UX design principles
Well-designed business applications are built for the way professionals work today. Think about how design can solve problems. For example, clean fonts, direct copy, and simple imagery are effective design elements that cater to user needs on the go, are mobile-friendly and creative, and promote collaborative communication.
Pega Infinity™ incorporates the UX design principles in the product. Every workspace is designed with these principles, so that target users can contribute to the application development easily and comfortably. UX design is a core offering of Pega Infinity, and the cosmos and constellation themes exemplify Pega's vision for UX design. LSAs should utilize these principles when developing applications.
So, what does good design mean for software?
Well-designed software follows four UX design principles that make it:
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User-centric
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Empathetic
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Engaging
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Process-driven
User-centric
User-centric design solves technology and business problems from a real person's perspective, doing real work behind the screen with the tools built by Pega. Good design anticipates user behavior and helps users seamlessly accomplish what they set out to do.
Empathetic
In the design process, empathy is a critical element that must be incorporated. Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of others from their perspective. It is different from sympathy, which is the act of showing concern. By using empathy, Pega Platform™ can create solutions that truly address the problems that the software aims to solve. For example, empathy towards the citizen developer is what we see today in the simple-to-easy features of App Studio.
Engaging
Bad design in software can lead to tiring, tedious, and frustrating experiences for users. This can be especially problematic for enterprise software users who might spend over eight hours a day with Pega Infinity products. Good design, on the other hand, keeps users engaged and focused on their job instead of struggling with technology. Engaging design elicits positive feelings in users, which can lead to better performance and results.
Process-driven
There is a formal process for creating a user-centric design. In practice, the process might look like the following example:
Scenario
David, a designer, and Petra, a product owner, are invited to observe how CSRs use a Pega Customer Service™ application in a call center. David sits next to Cece, the CSR, who answers chats from customers. David notices that Cece handles conversations from a dozen customers simultaneously, and she struggles to switch back and forth between waiting customers. David sees an opportunity to improve the experience for CSR and help customers with the wait time, increasing customer satisfaction with the interaction.
David and Petra bring these insights back to the team and brainstorm with Elizabeth, the lead engineer. David suggests adding visual cues to show the order in which the CSRs should answer chats. Petra adds that the team should use wait time and customer value to derive the order. Elizabeth has some concerns about the impact on the performance and says that her team plans to investigate it. Together, they agree on an acceptable wait time to prioritize speed and efficiency. The team uses the wait time as a metric and discusses developing solutions to test with real users.
Analysis
In this scenario, the team implements good UX design principles to create an effective solution for CSRs and their customers.
First, the team observes and defines the user problem by:
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Empathizing with the user.
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Understanding the context and constraints.
Then, the team proposes a goal and solution by:
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Ideating on a concept.
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Rendering the designs in collaboration with the team.
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Testing and evaluating the design prototype against goals (for example, reviewing performance/load time and the speed and wait time of KPIs).
Finally, the team implements the design.
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