When you use web-based business applications, what is the single factor you appreciate the most?
I would appreciate to-the-point answers, like "Speed" or "Less no. of postbacks" or "Lots of tooltips/help links" etc. However, your comments are definitely invaluable and could not understate their importance by any means. So feel free to give a one-word reply and then expand it.
Intention : Being a business application developer, my sole parameter for success is "Quality as perceived by the end-user". Want to increase that score.
Good Answers (10)
Fred H.
Executive in Residence, Engineering School at California State University, Los Angeles
Best Answers in: Internet Marketing (7), Planning (5), Small Business (3), Staffing and Recruiting (2), Advertising (2), Change Management (2), Software Development (2), Job Search (1), Personnel Policies (1), Internationalization and Localization (1), Viral Marketing (1), Business Development (1), Organizational Development (1), Branding (1), Market Research and Definition (1), Starting Up (1), Blogging (1), E-Commerce (1), Enterprise Software (1), Information Storage (1), Using LinkedIn (1)
Sorry for the wordiness, but I love talking to developers.
1) Gets the job done faster, easier, 24/7 availability, remote capability
2) Help really works and does not send you to FAQ. I have NEVER found an FAQ that met my needs. Why that is done is amazing to me.
3) Chat help is incredible. I don't care if it is outsourced to the Congo as long as the person helps me and it is available 24/7
4) Mobile capability, over 40 percent of IBM Global services employees work from their home office small office or mobile locations. This trend is accelerating globaly.
5) Reliability and work is not lost due to a system glitch. An example of "cave man" designs is the clarification tool on linkedin. It crashes and gives a 1970 type meaningless insulting error report and the work is lost. Remember the now famos windows error message. " a fatal error has occured" WTF does that mean.
6) Intuitive usability, I can not say too much about user testing for usability. When at IBM we spent a lot of time on the system we were developing for our client on this. We created a user group who we tested. One such group were truckers. That was fun going to truck stops.
7) Downward compatability. MS and IBM are known for not providing this and forcing the user to upgrade making all the work done in the past unusable. This is bad marketing since the investment in this work far exceeds the cost of the upgrade.
8) How do you measure "Quality as perceived by the end-user". here is an example of IBM's Intranet ran by Mike Wing. They measure the soft stuff very well. A key question answered by the user population is the following. "What percentage of the time do you used the Intranet in your work to find out information versus co-workers and your supervisor" In 1994 they started measuring this the exact same way every year. They gained a lot of information in the survey and used the process of continous improvemnt. They then set a paremeter of succes. The paremeter was when 50% of the time the employee used the Intranet ot get the necessary information or help, they have achieved success. In 2000 they crossed 50% and started accelerating towards much higher numbers.
Once again I apologize for such a long answer but I am passionate about helping developers with rigid requirements documents, small budgets and tight time frames create software that is loved not loathed.
Roshan S.
Founder of 15+ Startups - Gloscon, Openkick, Reputa, Kosansh, Citiplots. Also a Technologist,Mentor, Investor & Speaker
Best Answers in: Web Development (4), Intellectual Property (1), E-Commerce (1)
Minimal Clicks to get to what I want and fast loading of page and small forms to fill if any.
Devesh D.
Management Consultant | Business Coach | Speaker | Mentor | Entrepreneur
Best Answers in: Using LinkedIn (42), Starting Up (20), Small Business (8), Business Plans (6), Staffing and Recruiting (4), Career Management (4), Web Development (4), Education and Schools (3), Certification and Licenses (3), Professional Networking (3), E-Commerce (3), Customer Service (2), Job Search (2), Government Policy (2), Internet Marketing (2), Business Development (2), Change Management (2), Professional Organizations (2), Franchising (2), Incorporation (2), Occupational Training (1), Event Marketing and Promotions (1), Accounting (1), Economics (1), Risk Management (1), Compensation and Benefits (1), Personnel Policies (1), Offshoring and Outsourcing (1), Property Law (1), Public Relations (1), Search Marketing (1), Currency Markets (1), Futures Markets (1), Inventory Management (1), Manufacturing (1), Packaging and Labeling (1), Market Research and Definition (1), Computers and Software (1), Computer Networking (1)
User friendliness: The application should be very user freindly and by that I mean easy to comprehend and apply/use as well. It should be a breeze and not a plop of technical junk. I love more advanced features and functionalities but if it comes at the cost of user friendliness, I won't buy that. - My two cents:)
Devesh
devesh.dwivedi@gmail.com
Alok J.
Product Manager/UX Manager @ Insight Methods
Best Answers in: Graphic Design (2), Market Research and Definition (2), Product Design (2), Interface Design (1), Small Business (1), E-Commerce (1), Web Development (1), Wireless (1)
Sayan,
If this is your sole prameter, I would suggest putting some time understand users and their needs.
The importance of any factor depends on users and context. For e.g. for a call center app used by young guys speed is important because their success parameter is dependent on number of calls they can handle. While in Internet banking feeling secure and having precise control/clarity is much more important than speed.
You could apply various techniques to find users' priorities, best would be to just go and observe them and talk to them.
Cheers
Alok Jain
Shane O.
Chief Technology Officer at Exchange Solutions Inc.
Best Answers in: Software Development (1)
Integration ... Software as a Service (SAS) companies that "get it" develop an API. Importing and exporting data is a necessity; however, an API allows the customer the ability to integrate the web based app with other applications for more flexible functionality, back end integrations and reporting.
From a software provider perspective, APIs can form the basis of a partnership and create stickiness. There is an investment from the client perspective to code to the API. To change vendors means new development cycles and hence a new investment so you'll have to really suck at what you do to make the client go through that pain. Clients will be more forgiving.
An API will also allow the client to develop functionality against your app that may be important to them, but off-strategy or a lower priority to the you.
Two cents. Hope this helps.
Shane.
I would extend upon Roshan's answer and say - Usability.
Usability has 2 parts - Intended & Perceived. Intended usability is quantitaive, can be measured by some of the factors that Roshan mentioned - e.g. no. of clicks it takes to go from one place in the application, to another. Perceived usability is subjective - It is how the user views the software as being user friendly.
I hope this helps.
- Vinod
A minimum number of click and postbacks by each action and a good balance of color.
Portability: it should really run the same way on any browser.
And speed, of course!
Sachin P.
Software Entrepreneur and Mobile Computing Expert
Best Answers in: Ethics (1), Software Development (1)
I appriciate simple interfaces much like google and straight-forward navigation so that its intuitive and visitor doesn't feel lost and confused.
In technical terms use of Web 2.0 technologies and Usability concepts play an important role.
Phuong Thao L.
business dev.,project/process management,...
Best Answers in: Telecommunications (4), Wireless (3), Organizational Development (1)
-fast loading
-good, structured overview about the possible tasks
-logical programm, step
-short, understandable name of variable/task
-well known structure (tabs, button, ...)
-not overloaded buttons or tasks in one page
-describtion of unknown task or word by setting maus over it
-click to follow to next logical following steps.......
.
More Answers (2)
Ed L.
IT and Web Professional
Best Answers in: Web Development (5), Occupational Training (1), Intellectual Property (1), Business Development (1), Blogging (1)
OK, I'll bite:
Results for the user--the app gets the job done better than if it didn't exist.
Alexander S.
Author of "Improving enterprise business process management systems"
Best Answers in: Quality Management and Standards (1), Enterprise Software (1)
I think, first, you have to define "Quality" in your sentence.
My favourite - flexibility of business applications.
My experience shows that the business people like when their separate requests for change are quickly implemented in existing systems/applications. These changes are typically small (from the point of view of the business) and unpredictable.
Thanks,
AS
