The Evolution of SAP Fiori
SAP initially developed Fiori applications under the "renew" strategy to enhance SAP UX for existing commercial scenarios. This approach became a standard UX strategy for all SAP software. With S/4HANA, SAP aims for a unified UX across all solutions.
SAP UX Strategy: "New, Renew, and Enable"
To improve UX for numerous existing and new applications, SAP developed the "New, Renew, and Enable" strategy:
- New: Provides new user experiences for SAP applications.
- Renew: Enhances UX for existing applications, starting with the most commonly used ones.
- Enable: Assists partners and clients in improving UX for other SAP systems, providing tools like SAPUI5, SAP Screen Personas, and SAP Theme Designer for customization.
Introduction of SAP Fiori
At TechEd 2013, SAP introduced 25 pre-designed enterprise applications branded as SAP Fiori. These tools help clients create new interfaces or adapt existing ones to be simpler and more efficient.
Design Elements of Fiori Applications
Fiori applications, created under the "New" and "Renew" strategies, adhere to several design principles:
- Visual Design: Focuses on aesthetic simplicity, removing distractions, and consistent branding through color and typography.
- Information Architecture: Organizes and structures content for efficient user navigation.
- Interaction Design: Dictates application behavior during user interaction and arranges interface components for intuitive navigation.
- Usability: Ensures ease of use, learnability, efficiency, and user satisfaction.
- Accessibility: Ensures applications are usable by people with various auditory, visual, and cognitive abilities.
- Human-Computer Interaction: Optimizes interaction between humans and computers.
Unified Design and Access
SAP Fiori aims for a unified user experience across all functional applications with a single access point, contrasting with previous isolated designs in ERP and CRM systems. The shift is from monolithic solutions to activity-based applications simplified by business roles.
Fiori and Traditional Enterprise Systems
Fiori breaks down traditional monolithic systems like CRM, HCM, and SCM into granular tasks and activities, enabling users to select relevant activities. These activities can be simple tasks or complex cognitive tasks for occasional users, managers, and specialists.
User-Centered Design
Design thinking is key to solving design problems, focusing on innovative, desirable, feasible, and viable solutions. Understanding customer needs through interviews and surveys is crucial for creating technically and financially viable ideas.
Prototyping
Prototypes provide a model of the user interface, giving stakeholders a preview of the final product and allowing for feedback to improve design.
Types of Users
Enterprises typically have three basic types of users:
- Occasional User: Needs simple, easy-to-use applications for single-step transactions.
- Expert/Key User: Fully trained in SAP processes and applications, often using multiple systems and interfaces.
- Developer/Programmer: Knowledgeable in processes and systems, responsible for adapting and extending existing applications.
Design System Principles
To ensure consistency, the design system is based on five principles:
- Role-Based: Each application is tailored to specific roles.
- Responsive: Applications can be used on any platform or device.
- Simple: Includes only necessary features for task completion.
- Consistent: Follows uniform design guidelines across the enterprise.
- Instant Value: Ensures the application is pleasant, emotionally engaging, and easy to adopt.
SAP Fiori Design Guidelines
The cornerstone of SAP Fiori is its publicly available design guidelines, covering web and mobile versions for iOS and Android.
Current Situation
The consumer experience has set a new standard for enterprise applications. People expect the same ease of use and feature richness in business applications as they experience with daily use websites like Google and social media platforms. SAP recognizes this societal shift and aims to transform user experiences to meet these new standards.
User Experience (UX) in SAP Fiori
UX, from a software perspective, describes the interface between the user and the device, focusing on creating a positive and motivating experience. SAP Fiori ensures a consistent, simple, and intuitive user experience across multiple devices, enabling efficient work and business goal achievement.
A good user experience avoids:
- Difficulty finding needed information.
- Scattered information.
- Non-intuitive data entry.
- Hidden or cumbersome actions.
- Low-value help lists or dropdowns.
- Unclear error messages.
- Slow responsiveness.
- Useless data visualizations.
- Effective data visualization and clear error messaging are crucial for a good user experience.