Enterprise UX is about justifying value by boosting productivity, efficiency, and ROI, measured by an organization as a whole. In consumer UX, user research is focused on end-users, with various personas representing different user types. In contrast, Enterprise UX focuses on teams rather than individuals, involving multiple users with various roles and responsibilities. Enterprise platforms provide ways to manage these roles and responsibilities through user profiles that control access and permissions, enabling users to perform tasks and control functions within the product.
My goal with this blog is to outline the most essential roles and responsibilities in enterprise UX. Understanding these roles can help you conduct user research with the right perspective when designing for enterprises.
Users
Enterprise product users typically fall into five high-level categories: Core Users, Buyers, Administrators, Viewers, and Outsiders. Depending on the use case and type of your product, you can approach research and design by understanding the roles and responsibilities of these users.
1. Core Users
These are the primary users who interact with your product’s main features. Most of your research and design efforts will focus on these users and their interactions with other types of users in the organization. Although they may not make software purchasing decisions or manage the software within the organization, your goal is to empower these users to become champions of your product. This means enabling them to influence and help make a case for the product to buyers within the organization.
Core users could be part of the same team or different teams. It’s essential to consider the collaboration and communication aspects between these users to enhance their effectiveness and productivity. This can significantly strengthen the case for buying.
2. Buyers
In most organizations, purchasing approvals for software above a certain limit come from the leadership team. These buyers ultimately decide whether to purchase your product. They may not be core users, so their understanding of your product’s value might not be apparent. Your goal should be to empower core users to become product champions who can evangelize and convince buyers.
Sales, customer success, and product teams should keep buyers informed about the product’s value. Regular reports on value generation and usage, along with quarterly, semi-annual, and annual business reviews, can help maintain support from these buyers, ensuring customer retention and increasing the lifetime value of your customers.
3. Administrators
Administrators can include IT staff, cybersecurity teams, or departmental operations teams. Their goal is to manage licensing, provisioning, and usage of various products within the company. Make it easy for them to integrate your product with the tools they use to manage enterprise software. They should be able to enforce corporate governance policies, such as Single Sign-On (SSO), GDPR/CCPA compliance, and VPAT (Voluntary Product Accessibility Template).
4. Viewers
Some organizations have users who only need access to the data or information produced by your product. Cater to these read-only users by allowing them to view/access data and information within your product. Depending on your business model, offering free or reduced pricing for these seats can make it easier for organizations to get more value from your product.
5. Outsiders
Some products are designed to help organizations serve or collaborate with people outside their organization, such as customers, outside contractors, or third-party vendors. Ensure your product accommodates these external users effectively, adding checks and balances to control the information and functions available to these users as per organization’s policies.
Conclusion
Understanding the different user roles in enterprise UX is crucial for designing effective and efficient software solutions. By focusing on the needs and responsibilities of Core Users, Buyers, Administrators, Viewers, and Outsiders, you can create a product that enhances productivity, supports collaboration, and delivers significant value to the organization.