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Enterprise UX Case Study: Improving Usability Under Tight Deadlines

• #Enterprise UX
• #Prototyping
• #User Research

A cloud-based project management system, Liquidplanner needed to help users create dashboards more quickly.

The old process required creating dashboards, and all the widgets within, completely from scratch. Since more dashboard use correlated with higher customer engagement and lifetime value, the product team set out to create a new dashboard template feature.

The team’s goal was creating a “one-click solution” where the user could create a useful dashboard right away without any configuration.

In four months, LiquidPlanner shipped a new dashboard template feature, impressed their most valuable customers, and saw significant adoption rates and business results.

Below, you’ll see exactly how they did it.

Photo credit: LiquidPlanner

The following is an excerpt from The Project Guide to Enterprise Product Design . The free guide explains best practices based on real projects.

Setting the Context

Before getting into the actual process, let’s examine the user groups and project goals.

1. Primary Personas

LiquidPlanner serves three primary user groups:

• Product Managers — The champions of the product, the people that “live and breathe LiquidPlanner.” These decision-makers ensure the team uses the product to track time, collaborate, and use the features that help them.
• Functional Manager — The other decision-makers, such as a UX Manager, that hold sway over the team and keeps them accountable.
• Frontline Contributors —  People who use the product the most. These project contributors may not have chosen LiquidPlanner themselves, but they use it every day for their projects.

2. Project Goals

The following quantitative and qualitative goals would define project success for the dashboard template feature:

• Increase usage of dashboards within 30 days of release. Using Heap to track in-app events, they discovered the friction in creating dashboards was holding the whole product.
• Grant immediate access to project critical information. It wasn’t just about quality, it was about speed. LiquidPlanner needed to streamline access to data.
• Finish the project in 3 months. Starting in Jan. 2016, the launch was set for early April, giving the team a compressed timeline to craft the right solution.

Stage One: Discovery & Concepting

(early Jan 2016)

Before the actual legwork started, the PM team gathered for a brainstorming/sketching session. The lead program manager, UX manager, and UX designer Edward Nguyen were all present.

Examining in-app patterns from Heap , the team categorized the most commonly-created dashboards:

• Project Dashboards
• Team Dashboards
• Portfolio Dashboards.

From there, they sketched out their ideas on the whiteboard. These mostly involved user flow charts, drawing out the pace of the experience screen by screen. The user flows formed the foundation that would eventually grow into the perfect solution for the dashboard problem.

Stage Two: Creating & Testing Mid-Fidelity Flows

Immediately following the whiteboard session, Edward used Adobe Illustrator to create mid-fidelity versions of the white board sketches. These mid-fi flows become the key to the intermediary stage of internal testing before hi-fi prototyping and testing with users.

For initial, early-stage feedback, Edward showed the mid-fi user flows to 5-10 coworkers outside of the product team. He administered these casual tests individually, explaining the problem and collecting feedback on the proposed redesign for the dashboard creation process..

The informal testing also gave him a chance to answer his own personal questions and concerns. Ultimately, the tests proved successful: the absence of bad feedback is still good feedback.

Stage Three: Hi-fi Prototyping

(mid-Jan – Feb 2016)

Building on the mid-fidelity user flows and internal feedback, the team was ready to create a functioning version of their design.

1. Creation

A wireframe or user flow shows how the product might work. A prototype is how it works.

Since the goal of creating a prototype is to test your design decisions, the first step was outlining desired insights in a usability testing plan. This document prioritized test goals for the most important user actions:

• Validate that people know how to create a new dashboard.
• Validate the 3 default testing templates are useful options (Project, Portfolio, Team)
• Validate that created dashboards are discoverable from within the project.
• Determine what default widgets are most useful in a dashboard template.

The usability testing plan also included sections such as the test script and a list of user tasks (i.e., “Can you make a project dashboard from the Project template for Project A?”).

At this stage, the team then did some data mining to inventory and tally which widgets to include in which templates. This made the first prototypes closer to the final product.

Hi-fi prototype of the first screen in the flow for creating a dashboard template.

When it came time to build the actual, interactive prototypes, Edward used UXPin “because it helps us simulate real-world customer scenarios.” In his own words, “It’s powerful and simple enough to let me quickly create and test complex interaction models. I can prototype on Monday, test it Tuesday and Wednesday, and show results on Thursday.”

Since the new design needed to be intuitive without confusing current users, Edward actually chose a left-handed tabbed format versus the multi-step process the team initially sketched. He realized the choice was simpler for his team to implement while also benefiting users.

Designers wouldn’t need to create playful icons, developers wouldn’t need to build a multi-step wizard, and users could select their dashboard type faster with fewer steps.

As Edward demonstrates, while designers don’t need to know how to code, they should always understand the technical implications of their design.

2. Usability Testing & Iteration

The team conducted remote, moderated usability tests with 14 people through Join.me .

Edward moderated the testing sessions, while another team member observed and took notes. They tested two main scenarios: creating a dashboard, and finding an existing dashboard in the project.

Test results were quickly iterated into the following version, which was then likewise tested and the results reiterated, until the team came up with the proven, ideal design.

“A user even mistook one of my hi-fi prototypes as the real deal, telling me to thank our dev team.” said Edward.

Hi-fi prototype users believed was already fully developed.

Usability testing revealed the design worked well as a system:

• Users found the tabbed layout easy to use and understand when creating dashboards from templates.
• Users mentioned the default testing templates were useful and matched their needs.
• While most users found the default widgets useful, some mentioned how they’d prefer different widgets due to personal preferences. For example, some users didn’t find the “Remaining Work” linechart widget useful. Others wanted the ability to save their customizations to the templates.
• Users did experience some difficulty in accessing a dashboard once created.

Edward spent considerable time with the program manager to map out the patterns of feedback to consolidate insights. It’s a skill in itself to separate one-off, outlier comments from generally-applicable and actionable feedback.

To improve findability of newly-created dashboards, Edward decided to increase negative space around the “View Project Dashboard” label inside their details panel view.

Further improvements, such as the ability to save widget edits, were earmarked for later testing, since they were fell outside the scope of the MVP.

Stage Four: Development and Live Launch

Feb – April 2016

Following the Agile process, development sprints immediately followed the design sprints.

Even as Edward’s team was still testing prototypes, developers were already building the validated iterations. “The collaborative hi-fi prototypes and testing insights gave our developers enough confidence to implement our design decisions directly in code,” Edward said.

Communication within the team improved with daily standups, where Edward reported any new usability testing insights to developers.

Because the new feature tested well, LiquidPlanner launched the dashboard template feature live to users without beta testing.While the team runs beta tests for larger features, they needed to get the feature out the door since dashboard creation was so difficult before.

Thanks to efficient hi-fi prototyping and close collaboration, the team launched the new feature on April 9, 2016 on schedule and within scope. The initial results are promising:

• Of the 17,000 dashboards ever created in LiquidPlanner, 1700 (10%) were created 2 weeks after launch.
• The template feature is responsible for 75% of new dashboards created in the app.
• A majority of large enterprise customers already use and enjoy the new feature, as it facilitates their large, complex projects.

“I was blown away by the numbers,” said Edward. “It was great to see that something I worked on was this popular with users.”

Based on LiquidPlanner’s success, keep in mind these learnings for your own product design process:

• Don’t get overambitious on redesign projects. The new design needs to feel consistent enough for old users while also appealing to new users. To achieve this delicate balance, keep everything as simple as possible.
• For the sake of efficiency, going straight from sketches to user flows and hi-fi prototyping is fine as long as you test thoroughly. For an existing product, hi-fi prototypes carry less risk since visual design standards are already validated.
• On a compressed timeline, make sure designers work one sprint ahead of developers.
• Maintain scope discipline in your MVP. As Edward did with a “Save Widget Edits” feature, don’t be afraid to table new ideas discovered during testing for after launch.
• With detailed hi-fi prototypes and close collaboration, developers can implement changes in code with less risk of misinterpretation.

For more best practices based on case studies, download the free Project Guide to Enterprise Product Design .

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Enterprise UX: the Value of Usability for Enterprise Software

• July 27, 2021

Although UX design had a lot of buzz in the last few years and businesses speeded up to improve the usability of their products, it is still a common case when enterprise software suffers from a lack of attention to end-user satisfaction. As a consequence, this might lead to poor employee experience and frustration, which in turns decreases the overall productivity. By enhancing the focus on enterprise UX, businesses can improve employees’ efficiency and ease collaboration.

In enterprise application development projects, decision-makers pay a lot of attention to the product functionality, while the end-user experience often takes a back seat. HR portals, task management systems, CRMs, and intranet sites — we all know how cumbersome and frustrating they can be. Oftentimes, companies’ executives see the true value of a decent enterprise UX. After all, they test and examine the tools from a very different perspective than most who’ll use the software every day. Not to mention, training and experience using the corporate software will overcome any lack of intuitive design, won’t it?

This lack of appreciation for intuitive design and usability is, unfortunately, quite common. However, it’s fundamentally wrong and can have significant consequences for any organization. In this article, we’ll explain what enterprise UX design is and why it matters.

The difference between customer UX and enterprise UX

Before we jump right into the details, let’s outline the basic definitions.  Customer UX  (or “consumer UX”) is a user experience design that belongs to apps and other digital solutions created for consumers or the general public. Meanwhile,  enterprise UX  is applied to the internal software of a specific organization and used predominantly by its employees. While the definitions help categorize the different terms, there are greater differences between the two types of UX design.

Scale and landscape

When a design team creates the UX for a customer app, it usually knows only the target audience’s key characteristics such as gender, occupation, age, etc. To study the landscape, UX designers usually do extensive market research. But it doesn’t allow them to identify a specific group of individuals who will use the product. At the same time, the scalability of the software product remains largely unknown until it is put on the market. In other words, there’s quite a lot of uncertainty. That’s why the design process consists of testing and verifying assumptions at different stages.

The situation is the opposite when it comes to designing enterprise software. In this instance, the group of future users is known from the very beginning. When a team works on the enterprise UX design, know who will use a solution. The potential scaling up is also limited to the actual or projected size of one organization. This means that the designers who create enterprise UX need to make full use of the available data.

The role of end-users

The process of building customer-oriented products is guided by user expectations, pain points, and feedback. Although the product idea might not come from those that will use the software most, it’s in the decision-makers’ best interest to have a product the users will love. If users’ needs and wants aren’t considered, a product won’t become popular, and it will generate fewer sales or downloads. That’s why significant effort and investment goes into making a product user-friendly and  optimizing for customers’ digital experience .

In enterprise projects, either independently commissioned software or as part of a more  comprehensive digital transformation process , usability is often misinterpreted in the background. Employees (the majority of end-users) rarely have a choice about corporate business systems, and they rarely have an impact on the product development process of new systems. High-level executives make most of the decisions. And the lens they see and evaluate software is often significantly different from most users. Often skewing toward functional requirements and top-level project management requirements. As a result, corporate software performs all the required functions but are hard-to-use, clunky, sluggish, and ugly.

Why UX is key to enterprise software

Companies that exclude usability for the end-user, focusing squarely on product functionality, can potentially save some money when commissioning the software. However, at the end of the day, they lose more over time as they don’t get the advantages that quality enterprise UX design brings. Here are the most important benefits an organization can expect when it factors in end-users’ preferences in the design process.

Improved productivity

Some executives would rather cut corners to save money in development rather than invest in thought-out enterprise UX design because, for them, it’s like throwing money down the drain. This is a misconception. In practice, investments in UX produce a greater cumulative return over time. If corporate software is easy-to-use, it helps employees perform their routine tasks. Consequently, their productivity is higher, which leads to higher revenues for an organization.

Besides, enterprise users usually spend 8-10 hours a day working with the company’s business systems. When such systems have refined enterprise UX design, actions that may take employees 4 to 6 clicks to execute may be done in one click-and-drag motion or 2 clicks. As it’s saving them time every day, it’s bound to have a positive impact on performance over a year.

As a  professional design and development agency , we know how the productivity benefit works in practice. After our team created a new enterprise UX design for our client’s KYC platform, its employee productivity has increased by 39 percent.

A better understanding of data

Many employees working at larger corporations have to deal with a huge amount of raw data all the time. A good enterprise UX helps them to understand and process data quickly and effectively. When designers create corporate solutions with end-user needs and  the latest UX trends  in mind, key insights are much easier to find and understand.

Core enterprise UX components like well-constructed user journeys, dashboards, and data visualization allow employees to grasp the information with minimum effort. Empowering them to make better informed decisions and avoid mistakes. This applies to employees regardless of position, as decision-making is simplified within each area of responsibility.

Simplified internal cooperation

Effective cooperation is a key to the success of any group activity, and enterprise workflows are no exception. But it can be a real challenge when a development team builds corporate software without paying much attention to enterprise UX. Imagine, for example, that an enterprise product has a chat, but its user experience design is really bad. Employees can send each other messages but it takes five steps to find the message, open it, write a reply, and send it. Is such a business system going to be a help or obstacle? It’s quite obvious.

Good enterprise UX design should consider both employees’ overall behavior and micro-actions to make the teamwork barrier-free and efficient. In the post-COVID-19 era, it’s even more important due to the global shift to remote work. Essentially, designers who create enterprise UX should figure out how to make interactions within the software system resemble real-life interactions and environments as much as possible.

What to keep in mind when designing an enterprise application

In general, the enterprise and consumer UX have a lot in common in terms of design approaches and stages of creation. But still, enterprise app development projects have some specifics that UX designers must be aware of. To best illustrate this, we’ll discuss one of our relevant projects.

Our enterprise UX project was related to the fintech sector. The client, a financial institution, came to us with the request to create a new user experience design for its KYC (Know Your Client/Customer) platform. A core aspect of the project is that it’s mandatory for banks to verify the identity of individuals they provide services to. The process is called “know your client,” and employees involved in it constantly process an excessive amount of data. In short, our main task was to make the complex data easier to follow for the client’s financial officers. Here is how we accomplished it.

User research

An enterprise UX design system should be based on a deep understanding of user needs. Although the company’s executives and project managers may know for sure  what  a system must do, user research is still necessary to figure out  how  it should do it. The good news for UX designers is that a target audience is always defined and reachable. But unlike customer apps that often support a few-step process (think of Uber), enterprise solutions focus on rather complicated workflows. So, determining user roles and studying their pain points requires an all-round approach.

On our fintech project, the first thing we did was user research. We asked the employees about their working routine and the tasks they need to complete to do their part in the KYC process. Based on this information, our team divided all employees into user roles (i.e., the analyst, manager, case coordinator, KYC head, administrator, and auditor). We also determined the core user (i.e., analyst). Finally, our team listed primary responsibilities and key interactions for each role.

Building a user journey and prototyping

Building a user flow is a central stage of the enterprise UX designing process. Basically, designers should take the client’s requirements, connect them with user needs, and create wireframes. The important aspect here is to put a focus on simplicity, not creativity. There is usually much less space for experiments in enterprise UX projects than in consumer UX projects. The reason is that there is no goal to entertain or impress users, just to make their life easier.

To complete this stage of our fintech project, we created a schematic representation of a user flow. To do that, we used task analysis performed by our team after user research. Having all employees’ duties and connections laid out in front of our eyes, we created wireframes and then developed a high-fidelity prototype of the KYC platform.

User feedback and iterations

When designers work on enterprise UX projects, some often skip this stage of a design process or collect feedback from the company’s executives instead of end-users. But it’s a huge mistake. Business managers usually have a bird’s eye view of the processes and operations. But they don’t know how everything looks from the inside. When it comes to product usability, the details matter a lot. That’s why gathering user feedback is critical. In most cases, designers have to perform several iterations of this step to create an enterprise user experience design that is highly tailored to the end-users’ needs.

To get a users’ perspective on the UX design that we were working on within the fintech project, our team conducted a number of user interviews. We asked interviewees to specify both positive and negative aspects that they noticed while performing tasks. We also jotted down our own observations of how a user interacts with a system. As a result, we created a truly user-centered enterprise UX design that helps the client’s employees be more efficient, and less frustrated, at work.

2021 is the time for user-centered enterprise UX design

For corporate software, a good enterprise UX design is as important as functionality, and quite frankly should be standard. Despite some popular misconceptions, it brings much greater value than just making employees like the product. If end-user needs are taken into account, their productivity is higher, which has a positive impact on the company’s profits. Besides, a quality enterprise UX design allows employees to work with complex data more effectively and collaborate with colleagues more easily. So, the investments in enterprise UX design always pay off in the end.

Anthony Miller , Anthony is the founder and creative director of millermedia7, a digital product agency that focuses on software, UX UI, and digital strategy. Anthony leads the company as a strategist to venture backed startups and enterprise clients. Anthony is constantly innovating new technology to further millermedia7’s goals and mission.

• In contrast to customer UX, enterprise UX deals with internal software, which is mostly used by employees.
• As detailed out in the case study, designing enterprise UX has such peculiarities as increased emphasis on user research, focus on simplicity in building user flows, and the vital role of continuously collecting end-users feedback for iteration.
• By investing in enterprise UX and paying attention to end-users needs while designing corporate software, it is possible to boost productivity and revenues, process data more efficiently, facilitate interaction between employees.

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Enterprise UX Design: Everything You Need to Know

Design and User Experience

Jun 08, 2023

Digital-age consumers have gotten used to and anticipate having a smooth and effortless experience using our smartphones and laptops.

However, things are often not as smooth regarding the software applications they rely on in the workplace. These essential business applications often fail to deliver the same level of user-friendliness as the applications people use for personal enjoyment.

As a result, business users spend most of their work hours dealing with sluggish, frustrating, and inefficient business applications.

While consumer applications offer various choices and the freedom to customize, the same cannot be said for workplace applications.

Businesses are often left with limited options and little control over the applications they use at work. This lack of choice leaves business users feeling trapped, forced to navigate through clunky and time-consuming applications for hours.

This is where the need for enterprise UX design comes in.

What is Enterprise UX Design?

Enterprise UX encompasses a wide range of software, tools, products, and services utilized within a work environment. It covers diverse areas such as HR software , marketing platforms, customer relationship management software, and many other applications and systems used in the workplace.

Enterprise UX is a relatively new concept in the design field, and there isn’t a universally accepted definition for it yet. Various books on enterprise UX offer different definitions, making it challenging to establish a consensus.

Some definitions focus solely on designing internal software like HR systems and internal communication tools.

On the other hand, broader definitions encompass all the products and services used by enterprises within the scope of enterprise UX design, including marketing tools, websites, and customer relationship management systems.

Enterprise UX design plays a crucial role in harnessing the potential of emerging technologies by ensuring intuitive and seamless user experiences. This complete guide delves into the intricacies of UX design best practices and principles to help businesses leverage these advancements to their fullest potential, driving innovation and growth.

10 Enterprise UX Design Principles for Optimal User Experience

Designers should consider the following principles while designing UX for enterprise systems and applications. Here are the design principles for enterprise UX design:

1. Understand the User and Context

Gain a deep understanding of the users within the enterprise environment, their goals, tasks, and the context in which they operate. This includes considering their technical expertise, workflows, and their specific challenges.

2. Simplify Complexity

Enterprises often deal with complex systems and vast amounts of data. Design solutions that simplify complexity and make it easier for users to navigate, understand, and interact with the interface. Streamline workflows and remove unnecessary steps to enhance efficiency.

3. Consistency and Familiarity

Maintain consistency across the enterprise application ecosystem to provide a familiar experience to users. Consistent use of design patterns, interaction models, and visual elements helps users quickly learn and understand new features or applications.

4. Clear Information Hierarchy

Organize information and interface elements in a hierarchical structure that reflects the users’ mental models and priorities. Prioritize essential information and actions, ensuring they are prominently displayed and easily accessible.

5. Seamless Integration

Enterprise applications often need to integrate with existing systems and tools. Design with interoperability in mind ensures smooth integration between different platforms and applications. Provide a seamless experience that allows users to transition between tools without disruptions.

6. Accessibility and Inclusivity

Enterprises have diverse user bases, including individuals with different abilities and needs. Design with accessibility in mind, ensuring that the interface is usable by everyone. Consider factors such as color contrast, keyboard accessibility, screen reader compatibility, and support for assistive technologies.

7. Error Prevention and Recovery

Minimize errors and provide clear feedback to users to prevent mistakes. Design error prevention mechanisms, such as validation checks and confirmation dialogs, and provide intuitive error messages with actionable guidance for recovery when errors do occur.

8. Performance and Scalability

Enterprise systems often handle large amounts of data and concurrent users. Optimize performance and scalability to ensure fast and reliable interactions, even under heavy workloads. Consider factors such as loading times, response times, and system stability.

9. User Feedback and Iteration

Actively seek feedback from enterprise users throughout the design and development process. Conduct user testing, surveys, and interviews to gather insights and make iterative improvements based on user feedback. Continuously refine the design to meet evolving user needs and expectations.

10. Security and Data Privacy

Enterprises handle sensitive data and must adhere to strict security and privacy regulations. Design with a focus on data protection, ensuring secure authentication, encryption, and appropriate access controls. Communicate the security measures to users to instill trust and confidence in the system.

Enterprise UX Designing Process to Streamline User Experience

Here is the step-by-step UX designing process for enterprise projects.

A. Project Definition & Scope

• Clearly define the enterprise UX design project’s goals, objectives, and scope.
• Understand the unique needs of the enterprise, including any limitations or guidelines that may impact the design process.

B. Understanding the Problem

• Conduct a thorough enterprise environment analysis, identifying pain points, inefficiencies, and user challenges.
• Gain insights into the existing systems and workflows to understand the context in which the UX design will operate.

C. UX Research

• Conduct extensive research within the enterprise, focusing on user behavior, needs, and preferences.
• Gather qualitative and quantitative data through interviews, surveys, and analytics to inform the design process.
• Understanding the consumers and their unique requirements within the enterprise context.

D. Ideation

• Generate creative ideas and solutions based on the research findings.
• Collaborate with stakeholders, designers, and users to brainstorm and explore potential design concepts.
• When generating ideas, consider the enterprise’s specific goals, technical capabilities, and business objectives.

E. High-Fidelity Mockups and Prototypes

• Develop detailed, high-fidelity mockups and interactive prototypes representing the envisioned user experience.
• Design the interface and interactions while considering the enterprise’s branding, visual guidelines, and existing design patterns.
• Create realistic representations of the final product to facilitate effective communication and stakeholder feedback.

F. Usability Testing

• Use the prototypes to conduct usability testing sessions with representative enterprise users to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of the design.
• Gather feedback on usability, intuitiveness, and overall user satisfaction.
• Identify areas for improvement and iterate on the design based on user insights and testing results.

G. Design Handoff

• Collaborate with developers, engineers, and other product team members to ensure a smooth transition from design to development.
• Provide detailed design specifications, style guides, and assets to support the implementation of the design.
• Maintain open communication and address any questions or clarifications that arise during the handoff process.

H. Quality Assurance or UX Audit

• Conduct a comprehensive quality assurance process to ensure the implemented design meets the defined standards and requirements.
• Review the enterprise UX design against usability principles, accessibility guidelines, and performance criteria.
• Identify gaps or issues affecting the user experience and work with the development team to address them.

UX Designing for Different Enterprise Applications

UX design is critical for almost all business applications and systems. Let’s discuss some of them in brief:

1. Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

A well-designed ERP interface improves productivity, reduces errors, and enhances team collaboration. It enables users to access and analyze critical business data efficiently.

Here is how designers can improve UX for ERPs:

• Use an intuitive and consistent interface for easy navigation and task completion.
• Design to accommodate complex workflows within the ERP system.
• Enable effective data navigation and analysis through clear information architecture.
• Utilize visual cues and context-aware functionalities for improved user experience.

2. Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

A well-designed CRM system ensures that sales, marketing, and customer support teams can effectively manage customer interactions and relationships. A user-friendly and intuitive CRM interface improves productivity, enhances customer satisfaction, and enables better decision-making.

Therefore, UX designers should focus on creating streamlined workflows, intuitive navigation, and clear data visualization. They should prioritize features that support efficient contact management, lead tracking, deal management, and customer communication.

Providing customization options, integrating automation, and ensuring seamless integration with other systems can enhance the user experience.

3. Content Management System (CMS)

CMS platforms serve as tools for enterprises to create, manage, and publish digital content. A well-crafted CMS interface empowers users to handle content efficiently, collaborate effectively, and maintain brand consistency.

UX designers should design flexible editing interfaces, offer visual previews, and streamline publishing processes for CMS.

4. Calendar and Scheduling

Calendar and scheduling apps help businesses manage appointments, meetings, and events. A good calendar interface ensures efficient scheduling, eliminates conflicts, and provides easy access to important information.

While creating such applications, UX designers should focus on creating a simple and intuitive calendar interface that allows users to create, edit, and share events easily. Also, considering a responsive design, time zone support, and drag-and-drop functionality improves usability.

5. Intranet

Intranet applications are a centralized hub for internal communication, collaboration, and knowledge sharing within organizations.

For these enterprise systems, UX designers should focus on delivering streamlined navigation, personalized content delivery, and easy resource access.

6. Accounting and Finance

Accounting and finance applications require a user-friendly interface that ensures simplicity, precision, and clarity. An ideal design for these applications could facilitate seamless financial management, intuitive data entry, and robust reporting functionalities, enabling users to handle financial tasks with ease and confidence.

4 Challenges with Enterprise UX Design

While designing experiences for enterprise applications and systems, designers often face the following challenges:

1. Conducting User Research

Designing for enterprise solutions presents a unique challenge for UX designers as the customers and consumers differ. Typically, higher or mid-level management decides which software applications to procure in an organizational setup.

This creates a barrier when conducting UX research because designers primarily interact with the executives or buyers rather than the end users. Consequently, designers often face difficulties as the executives do not clearly understand the users’ needs, leaving designers in a difficult position.

To overcome this challenge, enterprises should facilitate effective communication between some end-users and the UX designers. This way, the UX designers can interact with them for research.

2. Longer Release Cycles

Designing and developing an enterprise system can take years, especially when working within the constraints of a legacy system. It is because of the need to integrate small changes carefully and test them to avoid breaking existing programs.

The lengthy process can result in new UX ideas becoming outdated by the time they are implemented, leading to further usability issues in the future.

To streamline the process, designers should have a clear plan and involve stakeholders early in the design process for approval. Incorporating the product roadmap at the beginning can also help, as the UX designers can plan accordingly.

3. Designing Legacy Systems

4. ux consistency.

Designing enterprise applications UXs presents challenges in maintaining consistent and coherent designs across multiple applications.

Each development team often creates its own UX without considering the impact on employee efficiency when navigating between multiple applications.

Inconsistencies in UXs include various elements, such as graphical details (colors, icons), layout and structure (button placement), behavior and interactions (search fields, form validation), workflows (multi-step tasks), information architecture, and terminology.

While these inconsistencies may seem insignificant, they have significant consequences.

UX inconsistencies lead to a poor user experience, increasing user errors and decreasing employee efficiency and productivity.

4 Enterprise UX Design Best Practices to Enhance User Experience

Designing UX for enterprise applications requires business understanding and domain knowledge. To ensure the best outcome, UX designers should consider the following practices:

1. Understand Your Consumers

User research is the backbone of every enterprise UX. To get input from the actual users, UX designers should take the following steps:

• Involve end users directly in the design process through interviews, observations, and usability testing.
• Facilitate communication between buyers and users to bridge the understanding gap.
• Develop user personas and scenarios to align perspectives and guide the design process.
• Utilize prototypes and iterate designs based on feedback from both buyers and users.
• Conduct user testing and gather feedback to continuously refine and improve the user experience.

By implementing these strategies, UX designers can better address the challenges of enterprise design and create experiences that meet the needs of both buyers and users.

2. Keep User Experiences Consistent

To maintain consistency in enterprise applications, UX designers can adopt various strategies.

Firstly, they should establish comprehensive design guidelines that outline the preferred visual style, color palette, typography, and UI components.

Developing a design system with reusable components and styles also ensures application consistency. UX designers should also focus on facilitating regular collaboration and communication with former designers, developers, and stakeholders.

Design reviews and quality assurance checks can also help identify and address inconsistencies or deviations from the established guidelines.

3. Keep Enterprise Processes in Mind

Enterprises operate within unique processes, encompassing legal requirements, privacy, security agreements, internalization needs, and more. UX designers must navigate these processes and incorporate best practices while adhering to the constraints outlined in enterprise checklists.

For instance, third-party authentication services for customer verification may be restricted due to data privacy concerns. Consequently, designers must work within these boundaries to ensure compliance and align their design solutions with the enterprise’s guidelines and requirements.

4. Smartly Use Learning Curves

Enterprise users are power users. These individuals have extensive experience with niche software and interact with it daily, often over many years. Therefore, their familiarity with the logic and functionality of these products must be considered while designing the UX.

Designing an interface requiring some learning and a steeper learning curve is not necessarily negative. It allows users to become more efficient once they invest the time to train and learn the software.

For example, software tools like Figma , Sketch , and Adobe Pro offer many shortcuts. While mastering these shortcuts may require time, they ultimately significantly boost productivity once users become proficient.

Leverage Effective Enterprise UX Design Strategies for Competitive Advantage

Enterprise UX is crucial in boosting user efficiency, productivity, and profitability. By integrating UX considerations into the design process, enterprises can meet and exceed user expectations, enhance business operations, and drive long-term success.

So if you plan to build a new enterprise application, consider consulting with experts with experience in this niche.

We at Innovify have experienced UX experts. We’ve helped enterprises build user experiences that match their existing ecosystem.

Let’s discuss your application.

1. What are the 5 levels of UX design?

The 5 levels of UX design are strategy, scope, structure, skeleton, and surface. Each level represents a different aspect of the design process, from defining the overall goals and objectives (strategy) to creating the visual and interactive elements (surface) of the user experience.

2. What are the 4 Ds of UX design?

The 4 Ds of UX design are Discover, Define, Develop, and Deliver. These stages represent the iterative process of user-centered design, starting with understanding user needs and goals (Discover), defining the problem and user requirements (Define), developing and testing design solutions (Develop), and finally delivering the final product or experience (Deliver).

3. What are the 7 pillars of UX design?

The 7 pillars of UX design encompass key principles and elements for creating exceptional user experiences. They include usability, usefulness, desirability, accessibility, credibility, findability, and value. Each pillar focuses on different aspects of UX design to ensure the product or service effectively meets user needs and expectations.

4. What is the rule of 3 in UX design?

The rule of 3 in UX design suggests that grouping information or elements in three sets can enhance user comprehension and engagement. It is based on the principle that humans tend to remember and process information more effectively when presented in threes. This makes it easier for users to understand and navigate content or features within an interface.

5. How does Innovify help in enterprise UX design?

Innovify specializes in enterprise UX design by combining user-centered design methodologies with deep industry expertise. We work closely with businesses to understand their unique challenges and goals, conducting thorough research, prototyping, and user testing to create intuitive and impactful user experiences. Innovify’s expertise helps optimize enterprise software, applications, and digital platforms to enhance user satisfaction, productivity, and business performance.

Let's discuss your project today

Your guide to enterprise UX

Internal solutions have the aim of helping people accomplish more with their work, but what happens when the solution becomes a problem?

Enterprises have been haunted by terrible UX design for decades now, and only recently have both managers and employees started to see that there is a better way.

Investing time and care into the choosing or making of the internal software the company uses will pay off, something that most managers are aware of. Now, we have to find out just how you can make sure that your enterprise has a user experience, that is both consistent with the enterprise’s needs and reflects the stands people have grown used to. Sound difficult? That’s cause it ain’t easy to check so many boxes.

But don’t worry! We got a comprehensive guide that should help you, and your company find the path that leads to both improved productivity and happier employees: the final destination being a better enterprise as a whole. Check it out!

Why enterprise UX matters

Enterprise UX goes beyond just thinking about the user’s needs when designing your product – it also includes changing the way you look at the tools and pieces of software your company uses. It’s seeing past the fact that your employees will always try to adapt in order to keep their job, and recognizing that employees too are the final users of the tools the enterprise uses.

Most employees have been forced to work with tools that have terrible UX – and were just expected to find ways to work around the obstacles of unintuitive interfaces and complex navigation. Enterprise tools do represent a massive challenge to UX designers.

Creating a system that manages to do its job is tough, as large enterprises have complex information and actions that their employees carry out on a daily basis. Add the need for security and safety, and managers who won’t use the software calling the shots – and you got a bad enterprise UX storm on the horizon.

Bad enterprise UX is bad for business. Today, employees are used to the same UX standards that other users of consumer goods enjoy.

These standards can refer to good navigation, logical information architecture , intuitive design and just all-around better UX.

Ignoring these standards can have disastrous consequences, such as what Avon experienced in 2011 . In short, salespeople hated the new internal solution so badly that they preferred to walk away from their jobs rather than suffer it everyday.

So, what is there to gain from investing in internal software that enjoy good enterprise UX? You stand to gain not only from a financial point of view, but also on other aspects. Productivity, employee satisfaction, turnover, sales… it all connects to enterprise UX.

Building your enterprise UX team

After you come to realize just how powerful enterprise UX can be, it’s time to take the next step in ensuring that UX becomes fully integrated into the company: to create a UX design team.

Building an enterprise UX team isn’t just about listing designers and getting them all in the same project. Integrating UX design into the company requires a change in corporate culture – you want communication and usability to be key concerns of employees.

You can select a few people who will form the enterprise UX design team – but it’s crucial that this team is in close contact with the rest of the company. The trick is to create an open environment where any employee, no matter what their department is, can learn about UX should they desire.

Aside from the corporate environment, you have the actual members of the UX team. As you are probably aware, UX design covers several different aspects of the design that may require different professionals. Logically, the size of your enterprise UX design team will depend on your company, resources, products and needs.

It’s generally a good idea to invest in the talents of your staff. Applied to enterprise UX, this philosophy means that the enterprise must understand that one employee may have more than one talent to contribute.

But how do we deal with employees that have more talents to offer? And how does our enterprise UX design team manage itself? Do we need a system that dictates the tasks and time to completion? How do we even know if this framework is suitable for our UX design team?

Quick tip: Read more about how you, too, can build a UX design team that will elevate the entire company. You'll find it all on chapter 2 of this guide!

Must-have skills for UX designers

UX design – for an enterprise or not – is a relatively new concept that touches several lines of work. It’s only logical that UX designers want to be on top of their game, and sometimes developing extra skills can help designers perfect their creations.

UX design is very diverse, and so it’s not rare to find UX designers with a background in other fields – such as psychology, for example. Some skills can be considered key to the success of any UX designer, such as mastering a prototyping tool or two. Others, can have a more subtle set of benefits that will surely not only benefit the designer but the enterprise as a whole.

The best example is the eternal debate: should UX designers code? While you can make a case for both sides of the argument, knowing how to code does benefit the design process. Did you know that a report from 2017 found that one third of designers had a background in engineering – which illustrates how the lines between coding and designing are getting blurrier.

Skills for UX designers:

• Information architecture
• Programming
• Social Media
• Business/finance

Quick tip: Checkout all the other skills that your design team must have on chapter 3 of this guide.

UX conferences you can’t miss

Let’s assume you have your enterprise UX team. It’s an increasingly  popular initiative by companies to send their employees to UX conferences, and it’s not difficult to see why. This can be a great way to not only get your team on top of the latest trends in design or the latest research methodology, but also to encourage team-building.

Your designers can pick up all sorts of new tricks, and get to know what users have come to expect from other products in the market – which is great news if you want to stay competitive.

Allowing employees to learn about new aspects of UX design that they might not have focused on before is also a win for everyone – having your UI designer take an interest in information architecture is great!

Perhaps sending the entire team to a conference that covers IA ,as well as other design aspects can help this employee expand their knowledge and help them improve their own performance.

But the additional bonus is also not one to be dismissed – networking is a powerful tool.

And precisely because we know just how important these events are, we here at Justinmind, decided to offer a list of the biggest and most important UX conferences in North America, Latin America, Africa, Europe, Asia and Oceania. Events can cover UX design as a whole and last for several days, or be narrower in their topics and last for one day only. The list has something for everyone!

Note: Sending employees to UX conferences is a great way to encourage them to pick up additional skills. Give your designers an opportunity to expand their knowledge and see what they decide to apply that knowledge to!

UX strategy: the ideal process

An enterprise UX strategy is a complicated matter. It’s a common misperception to simply assume that having a goal already counts as a strategy – but Jaime Levy knows that a simple objective doesn’t cut it. But if creating an enterprise UX strategy is so incredibly difficult, then how do we even start?

We divide and conquer. Don’t start by trying to do everything at once – you want to first ask yourself a few important questions.

Why do you want a strategy? Where are you now? What opportunities are available, given the resources the enterprise has? What resources are we missing to achieve our big-picture goal?

You’ll notice that all the questions above concern your internal environment only – that’s because you want to know exactly where you are, what you have and what you’re missing before setting up any tasks or actions. Once the internal analysis is done, you ought to conduct an external analysis. What’s the competition doing? What is their UX strategy?

Once you know what you’re dealing with, both at home and in the industry, comes the time to define your goals and KPIs. You want a goal, a destination, so that you and your team set course there. Needless to say, having direction is crucial if you want the actions of the team to have the desired effect – which is to always bring us closer to that goal.

Create an enterprise UX workflow

Now that all the pieces are in place, the time comes to take all we’ve learned on this journey and apply it to the real thing: the enterprise software. Sure, the term “enterprise software” can be quite broad but in simple terms, enterprise software is any piece of software that helps people do their job.

Big corporations invest millions of dollars into complicated ERP software from giants, such as SAP because these software are very complex and take a long time to design.

But here’s the problem: even the most complex and technologically advanced enterprise software is worthless if your employees can’t use it properly. The issue might be the navigation, the interface or the microcopy – regardless, if people can’t make the most of the software, it automatically becomes an obstacle rather than a shortcut.

So how to avoid the pitfall? If even giants make the mistake of trying to implement bad UX and suffer the consequences, how can you keep from making the same mistake? It’s as simple as recognizing the connection between consumer goods and enterprise UX: employees are people. People today won’t stand for bad UX – our standards have become high for every piece of software we use. If you can see that, then half the fight is already won!

So how do you reflect that in the way you and your UX design team work on a daily basis? The answer is a well-thought out UX workflow. After all, just telling employees to do work is hardly specific or helpful enough – so instead, you want to establish a certain structure of how business is carried out with the new enterprise software.

Here are the key players in your search for a good enterprise UX workflow: user experience, key users, business analysts and the development team. A good UX workflow will connect these different players, and result in a UX design department that runs smoothly without any major hiccups.

Just like many other things in this guide, establishing a UX workflow isn’t easy. It requires change – something people don’t always welcome with open arms. How do you go about implementing all this? How can you include employees in the design process – much like you would any other user for your consumer products?

Enterprise design systems

While there are still those who consider enterprise design systems to be nothing more than fancy style guides, we take them and their potential benefits very seriously here at Justinmind. Here’s how our own chief designer, Sergi Arevalo, describes design systems.

Cool things about design systems:

• They keep everything in one place
• Ensure consistency throughout the whole product
• Allow for several people to work on the same project simultaneously
• Keep brand identity and style in check for future projects

“A design system... foster(s) better teamwork and help to maintain consistency while speeding up design and development processes. It defines what should be done to create a user experience – its components; and why that should be done – its standards.” Sergi Arevalo - Chief Designer

In recent years, design systems have been gaining popularity for the same reason that new ways of working, such as Agile management, are all the hype right now: it helps people work faster, better and with much less stress. Have everything established for your enterprise UX team: templates, UI kits, rules, principles – everything a designer would need to create something new that integrates perfectly to the identity of the enterprise.

But how does this work? What kind of rules and principles go inside a design system? What kind of companies use them? How can you, too, implement an enterprise design system and never worry about design consistency again?

The wrap up

Running an enterprise is not easy, and ensuring that you have basic UX concepts integrated into the company is even more challenging. Fortunately, now you know a few tricks that will illuminate the path towards a brand new UX strategy, a functioning UX team and UX workflow. Now, you have all the pieces of the puzzle, and can put them all together to build on your enterprise UX. Remember: bad UX is bad for business!

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The Complete Guide to UX Case Studies

Updated: October 23, 2023

Published: August 21, 2023

Writing a UX case study can be overwhelming with the proper guidance. Designing for the user experience and writing about it in a case study is much more than writing content for a webpage. You may ask, “If my design speaks for itself, should I include a UX case study in my portfolio?”

Yes, you should include UX case studies in your portfolio. And here’s why.

You need to make your portfolio stand out among the crowd. A UX case study is a great way to do that. Let’s take a minute to define what a UX case study is and look at some examples.

Table of Contents

What is a UX case study?

The benefits of ux case studies, examples of ux case studies, tips for creating a ux case study.

UX portfolios are essential to showcasing UX designer skills and abilities. Every UX designer knows better designs bring better results. Sometimes, it’s easy to let the design speak for itself — after all, it is meant to engage the audience.

But, in doing that, you, as the designer, leave many things unsaid. For example, the initial problem, the need for the design in the first place, and your process for arriving at the design you created.

This is why you need to include UX case studies in your portfolio.

UX case studies tell a curated story or journey of your design. It explains the “who, what, when, where, and how” of your design. The text should be short and sweet but also walk the reader through the thinking behind the design and the outcome of it.

[Video: Creating a UX Case Study: Right and Wrong Way to Approach It]

There are many benefits to including UX case studies in your portfolio. Think of your UX portfolio as a well-decorated cake. The designs are the cake, and UX case studies are the icing on the cake— they will catch your audience's eye and seal the deal.

Take a look at the benefits of adding UX case studies to your portfolio.

Don't forget to share this post!

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UX Portfolio Review 9: Enterprise UX Case Study

• Post author By Vy Alechnavicius
• Post date 26/01/2021
• No Comments on UX Portfolio Review 9: Enterprise UX Case Study

I just reviewed a Bulgarian experience designer Petar’s UX portfolio. What’s different about this one is that he focuses on Enterprise level SaaS solutions. 

This video is a deep dive into one of his recent cases – a developer platform to boost user engagement and sentiment. Petar covers some of the bits that I always recommend to add: experience mapping as-is experience, before jumping into to-be, and many more bits.

Sometime back I asked my viewers if there’s anyone who would like to get their UX portfolios reviewed and shared with the broader audience. While it must be daunting to put it out there, constructive feedback and specific pointers can make all the difference.

Would you like your UX design portfolio to be reviewed with constructive pointers? Drop me a line below or [email protected] . Please be explicit that you are ok with me sharing it in a video.

I recently also created a playlist that contains all my videos on UX portfolios here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLM2Dd2NIn2Co0dXW7ySkIQEl-8zMcrQiP

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International Conference on Human Interface and the Management of Information

HIMI 2014: Human Interface and the Management of Information. Information and Knowledge in Applications and Services pp 205–216 Cite as

Data Driven Enterprise UX: A Case Study of Enterprise Management Systems

• Sumit Pandey 16 &
• Swati Srivastava 16  
• Conference paper

3811 Accesses

6 Citations

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNISA,volume 8522))

This paper describes and makes a case for a data driven user experience design process for Enterprise IT. The method described employs an approach that focuses on defining the key modules (objects) in an enterprise IT software and the data sets used by these modules very early in the design process. We discuss how mapping parent child relationships between key entities in the software and the linked data helps create a holistic view of the product ecosystem which in turn allows the designer to create an uncluttered information architecture and user journey that maps closely to mental construct of the system in the user’s mind. We further argue that in the present age of big data, working with well-defined data sets and visible data relationships creates a valuable information repository for the designer to take decisions regarding task optimization and building business intelligence in the system itself. We also discuss the urgent need, advantages and methods of ‘consumerizing’ the Enterprise UI to increase users productivity and reduce the learning curve. Lastly, these ideas are exemplified through a real life case study for an enterprise server management system.

• User Experience Design
• Consumerization
• Design Process
• Enterprise IT
• User Centered Design
• Data Driven Design
• Design Patterns

Download to read the full chapter text

Chapter PDF

Moore, G.: Systems of Engagement and the Future of Enterprise IT: A Sea Change in Enterprise IT. AIIM White Paper (2010)

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Structure, Models and Meaning: Is "unstructured" data merely unmodeled?, Intelligent Enterprise, http://www.informationweek.com/software/information-management/structure-models-and-meaning/d/d-id/1030187

Fisher, D., DeLine, R., Czerwinski, M., Drucker, S.: Interactions with Big Data Analytics. ACM Interactions 19(3), 50–59 (2012)

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Moschella, D., Neal, D., Opperman, P., Taylor, J.: The ‘Consumerization’ of Information Technology. CSC Research White Paper, El Segundo (2004)

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Gillett, F.: Forrester, Employees Use Multiple Gadgets For Work — And Choose Much Of The Tech Themselves, http://blogs.forrester.com/frank_gillett/12-02-22-employees_use_multiple_gadgets_for_work_and_choose_much_of_the_tech_themselves

Mcree, J.: UX for Enterprise: Part I. Universal Mind, http://blog.universalmind.com/ux-for-enterprise-part-i/

Krieger, M.: Revolution or Evolution: What is Big Data’s impact on enterprise information systems? Enterprise CIO Forum, http://www.enterprisecioforum.com/en/blogs/mrkrieger/revolution-or-evolution-what-big-datas-i

Pierce, B.: What is Object-Oriented Programming? Types and Programming Languages. MIT Press (2002)

Kolko, J.: Abductive Thinking and Sensemaking: The Drivers of Design Synthesis. MIT’s Design Issues 26(1) (Winter 2010)

Nazarian, S.: Enterprise UX - How can we transform enterprise user experience to be more mobile, flexible, and responsive? Design Mind, http://designmind.frogdesign.com/articles/enterprise-ux.html

Saffer, D.: Designing Microinteractions, Microinteractions. O’Reilly, 2 (2013)

Gmail, http://www.gmail.com

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Clarice Technologies, Baner, Pune, India

Sumit Pandey & Swati Srivastava

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Pandey, S., Srivastava, S. (2014). Data Driven Enterprise UX: A Case Study of Enterprise Management Systems. In: Yamamoto, S. (eds) Human Interface and the Management of Information. Information and Knowledge in Applications and Services. HIMI 2014. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 8522. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-07863-2_21

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How to Craft an Outstanding Case Study for Your UX Portfolio

Writing case studies for your UX portfolio can feel opaque and overwhelming. There are so many examples out there, and often the ones that make the rounds are the stunning portfolios of top visual designers. It can be inspiring to see the most beautiful work, but don’t let that distract you from the straightforward format of a good UX case study. 

At the core, a UX case study relies on excellent storytelling with a clear, understandable structure . This article breaks down the anatomy of a UX case study to help you tell a simple and effective story that shows off your skills. We’ll start with some general guidelines and structure, then break it down one piece at a time:

UX portfolio overview

What is a ux case study, general guidelines, how to structure a case study, how to fill in the details, defining the problem, understanding your users, early or alternate ideation, final design solution, next steps and learnings.

• Final thoughts

1. Before we get started

Before we dive into all the art and science of the case study, here’s a quick refresher on what a job-winning UX portfolio looks like. In this video, pro designer Dee analyses various design portfolios to pick out what works—and what doesn’t:

Simply put, a case study is the story of a design project you’ve worked on. The goal, of course, is to showcase the skills you used on the project and help potential employers envision how you’d use those skills if you worked for them.

A case study is typically written like a highly visual article, with text walking readers through a curated set of images. Curated is an important word here, because it should be short and sweet. It’s a chance to share what you want potential employers to know about your work on this project.

With that in mind, case studies are really a UX designer’s secret weapon in two ways. First, they get you in the door by showing more about your work than a resume and a top UX cover letter ever could. Another benefit is that they’re really handy in job interviews. If someone asks about a past project, you can walk them through the case study you’ve already created (this is sometimes a requirement anyway).

I mentioned that UX case studies are about storytelling. I’d actually say they’re about stories-telling, since they need to tell two intertwined stories .

The first is the story of your project. This answers questions like what problem you solved, who your users were, what solutions you explored, and what impact they had.

The second story is about you as a designer and your process. This is more about which methods you chose to use and why, how you worked within constraints, and how you worked as a member of a team (or without one).

So what are the steps for an effective case study? Well, like most things in design (and life), it depends. Every case study will be different, depending on what stories you’re telling. The six-part outline below, though, should guide you through an effective format for any UX project story. Here’s the outline (we’ll dive into each component in just a minute):

• Defining the Problem
• Understanding your Users
• Final solution

It’s worth it to add a few general notes before we dive into each of the list items above. For each section, include 1-2 short paragraphs and an image of a deliverable that visually tells the story your paragraphs explain. A reader should be able to either just read or just look at the images and roughly get what this moment in the story is communicating.

When choosing images to include, focus on quality over quantity.  Choose your best deliverables for each stage and briefly relate them back to the larger narrative. It can be tempting to overload the page with everything you created along the way, but these extra details should stay in your back pocket for interviews.

Lastly, make sure your case study is scannable . In the best of circumstances, people don’t read word for word on the web. Make sure your text is reasonably concise, use headers and strong visual hierarchy, and use bullet points and lists when possible. If you need a refresher on how to achieve this, check out our guide to the principles of visual hierarchy .

Ok, let’s take a look at each step in a bit more detail.

2. Anatomy of a UX case study

Like any story, the introduction sets the stage and gives much of the necessary context readers will need to understand your project. This is one section where people actually might take some extra time to read carefully as they try to discern what this case study is about. Make sure they have all the details they need.

Some key questions to answer are:

• What is your company and/or product?
• What user problem did you try to solve?
• What was your role?
• What tools and methods did you use?
• What are the major insights, impacts, or metrics related to the project

After introducing the project, dive more deeply into the problem you tackled. You touched upon this in the introduction, but this section is an opportunity to make a strong case for why this project exists. Did a competitor analysis or market research demand a new product? Was there past user research in your company that suggests a needed redesign of the product?

Remember that you’ll want to create a through line in the narrative, so try to lay out the problem in a way that frames your design work as a solution.

Deliverables that work really well for this section would be:

• Analytics or usage data
• Market research of internal business metrics
• Survey results or interview highlights

After explaining the problem, show how it impacts your users and their interaction with your product. If you did original user research or you’re seeking user research-oriented jobs, sharing interview scripts, affinity maps , and spreadsheets can be useful in showing your process.

However, this section shouldn’t be only about your process. A key goal of this section is articulating who your users are and what their needs are. These findings should set up your design work that follows, so try to set up that connection.

A few types of the deliverables you might share here are:

• User personas
• Mental models
• Journey maps or customer experience maps

Keep in mind you want to communicate users’ key motivations and challenges, as well as any more specific user groups you identified.

This section can really scale up or down depending on what you have to show. Research shows that hiring managers  don’t just want the final product , so it’s clear that showing some of your process is helpful. Especially for students or designers without a fully built product to show, this can be a moment for you to shine.

Don’t worry about the low fidelity of these documents, but the rougher they are, the more you’ll need to guide readers through them. Everything you show here should teach the reader something new about your process and/or your users.

Artifacts you might include are:

• Pen and paper or low fidelity digital wireframes

If you did early testing or faced constraints that determined your future design work, be sure to include them here, too.

This section should include the most final work you did on the project (e.g. wireframe flows or color mockups) and any final product it led to (if you have it). Be clear, though, about which work is yours and which isn’t.

Explain any key decisions or constraints that changed the design from the earlier stages. If you incorporated findings from usability testing, that’s great. If not, try to call out some best practices to help you explain your decisions. Referring to Material Design, WCAG, or Human Interface Guidelines can show the why behind your design.

If you’re able to show the impact of your work, this can take a good case study and make it outstanding. If your project has already been built and made available to users, have a look at any analytics, satisfaction data, or other metrics. See what you could highlight  in your case study to show how your design improved the user experience or achieved business goals. Ideally, you can refer back to your original problem statement and business goals from the introduction.

If you don’t have any way of showing the impact of your project, lay out how you would measure the impact. Showing you know how to measure success demonstrates you could do this on future projects.

Lastly, conclude your case study by sharing either your next design steps and/or some key insights you learned from the project. This isn’t just fluff! No project is perfect or final. Showing next steps is a great way to demonstrate your thinking iterative approach (without having to do the work!).

Also, many companies do (or should do) retrospectives after each project to identify challenges and improve future processes. Use this process and the insights you gain from it to inform your case study. Letting employers know you’re capable of reflection shows humility, self-awareness, and the value you can bring to a team.

3. Final thoughts

Since each case study is a unique story you’re telling about your project, it’s a little art and a little science. But starting with the structure laid out in this article will show who you are as a designer and how you solved a problem. And those are two stories companies want to hear!

If you’d like to learn more about how to craft a great UX portfolio, check out these articles:

• 5 Golden rules to build a job-winning UX portfolio
• The best UX design portfolio examples from around the web
• The best free UX/UI portfolio websites to use
• Salary negotiation for UX designers

• Reviews / Why join our community?
• For companies
• Frequently asked questions

UX Case Studies

What are ux case studies.

UX case studies are examples of design work which designers include in their portfolio. To give recruiters vital insights, designers tell compelling stories in text and images to show how they handled problems. Such narratives showcase designers’ skills and ways of thinking and maximize their appeal as potential hires.

“ Every great design begins with an even better story.” — Lorinda Mamo, Designer and creative director

• Transcript loading…

Discover why it’s important to tell a story in your case studies.

How to Approach UX Case Studies

Recruiters want candidates who can communicate through designs and explain themselves clearly and appealingly. While skimming UX portfolios , they’ll typically decide within 5 minutes if you’re a fit. So, you should boost your portfolio with 2–3 case studies of your work process containing your best copywriting and captivating visual aids. You persuade recruiters by showing your skillset, thought processes, choices and actions in context through engaging, image-supported stories .

Before selecting a project for a case study, you should get your employer’s/client’s permission – whether you’ve signed a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) or not.

Then, consider Greek philosopher Aristotle’s storytelling elements and work with these in mind when you start building your case studies:

Plot – The career-related aspect of yourself you want to highlight. This should be consistent across your case studies for the exact role. So, if you want to land a job as a UX researcher, focus on the skills relevant to that in your case studies.

Character – Your expertise in applying industry standards and working in teams.

Theme – Goals, motivations and obstacles in your project.

Diction – A friendly, professional tone in jargon-free plain English.

Melody – Your passion—for instance, as a designer, where you prove it’s a life interest as opposed to something you just clock on and off at for a job.

Décor – A balance of engaging text and images.

Spectacle – The plot twist/wow factor—e.g., a surprise discovery. Obviously, you can only include this if you had a surprise discovery in your case study.

All good stories have a beginning, a middle and an end.

© Interaction Design Foundation. CC BY-NC-SA 3.0.

How to Build UX Case Studies

You want an active story with a beginning, middle and end – never a flat report . So, you’d write, e.g., “We found…”, not “It was found…”. You should anonymize information to protect your employer’s/client’s confidential data (by changing figures to percentages, removing unnecessary details, etc.).

You can use German novelist-playwright Gustav Freytag’s 5-part pyramid :

Exposition – the introduction (4–5 sentences) . Describe your:

Problem statement – Include your motivations and thoughts/feelings about the problem.

Your solution – Outline your approach. Hint at the outcome by describing your deliverables/final output.

Your role – Explain how your professional identity matched the project.

Stages 2–4 form the middle (more than 5 sentences) . Summarize the process and highlight your decisions:

Rising action – Outline some obstacles/constraints (e.g., budget) to build conflict and explain your design process (e.g., design thinking ). Describe how you used, e.g., qualitative research to progress to 1 or 2 key moments of climax.

Climax – Highlight this, your story’s apex, with an intriguing factor (e.g., unexpected challenges). Choose only the most important bits to tighten narrative and build intrigue.

Falling action – Show how you combined your user insights, ideas and decisions to guide your project’s final iterations. Explain how, e.g., usability testing helped you/your team shape the final product.

Stage 5 is the conclusion:

Resolution – (4–5 sentences) . Showcase your end results as how your work achieved its business-oriented goal and what you learned. Refer to the motivations and problems you described earlier to bring your story to an impressive close.

Overall, you should:

Tell a design story that progresses meaningfully and smoothly .

Tighten/rearrange your account into a linear, straightforward narrative .

Reinforce each “what” you introduce with a “how” and “why” .

Support text with the most appropriate visuals (e.g., screenshots of the final product, wireframing , user personas , flowcharts , customer journey maps , Post-it notes from brainstorming ). Use software (e.g., Canva, Illustrator) to customize good-looking visuals that help tell your story .

Balance “I” with “we” to acknowledge team-members’ contributions and shared victories/setbacks.

Make your case study scannable – E.g., Use headings as signposts.

Remove anything that doesn’t help explain your thought process or advance the story .

In the video, Michal Malewicz, Creative Director and CEO of Hype4, has some tips for writing great case studies.

Typical dramatic structure consists of an exposition and resolution with rising action, climax and falling action in between.

Remember, hirers want to quickly spot the value of what you did— e.g., research findings—and feel engaged every step of the way . They’ll evaluate how you might fit their culture. Use the right tone to balance your passion and logic in portraying yourself as a trustworthy team player. Sometimes, you may have to explain why your project didn’t work out ideally. The interaction design process is iterative, so include any follow-up actions you took/would take. Your UX case studies should project the thoughts, feelings and actions that define how you can shape future designs and create value for business.

Learn More about UX Case Studies

Take our UX Portfolio course to see how to craft powerful UX case studies.

UX designer and entrepreneur Sarah Doody offers eye-opening advice about UX case studies .

Learn what can go wrong in UX case studies .

See fine examples of UX case studies .

Questions related to UX Case Studies

A UX case study showcases a designer's process in solving a specific design problem. It includes a problem statement, the designer's role, and the solution approach. The case study details the challenges and methods used to overcome them. It highlights critical decisions and their impact on the project.

The narrative often contains visuals like wireframes or user flowcharts. These elements demonstrate the designer's skills and thought process. The goal is to show potential employers or clients the value the designer can bring to a team or project. This storytelling approach helps the designer stand out in the industry.

To further illustrate this, consider watching this insightful video on the role of UX design in AI projects. It emphasizes the importance of credibility and user trust in technology. 

Consider these three detailed UX/UI case studies:

Travel UX & UI Case Study : This case study examines a travel-related project. It emphasizes user experience and interface design. It also provides insights into the practical application of UX/UI design in the travel industry.

HAVEN — UX/UI Case Study : This explores the design of a fictional safety and emergency assistance app, HAVEN. The study highlights user empowerment, interaction, and interface design. It also talks about the importance of accessibility and inclusivity. 

UX Case Study — Whiskers : This case study discusses a fictional pet care mobile app, Whiskers. It focuses on the unique needs of pet care users. It shows the user journey, visual design, and integration of community and social features.

Writing a UX case study involves several key steps:

Identify a project you have worked on. Describe the problem you addressed.

Detail your role in the project and the specific actions you took.

Explain your design process, including research , ideation , and user testing.

Highlight key challenges and how you overcame them.

Showcase the final design through visuals like screenshots or prototypes . This video discusses why you should include visuals in your UX case study/portfolio.

Reflect on the project's impact and any lessons learned.

Conclude with the outcomes. Showcase the value you provided.

A well-written case study tells a compelling story of your design journey. It shows your skills and thought process.

A case study in UI/UX is a detailed account of a design project. It describes a designer's process to solve a user interface or user experience problem. The case study includes

The project's background and the problem it addresses.

The designer's role and the steps they took.

Methods used for research and testing.

Challenges faced and how the designer overcame them.

The final design solutions with visual examples.

Results and impact of the design on users or the business.

This case study showcases a designer’s skills, decision-making process, and ability to solve real-world problems.

A UX writing case study focuses on the role of language in user experience design. It includes:

The project's background and the specific language-related challenges.

The UX writer's role and the strategies they employed.

How did they create the text for interfaces, like buttons or error messages?

Research and testing methods used to refine the language.

Challenges encountered and solutions developed.

The final text and its impact on user experience and engagement.

Outcomes that show how the right words improved the product's usability.

You can find professionals with diverse backgrounds in this field and their unique approaches to UX writing. Torrey Podmakersky discusses varied paths into UX writing careers through his video. 

Planning a case study for UX involves several steps: 

First, select a meaningful project that showcases your skills and problem-solving abilities. Gather all relevant information, including project goals, user research data, and design processes used. 

Next, outline the structure of your case study. This should include the problem you addressed, your role, the design process, and the outcomes. 

Ensure to detail the challenges faced and how you overcame them. 

To strengthen your narrative, incorporate visuals like wireframes, prototypes, and user feedback . 

Finally, reflect on the project's impact and what you learned. 

This careful planning helps you create a comprehensive and engaging case study.

Presenting a UX research case study involves clear organization and storytelling. 

Here are eight guidelines:

Introduction: Start with a brief overview of the project, including its objectives and the key research question.

Background: Provide context about the company, product, or service. Explain why you did the research. 

Methodology: Detail the research methods, like surveys, interviews, or usability testing. 

Findings: Present the key findings from your research. Use visuals like charts or user quotes to better present the data. 

Challenges and Solutions: Discuss any obstacles encountered during the research and how you addressed them.

Implications: Explain how your findings impacted the design or product strategy.

Conclusion: Summarize the main points and reflect on what you learned from the project.

Appendix (if necessary): Include any additional data or materials that support your case study.

UX case studies for beginners demonstrate the fundamentals of user experience design. They include:

A defined problem statement to clarify the user experience issue.

Descriptions of research methods used for understanding user needs and behaviors.

Steps of the design process, showing solution development. The 5 Stages in the Design Thinking Process illustrate these steps in detail. 

Visual elements, such as sketches, wireframes, or prototypes, illustrate the design stages.

The final design solution emphasizes its impact on user experience.

Reflections on the project's outcomes and lessons learned.

These case studies guide beginners through the essential steps and considerations in UX design projects. Consider watching this video on How to Write Great Case Studies for Your UX Design Portfolio to improve your case studies.

To learn more about UX case studies, two excellent resources are available:

Article on Structuring a UX Case Study : This insightful article explains how to craft a compelling case study. It emphasizes storytelling and the strategic thinking behind UX design, guided by expert opinions and industry insights.

User Experience: The Beginner's Guide Course by the Interaction Design Foundation: This comprehensive course offers a broad introduction to UX design. It covers UX principles, tools, and methods. The course provides practical exercises and industry-recognized certification. This course is valuable for aspiring designers and professionals transitioning to UX.

These resources provide both theoretical knowledge and practical application in UX design.

Literature on UX Case Studies

Here’s the entire UX literature on UX Case Studies by the Interaction Design Foundation, collated in one place:

Learn more about UX Case Studies

Take a deep dive into UX Case Studies with our course How to Create a UX Portfolio .

Did you know the average UX recruiter spends less than 5 minutes skimming through your UX portfolio? If you want to join the growing and well-paid field of UX design, not only do you need a UX portfolio— you’ll need a great UX portfolio that showcases relevant skills and knowledge . Your UX portfolio will help you get your first job interviews and freelance clients, and it will also force you to stay relevant in your UX career. In other words, no matter what point you’re at in your UX career, you’re going to need a UX portfolio that’s in tip-top condition.

So, how do you build an enticing UX portfolio, especially if you’ve got no prior experience in UX design? Well, that’s exactly what you’ll learn in this course! You’ll cover everything so you can start from zero and end up with an incredible UX portfolio . For example, you’ll walk through the various UX job roles, since you can’t begin to create your portfolio without first understanding which job role you want to apply for! You’ll also learn how to create your first case studies for your portfolio even if you have no prior UX design work experience. You’ll even learn how to navigate non-disclosure agreements and create visuals for your UX case studies.

By the end of this practical, how to oriented course, you’ll have the skills needed to create your personal online UX portfolio site and PDF UX portfolio. You’ll receive tips and insights from recruiters and global UX design leads from SAP, Oracle and Google to give you an edge over your fellow candidates. You’ll learn how to craft your UX case studies so they’re compelling and relevant, and you’ll also learn how to engage recruiters through the use of Freytag’s dramatic structure and 8 killer tips to write effectively. What’s more, you’ll get to download and keep more than 10 useful templates and samples that will guide you closely as you craft your UX portfolio. To sum it up, if you want to create a UX portfolio and land your first job in the industry, this is the course for you!

All open-source articles on UX Case Studies

How to write the conclusion of your case study.

• 5 years ago

How to create the perfect structure for a UX case study

What Should a UX Design Portfolio Contain?

How to write the beginning of your UX case study

What is a UX Portfolio?

How to write the middle or “process” part of your case study

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Top 22 Stunning UX Case Studies You Should Know in 2022

An immersive yet well-structured UX case study helps UX professionals show off their design talents in portfolio websites, and let them communicate better with employers, designers and others easily.

However, as a UX designer , how can you write a perfect UX case study to easily get hired or communicate with others better?

Mockplus has handpicked 22 of the best UX design case study examples in 2022 to help you get inspiration, improve your portfolios and make your own things with ease. A step-by-step guideline about how to create a UX case study is also followed.

What is a UX case study?

A UX case study tells the story of how you create a great website or app and, in particular, what you do to improve the UX of the site. UX designers—newbies and experts alike—will often share a case study on a portfolio website as a great way to get hired. Just like sending a resumé. 

So, it is a lot more than just a copy of everything you've done while designing the project. To really showcase your design talent and the breadth of your abilities, you need to make sure the following are all included:

• A full description of your role in the project;
• The biggest challenges you've faced;
• The solutions you've chosen, how you chose them and why;
• How you communicate and collaborate with others; and
• The outcomes and the lessons you’ve learned.  

To this, you should feel free to add any further information that you think would help you stand out from the crowd. 

It is also worth remembering that UX case studies are a good resource for UX design beginners to learn more practical design skills and to gain from the real experience of others in dealing deal with difficult or urgent problems.

22 Best UX case study examp le s you should learn

Whatever stage you’re at and whatever you are writing your case study for, these 22 top examples are bound to inspire you. 

1. Perfect Recipe -UX design for cooking and shopping

Designer s : Marina Yalanska and Vlad Taran

Case Study : Perfect Recipe

This is a mobile application that enables users to search for food recipes and to buy what they need to cook different dishes.

Why d id  we choose this  one?

This case study illustrates the entire UX design process is very simple, plain language. Many aspects of the process are included, along with some really inspirational ideas, such as product personalization, challenges and solutions, animated interactions, and other interface details.

Extra tips :

This example is from the Tubikstudio blog, which is very popular among designers. It regularly shares different branding, UI, and UX case studies. We would strongly recommend that you follow this blog to keep yourself up to date with the latest and most creative case studies.

View details

2. GnO Well Being - Branding, Web Desing & UX

Designer : Marina Yalanska and Olga Zakharyan

Case Study : GnO Well Being

This is a creative illustration website that presents and sells a weighted designer blanket that helps you get a good night’s sleep, the first step to good health and a better life.

Why d id  we choose this ?

This example is so much more than a great UX case study. In addition to the UX design , it gives you insight into many more key design issues, such as the logo, custom graphics, website pages, interactions and so on. There are many ideas here that you could copy for your own projects.

3. Splitwiser - UI/UX case redesign

Designer : Chethan KVS (a Product designer at Unacademy)

Case Study : Splitwise

This is a concept mobile app that enables users to track and split expenses with friends. The designer has also given it another name, "Splitwise." 

Why do we choose this ?

This case study shares the designer's insights into key design decisions, such as why he chose this product, why he decided to redesign the logo, how to improve the onboarding and other pages, how to optimize the user flow, how to balance all pages and functions, how to enhance UX through bottom bars, interactions, gestures, view modes, and more.

Everything is explained using intuitive images, earning it thousands of “likes”. This is a great example that is bound to help you write a stunning case study on redesigning UX.

This comes from a popular media channel called "UX Planet" that regularly posts examples of the best and latest UX case studies from around the world. Another great place to keep you up to speed with the latest UX designs.

4. Deeplyapp.com - UX & visual improvements

Designer : Sladana Kozar

Case Study : Deeplyapp

This is a health and self-care website app that helps users maintain mental well-being with meditations and exercises. This case study talks you through the design process of creating a user-friendly mobile app.

This case study focuses on improvements to the UX and visual features of this mobile app. Many aspects are included to help you understand it better, such as the design background, what to build, UI flow diagram, discoverability design, visual balance, and much more. A full set of app interfaces are presented for you to study as well.

You can also check out its Part 1 post for more details.

5. Talent Envoy - improving the recruitment process 

Designer : Enes Aktaş (Experienced UX designer)

Case Study : Talent Envoy

Talent Envoy is an intelligent job assistant that helps users find their ideal job and get to all the way to signing a contract faster and more easily.

This case study firstly points out the biggest challenges and problems faced by job-seekers—the shortage of US recruitment markets. It then talks to you through the detail of how the designers optimized the recruitment process. You will also find information on the user research process, the UI flowchart design, the related wireframe and Sketch designs, the main page design, and more. 

All the details have clear explanations and they offer a great example of how to use user research to solve problems and improve UI interfaces.

This one comes from another hot media channel called "Muzli" which shares the latest ideas, designs, and interactions about websites or website apps from all over the world. Don’t miss out on this site if you want to stay ahead of the curve. 

6. My Car Parking - UI/UX case study

Designer : Johny Vino (Experienced UX and interaction designer)

Case Study : My Car Parking

This is a mobile app that can help people get parking slots easily even when they travel beyond their normal routes. 

This is a masterclass in how to write a case study that is simple, well-structured, and easy to understand. Many intuitive lists and images are used to explain the design ideas and processes. 

It has received “claps” from over seven and a half thousand people and   is a perfect example of how to write a well-structured and easy-to-understand case study.

7. Parking Finder App - UI/UX case study

Designer : Soumitro Sobuj

Case Study : Parking Finder App

This is another concept mobile app that makes it easy for users to find parking slots even in big or overcrowded cities.

This case study is beautifully presented and gives a good presentation of the whole design process. It covers nearly all the issues that a textbook UX case study should have, such as problems and solutions, user-centered design, design strategy, user flow, information architecture , interface wireframes and visual designs, and much more besides. 

It is one of the best examples we have found of a case study that really teaches you how to write the perfect UX case study.

8. Pasion Del Cielo - coffee ordering experience

Designer : Jonathan Montalvo (Senior Designer, Branding, UXUI )

Case Study : Pasión del Cielo

This is a concept project about a real local coffee shop in Miami.

This case study demonstrates effective ways to engage users with the Pasión brand and how a site can make it as easy as possible to turn page views into coffee sales. 

There is a lot of analysis included to explain the entire design process, such as analyzing the competition, feature analysis, brand and interface improvements, and much more. Most important of all, many user personas have been created to evaluate and enhance the UX.

This is a good example to check for anyone looking to improve their own UX case study. Above all, it shows what can be done with rich images, bright colors, clear layouts, and well-crafted personas.

9. Workaway App - UX redesign

Designer : Rocket Pix (UXUI, web designer )

Case Study : Workaway App

This is a mobile app that provides international hospitality services; it helps users to contact each other to organize homestays and cultural exchanges.

This UX design case study explains how the designer redesigned the Workaway App to make it easier for users. Many intuitive charts (pie charts, flow charts, line charts), cards, and images are used to illustrate the ideas.

It is simple and easy to follow, and also a good example of how to create an intuitive case study with charts and cards.

10. Receipe App - UI/UX design process

Designer : Dorothea Niederee (UX, UI designer   )

Case Study : Recipe App

This is a food app design offering inspirational recipes for anyone who wants to eat healthier.

This case study gives a clear demonstration of the entire UI/UX design process. Three user personas are defined to present different users' needs. Some colors, typography, and UI elements are also shared.

This is a good example of how to define a detailed user persona in your UX case study.

11. Hobbfyy - a social and discovery app UX design

Designer : Mustafa Aljaburi (UX, UI designer   )

Case Study : Hobbfyy

This is a social and discovery app that makes it quick and easy to get everything you need for your hobbies.

This case study aims to show how to develop a site that will provide its users with solutions, in this case to get what they need for their hobbies. Beautiful images, a storytelling style, and special layouts are used to explain everything.

12. Bee Better - habit tracker app UX case study

Designer :   Anastasiia Mysliuk (UX, UI designer   )

Case Study : Bee Better

This is a habit tracker app that makes it easy for you to develop new useful habits.

This case study aims to solve problems associated with how we form and develop habits. It helps users find solutions and make habit formation more interesting; it motivates them to maintain their useful new habits. Many aspects of design, such as problems, solutions, the design process, discovery and research, user journey map, prototypes, and much more are illustrated and explained in simple language.

This would be a good example to follow if you are looking to create an easy-to-understand UX case study.

13.Sit My Pet - pet sitting app UX case study

Designer : Aiman Fakia (UX, UI, visual designer )

Case Study : Sit My Pet

This is a pet-setting app that provides pet owners with a digital service that helps them connect with pet sitters.

This UX case study describes a site that aims to make pet sitting more easily accessible for pet owners. It analyzes both its users and its competitors very well. The way solutions are evaluated, the user stories, and other related aspects are followed in detail to give you a better understanding of the project as a whole.

This is a good example of how to develop a UX design based on user needs.

14. Groad - food ordering system UX case study

Designer : Phap (UI designer )

Case Study : Groad

This is a food ordering app offering food delivery services from stores, restaurants, cafés, fast food bars, and others. 

This UX case study uses beautiful illustrations and colors to explain the entire design process. As well as the usual parts of the design process—UI flow chart, UI showcasing—the related logo and icon designs, typography, and other aspects are included. This is a good example if you are looking to learn how to create an immersive case study with beautiful illustrations and colors.

15. iOS VS Android UI/UX Case Study

Designer : Johanna Rüthers

Case Study : Econsy

Here is another concept app that helps people live more sustainably by using a scanning process to give them information about the ecological and social impact of products they are thinking of buying. 

This case study explains the differences in the mobile app’s appearance when it is applied on the Human Interface Guidelines (IOS) and Material Design Guidelines (Android). This will help you to create an app that works well on both Mac and Android devices.

More UI/UX case studies & designs:

16.Timo Bank - UI/UX Case Study

Timo Bank is a mobile banking app project produced by Leo Nguyen, a freelance designer and creative director. This case study aims to provide more intuitive transfer, payment, and money management solutions for mobile users.

This is a great example to consider if you are hoping to create a better banking app.

17. Endoberry Health App Design

Endoberry Health App Design provides useful solutions for women suffering from endometriosis. In turn, this gives doctors a better understanding of individual cases. The design challenges, solutions, and UI details are displayed and explained to illustrate the design project.

18. Job Portal App

Job Portal App has been specially made for designers and freelancers. This case study uses cute illustrations, simple words, and clear storytelling to explain how the designer worked out the ideal job hunting solutions for users.

19. Cafe Website - UI/UX Case Study

Café Website gives its users a great experience by making it quick and easy to order a coffee online. Many elegant page details are displayed.

20. Ping - the matchmaker app case study

Ping is a dating app that offers users a unique and effective way to find their perfect match. As you can see, its mascot is really cute and this case study will show you how a cute mascot can enhance the UX.

21. Hubba Mobile App - UI/UX Case Study

Hubba Mobile App is a B2B online marketplace where retailers can find and purchase unique products for their stores or shops. This case study aims to explain the process of creating a special mobile app for this online marketplace. It offers a beautiful and clear presentation of the entire UI/UX design process.

22. Music App - music for children

Music App shares the fancy UI and colors from a music app made for children. It is a good example that is sure to inspire you to create a distinctive children's app.

How do you create a UX case study?

If you are still not entirely sure how to go about creating a distinctive UX case study, here are a few simple steps to walk you through the entire process from start to finish:

Step  1.  Figure out your purpose

The final outcome will depend on what it is you are trying to achieve. So, before you start writing a UX design case, you should first figure out in detail what its purpose is. Ask yourself some basic questions:

• Is it for a job interview?
• Is it for improving your personal portfolio?
• Is it designed to show off your design talents on social media?
• Is it just created to practice your design skills?
• Is it made to share design experiences with other designers?

In short, figuring out your purpose and setting a goal can make the entire design process so much easier.

Step   2.   Plan or outline your case study

Whatever you want to do, it is always a good idea to start with a plan. When it comes to writing a UX case study, you should also outline your entire UX case study and decide on what sections you want to include.

For example, nowadays, a good UX design case study often covers:

• Overview : Start with a short paragraph that introduces your project.
• Challenges  and  goals : Explain the project background and point out the biggest challenges or problems you've encountered. Explain the goals you want to achieve and how you will overcome the challenges you have identified. 
• Roles  and  responsibilities : Tell readers what role you play in the project and the specific features of your role that will help create a better product.
• Design process : Introduce the entire design process in detail so that readers can see clearly what you have done to make life easier for users. Many employers check this part very carefully to see whether you have the basic skills and abilities they are looking for. So, never underestimate the importance of this section. 
• Solutions  and  outcomes : No matter what problems you have faced, the solutions and the final outcomes achieved are what really matters. So, always use this section to showcase your skills and achievements. 

You might also want to add further sections:

• User research :   Some full-stack designers also include this to give a more comprehensive view of their design skills.
• UI designs : Some experienced designers also display their relevant UIs, and UI flow, along with low- and high-fidelity prototypes to enrich the content.

Of course, if you are a newbie, and you still have questions, why not go online and search for UX case study templates that you can study and follow.

Step 3.  Explain the design process clearly

As we've explained above, the design process is always one of the most important parts of a good UX case study. You should always introduce clearly as many of the relevant parts of the process as possible. For example: show how you and your team communicate and collaborate effectively; demonstrate how you have developed ideas to address user problems; explain how you and your team have dealt with emergencies or mishaps.  

You can also introduce the UX design tools that you have chosen to simplify the entire design process. Mockplus, is an online product design platform, enabled us to adapt quickly and effectively to working from home during the recent Coronavirus lockdown. Prototyping our designs, sharing ideas, working together in an effective team, taking the process from design to handoff, it all works smoothly with this single tool.

Step  4. Improve readability and visual appeal

The content should be the main focus of your case study—but not the only focus. To make the case study as good as possible, you also need to think about its readability and visual appeal. Here are some suggestions to follow:

• Explain everything as clearly as possible.
• Add images, illustrations, charts, cards, icons, and other visuals.
• Create a clear storytelling structure or layout.
• Choose an immersive color scheme.
• Add eye-catching animations and interactions.
• Use vivid video, audio, and other multimedia resources.

The final visual effect can be make-or-break for whether your UX case study is going to stand out from the crowd. You should always take it seriously.

Step   5. Summarize

Every UX case study can be a good chance to practice and improve your design skills. So, in your conclusion, don’t forget to analyze the entire process and summarize the outcomes. Always take a minute to figure out what lessons you should take away from the process, what tips should be remembered, what should be improved, and—most important—what your next steps are going to be.

UX case studies are one of the most essential parts of a UX designer's portfolio. The ability to write a well-structured UX case study is also one of the basic skills that a competent UX professional should have. So, UX case studies play a very important role in UX designer's life.

We hope our picks of the best UX design case studies along with our step-by-step guide will help you create a stunning UX case study.

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The True ROI of UX: B2B Redesign Case Studies

UX designers often need to convince company executives on the ROI of a UX redesign initiative. Here are some real-life B2B redesign case studies a UX team identified in order to make a compelling case.

By Miklos Philips

Miklos is a UX designer, product design strategist, author, and speaker with more than 18 years of experience in the design field.

PREVIOUSLY AT

User-centered design isn’t just about creating a great experience for customers—it’s also a smart business move.

In our previous article “ The True ROI of UX: Convincing the Executive Suite ,” we talked about how to persuade company executives on the ROI of UX, and how to illustrate the value of UX in increasing business KPIs . In this second piece, we discuss how, in order to really drive the message home, it is essential that UX teams present successful case studies of similar B2B UX redesigns.

The trouble is, finding data from real-world B2B UX redesigns is extremely challenging. Through dogged perseverance, our UX team found some useful data, but the proven difficulty of defining the ROI of UX (ie. how to exactly measure it) complicated matters further, and it became evident that the ROI of UX needed to be categorized into “soft” and “hard” dollars.

On the “soft side,” results are categorized into increased customer loyalty and net promoter scores (NPS), increased word-of-mouth referrals, productivity gains, and increased efficiency. On the “hard dollars” side, increased earnings and cost savings are gained from fewer support calls, less spent on development, fewer development “redo” cases, less user-testing, increased sales, and so on.

Here are the internal and external ROI measures:

Internal ROI

• Increased user productivity
• Decreased user errors
• Decreased training costs
• Savings gained from making changes earlier in design life cycle
• Decreased user support

External ROI

• Increased sales
• Decreased customer support costs
• Savings gained from making changes earlier in the design life cycle
• Reduced cost of providing training

The B2B UX redesign case studies below represent the results of our research into the top 15 global design agencies/consultancies who performed B2B UX design/redesign projects. These case studies come from prominent design/consulting firms such as Accenture Interactive , Boston Consulting Group , McKinsey , Forrester , IDEO , Frog Design , Fjord , Adaptive Path , and others.

ROI of UX: B2B Redesign Case Studies

Bank of america.

The giant bank identified and funded a UX redesign project to improve its online enrollment application for online banking. In developing the business case, the design team identified yield (or the percentage of customers completing the process) as the primary metric.

Prototyping and testing various design solutions with yield as the primary success metric proved a successful design strategy. The week the new registration form went live, the yield metric nearly doubled, and exceeded the desired ROI benchmark. This was a win for the design team, as well as the business unit that sponsored the project.

General Electric Software UX Unification

Known for its industrial expertise, by 2010 General Electric Co. had quietly become the world’s 14th largest software developer by revenue. These capabilities had grown opportunistically, primarily in response to requests from specific clients . As a result, little software consistency existed across the company and significant development efforts were invested in problems already solved in other divisions.

Overall, users of GE software reported that the quality didn’t reflect the excellence of GE’s hardware engineering. GE leadership decided to make an investment in creating a common software platform for the company. The Software Center of Excellence developed a UX Center of Excellence that would guide GE management, and drive the culture change to ensure that their software user experience matched their well-earned reputation for stellar hardware engineering.

Leaders, engineers, and designers collaborated to build processes and tools to support culture change together with a core foundation of design tools and success metrics that would support its UX practice. In the first year after its launch, the IIDS generated a 100% productivity gain in development teams and saved an estimated $30 million for the company. These digital transformation initiatives provided the foundation for GE Digital—and GE’s leadership in the industrial internet.

Cathay Pacific

Cathay Pacific Airways is known for its leadership in the adoption of new technologies. The airline was the first in the world to announce plans to install in-flight email, the first to link its Airbus aircraft to its maintenance centers electronically, and the first in the world to auction air tickets online.

For company employees, a staff of eight to ten people work full-time to answer questions and book travel. Working with a design consultancy, Cathay Pacific created a new online portal called TravelDesk, a one-stop shop for staff travel.

The portal design project resulted in significant cost savings for the company:

• The online portal reduced call-center volume (employee benefits center regarding policy questions, and service center regarding flight availability).
• It increased productivity. Ground staff at the airport previously spent significant time managing the listing and check-in process for employees using their travel benefits. This project reduced the time required for these tasks.

Virgin America Website Redesign

Virgin America was on a mission to make flying fun again. In 2014, the airline decided to reinvent the digital travel experience, and in order to meet the needs of modern travelers, create the world’s first responsive airline website. The company decided to design and engineer a new digital platform that could respond to modern travel needs and behaviors.

After successfully A/B testing the new design against the old, Virgin America’s reinvented responsive site was released. They announced an IPO following two successful quarters running the new site that had exceeded performance goals in the following areas:

• 14% increase in conversion rate
• 20% fewer support calls
• Flyers booked nearly twice as fast, on any kind of device

In a recent major iteration of HubSpot , the company decided to re-think the user experience on its site, starting from the ground level with user feedback. They tested entirely new conversion methods, copy messaging, and even visual treatments. As part of the process, they pushed countless experiments live, and iterated with each piece of feedback, putting the user in control.

The result? The conversion rate doubled (tripled, even, in some areas). As HubSpot receives upwards of 10 million visitors per month, one can imagine the impact this had on revenue.

Continental Office B2B Website Redesign

With a brand refresh just a few months prior, Continental Office, a customized workplace solution provider, needed to update its 6-year-old website. The team wanted to ensure they were integrating buyer personas to provide an engaging user experience complete with relevant content marketing.

The old website was fine at the time but wasn’t built around telling the whole story while understanding the customer journey.

In creating that great user experience, you have to stay relevant with what people are looking for and then build your website around that, which I believe is what we did and has allowed us to have these successful results. - Rachel Iannarino, Vice President, Marketing.

The results of getting to know customers and building a website around that speak for themselves. Through the redesign strategy , traffic increased by 103% year-over-year and net-new contacts increased by 645%.

Even though we had such great results last year, it’s already up — the number of new contacts is up over 80% from last year already. And I can’t lie; I keep waiting for these numbers to kind of plateau, but fortunately for us, the results just keep trending in a positive way - Iannarino said.

Music & Arts

Music & Arts sells musical instruments and comprises 150+ retail stores, and 300+ affiliate locations. Their sizable eCommerce site had numerous usability problems that hindered online sales.

There is a detailed case study of this UX redesign project on the Toptal Design Blog: “ eCommerce Redesigned: How Minor Changes Made Major UX Improvements .”

After a three month UX redesign project that significantly improved basic usability issues (consistency, simplicity, user flow, system feedback) their online sales increased around 30% year-over-year .

This ad-tech platform’s UX redesign project took over a year. The B2B platform was about 7 years old and was made up of a hodge-podge of UIs, a variety of different-looking web-applications that were created at different times. As the company was maturing, it needed a unified UX design and a brand-consistent look-and-feel.

As a result of the UX redesign, NPS increased from 6 (detractors) to 9 (promoters) over 3 months immediately after launch when measured against the old platform’s satisfaction data.

Final Thoughts

A very interesting experiment related to the ROI of UX was conducted by the Geoff Teehan, Director of Product Design at Facebook in 2006. They called it the “UX Fund.” The $50,000 fund invested in companies that focus on delivering great user experiences. The hypothesis was that the ROI of UX should be reflected in their stock price over time.

Over a ten year period, from 2006 to 2016—including a major financial crisis in the middle of it—the “UX Fund” returned 450% vs the Nasdaq’s 93.2% return (that’s 45% annual return over ten years which beats any other asset class). You can read more about this experiment here .

Despite the evidence that UX design investments enhance customer experience and address business problems, executives still find it a challenge to define the financial benefits using traditional ROI measures. UX designers best serve businesses if they can not only create great “designs that work,” but are able to articulate and convincingly demonstrate tangible business results and KPIs to executives and stakeholders.

In order to be convincing and really get to the heart of what executives need to hear, UX designers need to think in similar terms to business leaders. Think: how can we best provide business value? If we do this, what will the return on our investment be? What metrics will demonstrate that we’ve made the right choices?

If done well, design can help bring order and coherence to the disorder that is the current state of the B2B world and enterprise applications. A 2016 design study of 408 different companies found that the more a company focused on and invested in design, the more they saw sales increase and experienced higher customer retention rates—customer engagement soared, and they moved through product cycles faster. All this simply because they put UX design, and more importantly, the customer, at the very heart of their business.

Clearly, good user experience is good for business . Today it’s become part of a UX practitioner’s job to offer decision-makers a compelling demonstration of the true value of exceptional UX design, and that there is indeed an impressive ROI in UX.

Further Reading on the Toptal Blog:

• The Value of Design Thinking in Business
• Product Strategy: A Guide to Core Concepts and Processes
• Collaborative Design: A Guide to Successful Enterprise Product Design
• Customer Journey Maps: What They Are and How to Build One
• Great Questions Lead to Great Design: A Guide to the Design-thinking Process

Understanding the basics

How can you improve your website.

One of the many ways to improve a website is to do a user experience evaluation by bringing in a UX expert. A UX expert would consider the website’s content, its main customers, and core functionalities, and come up with a user-centered redesign solution.

What does B2B mean?

B2B is an acronym which stands for “business to business.” It signifies the exchange of products or services between businesses, rather than between businesses and consumers.

What is the difference between B2C and B2B?

B2C is a shorthand for “business to consumers” whereas B2B is an acronym which stands for “business to business.” Consumer-oriented eCommerce websites are an example of a B2C.

What are user experience goals?

The goals of user experience, or “UX,” are to deliver an experience to customers that delight and ensure that the right content, features, and functionality are presented in the right place, at the right time, in the right way.

What are UX and usability?

UX stands for user experience which refers to the “experience” an end-user has when using an interactive product. Usability refers to how easy it is to use a digital product. For digital products to work well in the real world, they need to have great usability.

What is the meaning of brand perception?

Brand perception is what’s held in the minds of customers when they hear or see something about a particular brand. Brand perception represents the brand values and quality of a brand, and how a customer would feel and think about a brand.

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Miklos Philips

London, United Kingdom

Member since May 20, 2016

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Business: Case Studies

UXmatters has published 16 articles on the topic Case Studies.

Top 3 Trending Articles on Case Studies

A ux design journey: developing a professional motion-design app for smartphones and tablets.

Today’s world of mobile app and Web-site development is seeing high adoption of UX design and research, from planning to product launch. UX design is a human-first approach to product design and sets the tone for app development, keeping the focus on satisfying your users. Whether you’re designing physical or digital products, your goal is to create useful, easy-to-use products that provide a great experience to the users who interact with them. Those everyday interactions should be enjoyable and accessible to all users. Throughout your design process, it’s important to closely integrate your UX and UI design efforts. UI design focuses on the look and feel, the aesthetic experience of a product, including its fonts, colors, visual affordances for interaction such as buttons, and page layouts.

In this article, we’ll focus on our UX design journey, creating a motion-design app for smartphones and tablets. A unique feature of this app is its platform: The use of smartphones and tablets for professional motion design is not common. Designers typically create motion designs using applications on desktop computers. Read More

Measuring the ROI for UX in an Enterprise Organization, Part 1

To stay relevant and avoid disruption through advances in technology or globalization, more and more organizations have embraced user-centered design and UX research methods. Thus, after years of fighting for a seat at the decision-making table, it is becoming more common for UX professionals to find one there. Still, executives often ask UX teams to quantify the value and return on investment (ROI) of their UX efforts. While calculating the ROI of User Experience can be challenging for consumer products and services, it can be truly daunting in enterprise organizations.

This series of articles will describe our journey of discovery in learning how to measure the ROI of User Experience at a large, Fortune-500 company that develops human capital management software and services.

The company had made the decision to invest in several innovation centers throughout the US. Observing the adoption of User Experience in other large enterprises such as IBM, General Electric, Capital One, Honeywell, Philips, and JPL, they came to believe that user-centered design was an essential component of the innovation equation. Therefore, they established our UX team just over three years ago. Read More

How IBM Is Embracing the Future Through Design

Shifting trends are forcing technology companies to reimagine their value proposition. IBM has chosen to create disruption through design. In embracing the future, the company is essentially invoking its past. Back in 1956, IBM was the first large company to establish a corporate-wide design program. But this time, the company’s goals are more ambitious.

Recently, we interviewed Karel Vredenburg, Director of IBM Design’s worldwide client program and head of IBM Studios in Canada, who told us, “We’ve put everything into this transformation.” The company is investing more than $100 million in becoming design centered. Read More

Columns on Case Studies

Business of design, learnings from design projects, finding our way, navigating the practice of information architecture, good questions, asking and answering users' questions, more than words, content that communicates, research that works, innovative approaches to research that informs design, search matters, creating the ultimate finding experience, service design, orchestrating experiences in context, all articles on case studies.

• Case Study: Designing a Web Site for a Charity Foundation By Kyrylo Lazariev
• A UX Design Journey: Developing a Professional Motion-Design App for Smartphones and Tablets By Temitope Olokunde and Soyoung Choi
• Employee-Centered Workplace Transformation By Laura Keller
• Measuring the ROI of UX in an Enterprise Organization, Part 2 By JonDelina ‘JD’ Buckley and Aaron Powers
• Case Study: Collaborative Engineering with Lean UX By Rachel Wilkins Patel
• Case Study: Adapting a Software-Development Technique for Usability Testing By Hossein Raspberry
• What Does It Really Mean to Delight Users? By Karah Salaets
• Measuring the ROI for UX in an Enterprise Organization, Part 1 By Burcu S. Bakioglu-Clift , Ben Basilan and JonDelina ‘JD’ Buckley
• Applied UX Strategy, Part 6.2: Implementation: Transforming Design By Yury Vetrov
• How IBM Is Embracing the Future Through Design By Atul Handa and Kanupriya Vashisht
• How Focusing on User Experience Helped GOV.UK Win Design of the Year By Sarah Chambers
• Using Social-Media Tools to Connect with Users: A Case Study By Linnea Smolentzov
• Working on a User-Interface Text Team: A Case Study By Cindy Huffman
• How to Respond to Typical UX Project Challenges By Baruch Sachs
• Keys to a Successful Digital Strategy: CapTech Ventures By Bill Rattner
• Introducing the Build-Measure-Learn Approach to an Analytics Tool’s Redesign By Stephanie Schuhmacher

New on UXmatters

• Evolving the User Experience to Curb Digital Addiction
• The Power of Textual Content in UX Design
• Empowering the User Experience Through Microinteractions: 7 Best Practices
• How Web-Site Design and Social Media Work Together
• Designing for the User: How Form Insights Shape UX Design Decisions

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Take a look at our recent SaaS design projects

Ricochet 360

Revamping the UI to make the learning curve for sales managers more tolerable

Landing page and product redesign for a dentist referral solution

Process Place

How we designed a workflow management app that fights organizational chaos

A time tracking web application to save your time (and money)

Haven Diagnostics

Returning to safe office spaces

Designing an MVP for a startup that helps people navigate savings needed to buy homes

UI/UX Redesign for Drone Management Platform

MVP design for a Personal Finance Platform

Transforming a PeopleSoft campus solution to deliver better UX with a flexible design team

Product design for a customer experience platform

How we designed an engaging mobile app that helps people track their habits and improve their quality of life

UI overhaul for a data analysis platform

Eleken designers join Astraea's team to enhance geospatial SaaS, attracting new customers and investors

Redesign of Web and iOS Applications for a Company that Helps People Capture Their Precious Moments

SEOcrawl grows 2X after a complete UI/UX design overhaul

UI/UX design for a freight tendering platform that connects shippers and carriers through RFI

UI/UX design for an applicant tracking system

Designing an MVP for a no-code graph visualization platform

Designing an MVP of a unique referral-based platform for enterprise sales teams

How our redesign helped a no-code data analysis platform to raise a $3.6M seed round

Helping the corporate learning management platform solve the problem of negative feedback

 A redesign for food logistics product

Redesign and dashboard design for an automated SaaS building platform

The MVP design concept for a data science product for defense and intelligence services

Revamping AI solutions provider to make it understandable for business users

Helping a property maintenance startup turn their MVP into a full-scale product

Eleken teams up with a healthcare startup to help build the most customer-centric app ever

Healthstream

How redesign helped introduce users to report customization on employees’ development

Design for a white-label web3 loyalty rewards program startup moving to a SaaS platform

Improving the design of a customizable booking platform

MVP design for a mobile app that connects contractors and on-demand workers

Advan Research

How redesign helps to attract new type of users to analytics product

A redesign of the social campaign platform and amazing marketing website design

Designing a data preparation solution: from HTML prototype to market-ready product

Process Enablement Platform

B2B SaaS startup partners with Eleken to design a Process Enablement Platform prototype

Greenventory

Design for green energy planning: How we defined Greenventory’s innovative app

Becoming the design agency for Plantiful app to revolutionize the plant industry

Design from scratch in action or how we helped quality control app to jump into SaaS market

LogitudeWorld

Eleken designed an intuitive white-label solution for a shipment tracking platform

ClearPoint Strategy

Dashboard design for ClearPoint’s award-winning solution

Drenchworks

Scaling modern software for trade contractors with a new Purchasing section

Revamping the UX of a data-driven productivity platform to make it easy to use for non-tech users

Eleken designed an intuitive software management platform for small and middle business

Data Streams

How redesign helped data management product achieve global expansion

How we built a prototype that helped to secure funding for a learning system 

UI/UX redesign for a client experience platform

Tromzo (Polaris)

First Prototype For a Code Security App

Preaching in 21st century

Innovation & Enterprise

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• For businesses

Case studies

Thinking inside the box: UCL startup improves logistics efficiency with its data-driven solution

Startup BoxxDocks, supported by UCL, has developed a track and trace platform, helping distributors to boost efficiency and cut emissions.

4 April 2024

BoxxDocks is the brainchild of UCL alumnus James Della Valle (BSc Architecture 2020 and MSc Architecture 2023), Amarjit Pall and Alessandro Attanzio.

The trio, who worked together previously, came together during lockdown when they noticed an untackled issue in the UK logistics industry. Namely, the lack of innovation and visibility in distributors’ backend logistics.

“We could see many businesses were struggling as a result of a lack of real-time visibility into the whereabouts and condition of their shipped goods,” explains BoxxDocks co-founder and CTO James. 

“Environmental concerns and the carbon footprint of operations were also a priority, which were being exacerbated by the widespread use of non-reusable packaging.”

BoxxDocks retrofits existing reusable packaging (such as plastic logistics boxes) with advanced tracking and tracing technology. This technology gives companies real-time visibility into the location and condition of each box in a way they haven’t had access to before.

Companies can then analyse data from the packaging to boost efficiency. Crucially the packaging can also be re-used, doing away with single-use plastics and cardboard, lowering costs and environmental impact.

After receiving business support from UCL Innovation & Enterprise, BoxxDocks secured investments from TechStars, British Design Fund and Angel Investor to take their solution to market.

The company was named one of the top 100 startups in the UK in 2021 by TechRound. They also won the Wired Award in 2022 by TATA, were Santander’s Hatchery Start-up of the Year 2023 and were included in TransportTech 50 Top 10 for 2023.

BoxxDocks recently launched their solution with Sigma Pharmaceuticals, a UK leading pharmaceutical distributor, and are now expanding their services in multiple sectors.

Read more about James Della Valle’s experience of setting up a startup with support from UCL .

Find out more about:

• Entrepreneurship support available to UCL students and recent graduates
• UCL’s Hatchery startup incubator programme
• Sigma Pharmaceuticals introduces BoxxDocks’ data-driven track and trace solution
• UCL entrepreneurs win global Techstars investment
• The Bartlett School of Architecture

Photo © BoxxDocks

Email:   [email protected]

Meet the team

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Customer Case Study: DataStax and Semantic Kernel

Sophia Lagerkrans-Pandey

Greg stachnick.

April 4th, 2024 0 0

Today we’ll dive into a customer case study from Datastax and their recent press release and announcement on the DataStax and Microsoft collaboration on RAG capabilities on DataStax Astra DB Thanks again to the DataStax team for their amazing partnership!

Microsoft and DataStax Simplify Building AI Agents with Legacy Apps and Data

In the ever-evolving landscape of artificial intelligence (AI) development, bridging the gap between legacy applications and cutting-edge AI technologies is a challenge for many enterprises. Companies often have hundreds or even thousands of existing applications that they want to bring into the AI world. Recognizing this challenge, Microsoft and DataStax have joined forces to simplify the process of building AI agents with legacy apps and data. Their latest partnership announcement combines AI development by enabling seamless integration of DataStax Astra DB with Microsoft’s Semantic Kernel.

Microsoft’s Semantic Kernel is an open-source SDK that helps solve this challenge, by making it easy to build generative AI agents that can call existing code. We’re excited to announce the new integration of Semantic Kernel and DataStax Astra DB that enables developers to build upon their current codebase more easily, vectorize the data, and build production-grade GenAI apps and AI agents that utilize the relevance and precision provided by retrieval-augmented generation (RAG).

 What’s so cool about Semantic Kernel – shared by DataStax

Semantic Kernel  is a GenAI/RAG application and agent orchestration framework in Microsoft’s stack of AI copilots and models. In many ways, it’s similar to LangChain and LlamaIndex, but with more focus on enabling intelligent agents. Semantic Kernel provides capabilities for managing contextual conversations including previous chats, prompt history, and conversations, as well as planners for multi-step functions and connections (plug-ins) for third-party APIs to enable RAG grounded in enterprise data (learn more about why RAG is critical to generating responses that aren’t only contextually accurate but also information-rich  here ).

Another cool thing about Semantic Kernel is that prompts written for a Python version during app iteration can be used by the C# version for much faster execution at runtime. Semantic Kernel is also proven on Microsoft Azure for Copilot and has reference frameworks for developers to build their own scalable copilots with Azure.

Introducing the Astra DB Connector

DataStax has contributed the Astra DB connector in Python. This connector enables Astra DB to function as a vector database within Semantic Kernel. It’s a game-changer for developers building RAG applications that want to use Semantic Kernel’s unique framework features for contextual conversations or intelligent agents, or for those targeting the Microsoft AI and Azure ecosystem. The integration allows for the storage of embeddings and the performance of semantic searches with unprecedented ease.

By combining Semantic Kernel with Astra DB, developers can build powerful RAG applications with extended contextual conversation capabilities (such as managing chat and prompt histories) and multi-function or planner capabilities, on a globally scalable vector database proven to give more relevant and faster query responses.

A performance booster for Python developers

While this release will benefit a broad swath of the GenAI developer community, it’s of particular interest to those who work in the Microsoft/Azure ecosystem. By integrating Astra DB directly into Semantic Kernel, developers can now leverage Astra DB as a data source in their existing applications, streamlining the development process and enhancing application performance.

To add Astra DB support to a Semantic Kernel application, simply import the module and register the memory store:

The integration of Semantic Kernel and Astra DB extends beyond technical enhancements, paving the way for a range of business use cases from personalized customer service to intelligent product recommendations and beyond. It’s not just about making development easier; it’s about enabling the creation of more intelligent, responsive, and personalized AI applications that can transform industries.

For more information about this collaboration, visit the following links from DataStax:

• DataStax and Microsoft Collaborate to Make it Easier to Build Enterprise Generative AI and RAG Applications with Legacy Data | DataStax
• Announcing the New Astra DB and Microsoft Semantic Kernel Integration: Elevating Retrieval Augmented Generation | DataStax

Please reach out if you have any questions or feedback through our  Semantic Kernel GitHub Discussion Channel . We look forward to hearing from you! We would also love your support, if you’ve enjoyed using Semantic Kernel, give us a star on  GitHub .

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New Case Study: Using Scenario Planning to Consider Emerging Risks

Downloadable Case Study

Looking for how organizations use scenario planning to address risks and capitalize on opportunities?

The case study focuses on the use of scenario planning as part of an Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) process, by examining the objectives for scenario planning, the development and evaluation of scenarios, and the ways that outcomes from scenario planning are used.

Examples of Scenario Planning

The case study is based on input from 20 companies covering 12 different industries including healthcare, financial services, pharmaceuticals, apparel, personal products, beverages, utilities, and others.  In addition, the study identifies critical success factors, areas targeted for improvement, common barriers, and the use of technology in the process.

Tips for Effective Scenario Planning

The case study addresses these topics:

• Identifying and defining the purpose of the scenario planning workshop:
• Planning the scenario planning activities and how the sessions will be structured and facilitated.
• Pinpointing both internal and external inputs to the process, such as subject matter experts, risk owners, senior management and ERM leaders.
• Summarizing and aggregating outcomes from the various scenario planning activities.
• Managing critical factors for a successful scenario planning workshop, including common barriers to the process
• Leveraging technologies tools to help facilitate scenario planning activities.

The case study ends with a summary of several best practices.

Original Article Source: “A Look into The Future with Scenario Planning: A Survey of ERM Practices”, Kiersten Woodring, Carson Chrismon, Justin Yim, and Danny O’Dirling, NC State University ERM Initiative, February 2020

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What is enterprise risk management (erm), integrating erm with other risk and assurance functions, balancing erm’s focus on operational risks and emerging risks.