth #884!