Usability in CRM

In CRM, user acceptance is a huge issue. End users, who are rarely the same people who choose applications in the first place, can be extraordinarily resourceful when it comes to undermining or working around new products or implementations introduced by manager. All this means that creating applications that are efficient and enjoyable to use is imperative for both ISVs and CRM implementers.

Picture the scene:

After months of debate you've chosen a CRM package. After weeks of work it is configured and installed across your call centre. Only one problem remains - nobody knows how to use it. And the solution is so impenetrable that perhaps nobody ever will - especially with staff turnover rates so high in this industry.

In CRM, user acceptance is a huge issue. End users, who are rarely the same people who choose applications in the first place, can be extraordinarily resourceful when it comes to undermining or working around new products or implementations introduced by manager. All this means that creating applications that are efficient and enjoyable to use is imperative for both ISVs and CRM implementers.

To illustrate the importance of usability in this context, it might be worth looking at the ways in which it is traditionally measured. Of course most of us understand the generalized concept of ease-of-use, but looking at the various elements that together establish a 'usable' application can give an insight into further issues affecting the usability of CRM products and implementations.

In the usability community, the following three criteria are commonly used to measure usability:

Effectiveness

Users have to be able to complete the tasks and jobs they wish to perform. Sounds obvious, but the implications are significant. Whilst your product may work perfectly well from a functional perspective, many users will have difficulty learning tasks, to the extent that much of the product's features will never be used.

CRM applications usually encapsulate extensive functionality and complex processes - an intuitive, helpful interface will help users find the functions and features they want, when they want them. Not only does this mean they get the best out of the application, it also saves on training - both formal and time wasted helping others wrestle with difficult applications.

Efficiency

Efficiency measures how quickly and easily any given task can be completed. It makes sense to ensure that common tasks in particular, that are performed repeatedly, can be completed as quickly as possible. Clearly if a given task takes less time, this leads to increases in productivity.

In CRM installations, which can often run to hundreds of users, even minor improvements in efficiency can have significant effects on productivity. If similar tasks are performed thousands of times a day in a call centre for example, shaving just seconds from each can save considerable amounts of time and money.

Satisfaction

If products are not enjoyable to use, there is a real risk that they will be rejected by the people who are intended to use them. This problem is particularly acute in the CRM market, where so many implementations fall prey to employees resistant to change or unwilling to adopt to new working practices.

Products that are a pleasure to use and provide day-one performance are far more likely to be positively welcomed. Meanwhile unpleasant, counter intuitive products tend to end up as white elephants, whilst users return to previous work practices.

Successful CRM

The benefits mentioned above all accrue to the end-user, or at least the organisation for which they work. Of course, in the medium term these benefits will translate into product loyalty and repeat business for the software manufacturer.

There are, however, other benefits whose impact may be felt more directly. For example, usable products that work 'out-of-the-box' will tend to perform well in demonstration and evaluation based sales processes. Either way, taking usability seriously is a win-win strategy for both suppliers and purchasers of CRM products.

Given the importance of a usability strategy, what is the best way to ensure that CRM products and implementations are easy-to-use for their target audience? A number of standard usability engineering techniques can help create products that succeed in the workplace:

User Requirement Gathering

CRM products are designed to simplify workflow and automate certain tasks. Take time at the beginning of the product design phase to fully understanding user needs and requirements in these areas. The end result should be a product that does not demand radical change from its users, but rather fits into the way they prefer to work. Requirement gathering will ideally take the form of studying users at work rather than simply asking them what features they would like to see in a product - 'wants' are often very different from 'needs'.

Interaction Design

The results of requirement gathering should be reflected in the way the product is engineered. In other words, functional specifications should be dictated by the processes, workflow and information that users will require. Once these have been modelled in an interaction design process, then implementation can follow. In this way technology will enable user-centric solutions rather than compromise them.

User Testing

Test as often as possible with real users, performing real tasks. There is no better way to identify issues with a product's interface or functionality. Products launched without user testing are likely to require extensive re-development work in order to meet unforeseen user requirements - research indicates that as much as 64% of the lifecycle costs of product development are due to these revisions.

It is also important to remember that CRM applications tend to be configured during deployment and often used by skilled and experienced users. For this reason it is important to conduct post-implementation user testing programmes in order to check long-term acceptance of the product. It is likely that configurations will change over time in order to find an optimal fit with any given workforce.