In enterprise UX we find ourselves trying to be "a little better" than everyone else. But what do we need to do to be truly great at design? Dylan Wilbanks explains the journeys he's been on and how he's worked to make design better.

1. Enterprise Usability:
The Olive Garden Principle
Dylan Wilbanks
Director of UX, Integris Software

2. Grand Forks, North Dakota

4. Casual Dining

6. Marilyn Hagerty

10. The Olive Garden?

11. 188

13. https://www.flickr.com/photos/71380981@N06/14745845753/

14. http://capitalspiceblog.com/food-travel/eleven-madison-park-michelin-quality-meals-in-manhattan-and-at-home/

15. https://callmeafoodlover.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/eleven-madison-park-radish-pike.jpg

18. Casual dining is an experience that’s
consistent in story and appearance
and taste, a chain of restaurants that
will always be a little above the diner.
But it pales compared to the
originality and complexity of high-
class restaurants.

19. The Olive Garden only has to be
marginally better than other local food
options to be considered a destination.

20. Enterprise UX

23. Computer by Edward Boatman from the Noun Project
Smartphone by Philip Glenn from the Noun Project
The Concur Expense Report Do-Si-Do
1. Start expense
report on
desktop

24. Computer by Edward Boatman from the Noun Project
Smartphone by Philip Glenn from the Noun Project
The Concur Expense Report Do-Si-Do
1. Start expense
report on
desktop
2. Open phone, find
expense report,
attach image of
receipt(s)

25. Computer by Edward Boatman from the Noun Project
Smartphone by Philip Glenn from the Noun Project
The Concur Expense Report Do-Si-Do
1. Start expense
report on
desktop
2. Open phone, find
expense report,
attach image of
receipt(s)
3. Put down phone,
refresh desktop,
find expense
report, finish and
submit

27. How could it be worth $8.3B?

31. Which button?

32. Concur is the Olive Garden of
enterprise expense tracking software.

33. Concur is the Olive Garden of
enterprise expense tracking software.
They only had to be marginally better
designed than the homegrown competition
to be considered the essential tool.

34. The Olive Garden Principle
If you are surrounded by low quality
experiences, you only have to be marginally
better designed than them to be different.
But when you are surrounded by high quality
designed experiences, you will look terrible.

35. Why is it common in
enterprise UX?

36. http://assets-jpcust.jwpsrv.com/thumbs/ISEX9RAs.jpg

38. Enterprise UX means designing systems
that 1,000 people will use a million times
and 10,000 will use once.

40. Enterprise design is not about making the
complex simple; it’s about making the
complicated understandable.

43. Experience Rot

45. Repeatability
Consistency
Usability

46. Delight!

47. ❤

48. 😔

49. https://www.flickr.com/photos/hagoleshet/6880942515/

50. https://www.flickr.com/photos/hagoleshet/6880942515/
Lagniappe

52. Room of Requirement

53. When we focus on “make it pretty”
we aren’t focusing on true delight.

54. How do we get to delight?

55. The Process
The Work
Communication
Collaboration

56. Process

57. https://www.flickr.com/photos/piratejohnny/4775460107/

60. Real
Measurable
Iterative
Adaptive

62. Have a process.
Do not wing it.

63. The Work

64. https://www.flickr.com/photos/leedav/4815952246/

68. Don’t skip the work.
It’s how you find the lagniappe.

69. Communication

72. Know Your Audience

77. Communicate design in a
language they can understand.

78. Collaboration

79. https://www.flickr.com/photos/atmtx/4391588868/

80. https://www.flickr.com/photos/juhansonin/6904627876/

81. https://www.flickr.com/photos/juhansonin/12140602074/

83. Everyone participates

85. https://www.flickr.com/photos/atmtx/4391588868/
Make design real to create empathy:
Real users
Real research
Real results

88. Only by doing the work can we
show leadership.

89. Yes, it’s a fight.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/stephaniehobson/4301934446/

92. 1. Focus on People, Roles, and Goals
(Know our users, know their post-it notes)
2. Delight with Discovery + Flow
(“If only I had a… hey, there it is!”)
3. Execute and Improve Relentlessly
(Crave feedback, ship so you can get it)
Design Practice Tenets

93. https://www.flickr.com/photos/dingatx/4115844000/

96. Concur is the Olive Garden of
enterprise expense tracking software…
…but they’re doing something
about it.

101. What are you going to do to help
your enterprise organization move
beyond just being “a little bit better?”

102. Be more than just marginally better.
Do the work to be extraordinary.

103. Thank you.
Dylan Wilbanks
Twitter: @dylanw
https://medium.com/crooked-boxes-shaky-arrows/enterprise-ux-and-the-olive-garden