Enterprise Usability: The Olive Garden Principle

Dylan Wilbanks Director of UX, Integris Software

Grand Forks, North Dakota

Casual Dining

Marilyn Hagerty

The Olive Garden?

188

https://www.flickr.com/photos/71380981@N06/14745845753/

http://capitalspiceblog.com/food-travel/eleven-madison-park-michelin-quality-meals-in-manhattan-and-at-home/

https://callmeafoodlover.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/eleven-madison-park-radish-pike.jpg

Casual dining is an experience that’s consistent in story and appearance and taste, a chain of restaurants that will always be a little above the diner.

But it pales compared to the originality and complexity of high-class restaurants.

The Olive Garden only has to be marginally better than other local food options to be considered a destination.

Enterprise UX

Computer by Edward Boatman from the Noun ProjectSmartphone by Philip Glenn from the Noun Project

The Concur Expense Report Do-Si-Do

1. Start expense report on desktop

Computer by Edward Boatman from the Noun ProjectSmartphone by Philip Glenn from the Noun Project

The Concur Expense Report Do-Si-Do

1. Start expense report on desktop

2. Open phone, find expense report, attach image of receipt(s)

Computer by Edward Boatman from the Noun ProjectSmartphone by Philip Glenn from the Noun Project

The Concur Expense Report Do-Si-Do

1. Start expense report on desktop

2. Open phone, find expense report, attach image of receipt(s)

3. Put down phone, refresh desktop, find expense report, finish and submit

How could it be worth $8.3B?

Which button?

Concur is the Olive Garden of enterprise expense tracking software.

Concur is the Olive Garden of enterprise expense tracking software.

They only had to be marginally better designed than the homegrown competition to be considered the essential tool.

The Olive Garden Principle

If you are surrounded by low quality experiences, you only have to be marginally better designed than them to be different.

But when you are surrounded by high quality designed experiences, you will look terrible.

Why is it common in enterprise UX?

http://assets-jpcust.jwpsrv.com/thumbs/ISEX9RAs.jpg

Enterprise UX means designing systems that 1,000 people will use a million times

and 10,000 will use once.

Enterprise design is not about making the complex simple; it’s about making the

complicated understandable.

Experience Rot

Repeatability Consistency

Usability

Delight!

❤

😔

https://www.flickr.com/photos/hagoleshet/6880942515/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/hagoleshet/6880942515/

Lagniappe

Room of Requirement

When we focus on “make it pretty” we aren’t focusing on true delight.

How do we get to delight?

The Process The Work

Communication Collaboration

Process

https://www.flickr.com/photos/piratejohnny/4775460107/

Real Measurable

Iterative Adaptive

Have a process. Do not wing it.

The Work

https://www.flickr.com/photos/leedav/4815952246/

Don’t skip the work. It’s how you find the lagniappe.

Communication

Know Your Audience

Communicate design in a language they can understand.

Collaboration

https://www.flickr.com/photos/atmtx/4391588868/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/juhansonin/6904627876/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/juhansonin/12140602074/

Everyone participates

https://www.flickr.com/photos/atmtx/4391588868/

Make design real to create empathy: Real users

Real research Real results

Only by doing the work can we show leadership.

Yes, it’s a fight.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/stephaniehobson/4301934446/

1. Focus on People, Roles, and Goals(Know our users, know their post-it notes)

2. Delight with Discovery + Flow(“If only I had a… hey, there it is!”)

3. Execute and Improve Relentlessly(Crave feedback, ship so you can get it)

Design Practice Tenets

https://www.flickr.com/photos/dingatx/4115844000/

Concur is the Olive Garden of enterprise expense tracking software…

…but they’re doing something about it.

What are you going to do to help your enterprise organization move beyond just being “a little bit better?”

Be more than just marginally better.

Do the work to be extraordinary.

Thank you.Dylan Wilbanks

Twitter: @dylanw

https://medium.com/crooked-boxes-shaky-arrows/enterprise-ux-and-the-olive-garden