As mobile technology evolves, more companies than ever are looking to integrate its functionality into their CRM systems, leveraging its ability to facilitate employee teamwork from anywhere, at any time. As such, forums such as the Salesforce AppExchange, an online marketplace featuring enterprise and small business applications available for purchase and download, are gaining traction, as evidenced by AppExchange’s more than 2,700 available apps and more than three million installs.
Yet, while mobile apps can certainly help drive more effective and timely customer interactions, careful consideration must be given to their design to maximize user adoption. Gartner predicts that by 2018, 70 percent of mobile professionals will conduct their work on personal smart devices. Catering to this dynamic requires smartly designed apps that meet employee requirements for performance, because at the end of the day, even the most impressive app may be rendered useless if employees aren’t excited about it and skilled in its use.
While most customer-facing online designs, including websites, typically include considerations to ensure a compelling User Experience (UX), these features are now being applied in business work environments as well. In fact, Gartner Research predicts that by 2017, 40 percent of large enterprise IT organizations will apply UX designs to employee-facing applications. Key questions to ask when designing mobile apps to boost employee UX include:
Is it Effective?
Research shows that correcting an error following development is 100 times more expensive than fixing it beforehand. A valuable mobile app helps employees complete tasks more precisely, with fewer errors, leading to a more accurate overall work effort that ultimately saves the company money and increases brand loyalty.
Is it Efficient?
Employee job functions should be made easier, faster, and less manual with the deployment of a mobile app, leading to more a proficient and productive taskforce that can produce more timely customer service.
Is it Gratifying?
A mobile app should be an advantage, not a burden to employees, boosting overall morale and helping users become brand advocates, both inside and outside the office.
Trying to fit too many bells and whistles into an employee app can result in a cacophony that hinders use and lowers ROI. Experts note that users prefer apps that perform one to two functions at most. Maintaining a simple and straightforward approach, at least in the early stages of app development and deployment, can be beneficial to encourage use across departments, with room for additional features to be added later.
A happy and productive workforce is a company’s greatest asset, and the tools delivered to these users should be designed to maximize practicality, productivity, and now—portability, for an investment that will pay dividends long into the future.
To learn more about how partnering with our seasoned CRM consultants can deliver this functionality to your business, please contact any member of our consulting team at [email protected]. We also encourage you to contact Tokara’s VP of Business Development, Mark Fillingim, directly at +1 972-719-0213.
Sources:
Fransgaard, Robert, “Why You Should Champion a Better User Experience for Your Employee Apps,” Salesforce UK Blog, April 15, 2015, https://www.salesforce.com/uk/blog/2015/04/why-you-should-champion-a-better-user-experience-for-your-employ.html?d=70130000000i7MP.
“Get Started With Mobile – Start With Stupid Simple Apps,” Salesforce, UK Public Sector Team, February 3, 2015, https://www.salesforce.com/uk/blog/2015/02/get-started-with-mobile-start-with-simple-apps.html.
“Bring Your Own Device,” Gartner, Inc.
NOTE FROM THE PRESIDENT
