Why Do Enterprise Solutions Tend Have Poor Design and UX?

When it comes to B2C products, the buyer and user are usually the same. However, the same cannot be said with respect to B2B products which enterprise software fits right in. In B2B products, the buyer and the user are different persons with varied goals. The buyer is essentially interested in high-level requirements, cost and ROI, while the user, in contrast, is simply interested in how well the product fits their fits their work process flow and its ease of use.

Enterprise software buyers — C-level executives and Senior managers are most likely going to reach a purchase decision based on price or brand or delivery time or a hybrid of multiple parameters, with little or no recourse to comprehensive user expectation and operational alignment. This explains why enterprise solution vendors deploy massive resources to get the attention of these highly placed buyers.

Unfortunately, this mismatch leads many enterprise solution companies to underinvest in product design and testing and improving the user experience. They believe success is more dependent upon sales and engineering as those are the things that most impact the acquisition of new customers. For them, the design is a luxury that serves the end-users who will be fully served only after some degree of commercial success. In my days as an enterprise solutions project manager, I have had to reconcile this buyer/user dilemma by executing a software license agreement with high-level functional specifications while at the same time executing a separate implementation agreement with more comprehensive business requirements documentation with the end users which ultimately leads to extensive enhancements or customizations.

A successful product shouldn’t be measured on the basis of sales and a functional block of codes alone. The product shouldn’t just appeal to the buyer alone, the end user should connect to the product value. The design should serve both the buyer and the user.

Enterprise solution providers must invest significantly in end-user research and UX improvement over the product lifecycle. This investment will significantly reinforce the product value proposition, increase the market share and offer new paths to more markets.