Many small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) have internal tools like administrator panels, dashboards, approval queues and data entry platforms. However, just because these technologies are common does not mean they typically look good or are easy to use. How can decision-makers apply the principles of intuitive backend design to their user experience (UX)?
The Importance of a Well-Designed Backend
Many business leaders deprioritize the look and feel of internal tools because they believe the consumer-facing user interface (UI) is the only one that matters. While the assumption that software for employees is somehow less important may seem harmless, it can significantly impact productivity and morale.
Software developers can hardly concentrate when they bounce between pages, documents and platforms for one project. Research shows that resuming an interrupted task takes roughly 25 minutes on average, affecting productivity. As a result, businesses take longer to release updates and complete requests.
Clutter complicates things. Even seemingly straightforward tasks can be tedious if employees lack well-designed backend software. In addition to being time-consuming, it makes them error-prone. For example, they may cause version control issues when changing their copy of a file without updating the original.
While there’s never a perfect time to revisit backend software design for employees, many SMBs are already planning to make changes to their technologies. One study found that the organizations they surveyed were far more likely to adopt new technologies or migrate their existing systems to the cloud in 2023 than in the past. As more businesses continue to follow this trend and update their software or move to cloud-based technologies, the upcoming changes create a great opportunity for optimizing internal tools’ UX in the process.
Principles of Intuitive Design for Internal Tools
Standardization is one of the leading design principles for backend software. Layouts, colors, patterns, placements and shapes should be similar across employee-facing platforms to minimize the amount of onboarding and upkeep needed. Any new hire should be able to train on the fundamentals of one tool and readily apply it to others.
Another one of the most essential principles involves context awareness. Unlike consumers, employees will use internal tools for hours at a time — the average person spends over 6.5 hours on their screen daily. Relevant design decisions like adding dark mode or incorporating keyboard-friendly navigation are key.
Employees — especially those who work remotely with their setups — may access internal tools in unconventional ways. You must be prepared, whether they have a dual monitor setup or use a laptop. Consider how aspect ratio and display size affect text scaling, scrolling and button size.
Maintenance is another principle of intuitive backend design. Around 57% of developers state their company has at least one full-time employee dedicated to maintaining internal applications, meaning 43% do not. What happens when they quit? Do development operations fall into disrepair? Assign someone — or two people since redundancy is a lifesaver — to this role.
5 Tips for Making Internal Tools More Intuitive
Follow these tips to ensure you create a unified, optimized backend UX for employees:
Overdesign has been the cause of death for many a good UI. You don’t need over-the-top animations or transitions for an intuitive, appealing UX. Your strategic use of colors, layouts and design elements is enough to make the tool attractive and enjoyable to use. Prioritize functionality above all else and allow aesthetics to come naturally to you as you progress.
Setting and tracking a baseline enables you to address pain points as they emerge and optimize for usability. Track backend-specific metrics like productivity, mouse movement and click volume. Your goal should be to minimize the work developers must do before they can complete a task.
Your team will occasionally encounter unexpected situations. For example, what happens when they need to approve a request, but the person with authorization is out of office? That scenario is basic, but it gets the point across. Accounting for and accommodating edge cases during the initial design phase prevents operational hiccups later.
When it comes to ease of use, feedback is everything. Real-world usability testing should be a core component of UX optimization because a live environment differs significantly from staging. Ask your team what they like and dislike about their internal tools’ UI, getting specifics on what they would change.
As employees get used to the new UX, they will want additional features, options and shortcuts. Create a framework that lets them request these things, and incorporate the most popular. Minor personalization can be beneficial if you have multiple teams with their own codebases, technology stacks and release schedules.
The Bottom Line of Optimizing Backend UX
These design principles and tips can help you optimize your UX, ensuring backend employees can use internal tools effectively. Remember, big changes like these take time — do not feel concerned if your metrics seem to slide back initially. Eventually, if you make the right decisions, you should see gains.
