Things we often forget about UX in B2B context
B2B is a term that refers to a company which provides a product to other company. Since the target audience of the product is not individual customers but businesses, there will be some differences when designing for a B2B (business-to-business) product vs a B2C (business-to-consumer) one.
How is it different?
When you think about UX in B2B context, think about it as producing a commercial airplane vs a car. Both of them are designed to take people from point A to point B. However, there are obviously some differences in the design process. First, the scale of complexity of producing a commercial airplane is generally higher than a car. Moreover it also has longer manufacturing time, stricter testing and safety norms, and higher payment which leads to higher user expectation; which all impact the design process.
This design process is analogous with the development cycle of enterprise application. We can define an enterprise application as a computer software used to satisfy the needs of an organisation rather than individual user.
Unlike consumer application, most enterprise applications are more complex, component-based, and mission critical. Enterprise applications are all about the display, function, storage of large amounts of data, and the support with that data. With enterprise applications, we develop a product which goal is to help organisation and their employees do their work better.
However, there is something that we sometimes forget when we are designing an enterprise application:
Whether it is B2B or B2C…
It is absolutely the case that on the other side of the computer screen is indeed a person.
Yet, they are different.
B2C consumers can impulse buy in a way that B2B customers can’t, and because of that, they are looking at their possibilities in a completely different way.
Then, who is our B2B Customer?
Firstly, they are savvy and skeptical customer
There is a lot on the line for a business when they are going to potentially buy large quantities of another businesses product.
Secondly, they have to think about many things
They would at least consider some of these points:
-The quality of the product
-Whether or not the product is really going to serve the purpose it is intended to for their own business.
-How much support will they get once they receive the product.
-Is this business able to scale up in the number of units sold on short notice?
-Does this business have marketing materials that I can use to help promote My own end sales?
-Does this business have consumer viability?
-And will consumers recognise their brand name such that we can use it to our advantage?
Besides having to meet particular characteristic of our B2B Clients, we also will face typical challenges in developing an enterprise application.
The Challenges
1. Functional Complexity
What is the solution to complexity? Simplicity, of course. So, it is essential to invest time into design-thinking beforehand!
2. Designing for Employee Mindset
Users often so accustomed to their existing routine and they find it hard to imagine what they really want. So, instead of focusing on what users say they want, focus on what they actually do, and innovate from that point. Build lean prototypes and test them out with users.
3. Maintaining UX Consistency
Building Design-Systems for consistency is critical, which involves: guidelines (design principles, code conventions, and editorial guidelines), visual assets (Color palettes, typographic scales, icons, etc.), UI patterns (forms, button styles, page patterns), and pointers towards usage and maintenance.
In the end…
Designing a product is… full of paradox. We could dream about creating a really high-tech rocket at kickoff, but we neither have enough preparation nor resources to achieve the dream product. The result, as we can guess, is a semi-finished rocket that won’t sell anywhere.
And finally, when we already spent high number of costs for building the lame rocket, we barely realise that what users really need is a simple bicycle.
