Recently, there’s been a lot of conversations and questions about the various low or no-code platforms, and how they might possess the ability to transform the way we design and build SAP applications. It’s easy to see the appeal of platforms that offer the ability to take the development and deployment of applications from months to weeks. To make things even more challenging, there are a lot of low-code platforms out there all promising to do the same thing. So what are business and IT leaders to do when it comes to transforming their existing SAP applications into ones that function better for their end-users?
To help answer this question, I want to discuss some of the laws of User Experience. Let’s discuss how we can use them to come to informed decisions. For this blog, we’ll only go through a few of them, but if you want to learn more about the laws of UX, Jon Yablonski has written a great book on the subject.
To make the decision on using a low-code platform or a more custom development process, we should consult Tesler’s law. Tesler’s law is the “law of conservation of complexity” which states that every application holds an inherent amount of complexity that can’t be designed away. When looking from the perspective of SAP applications, a lot of complex processes are imperative in running a business. No matter how much we simplify those processes through new applications, there is still an inherent amount of complexity that we need to account for. So how does this apply when deciding if a low-code platform or custom development is the right choice?
In my experience, low-code platforms can provide a quality user experience only for relatively simple processes or transactions. Some examples might include; dashboards, simple forms, or list reports that help us find something like a sales order and view its details. However, even that can get tricky. We often go beyond the limitations of what the low-code platforms allow us to do. This is especially true when working with clients to reimagine and redesign complicated business processes and applications. Those processes have an inherent amount of complexity. We use custom development when creating great user experiences through task automation, combining data from various sources, and updating application navigation. Otherwise, we’re left making a tradeoff between user experience, which often has the highest business value, and what’s possible within a particular low-code development platform.
Let’s say you’ve done your homework. For your next development project, you think a low-code platform is the best choice. It’s a simple use case. With the reduced development time, you’re confident that you can deliver value quickly for your end-users. When it comes time to evaluate low-code platforms to use, Jakob’s Law is here to help. Named after pioneer of web usability Jakob Nielsen, this law is about a user’s experience with other sites or applications. This includes the mental models they create, and how that informs their experience with your product.
A great example of this would be e-commerce sites. Most have a search bar towards the top of the page or navigation options across the top and/or left. Further, you see product lists/details dominating the main content area, and a shopping cart icon in the top right corner. If you have an e-commerce site with a similar design, users don’t have to learn to use your site. The products or services can be the star.
Similarly, for enterprise applications, your users likely already have some expectations and mental models for how those apps should behave. It makes sense to align your chosen low-code platform to one that delivers an SAP experience if your users utilize SAP applications as their primary way of working. However, today this means the Fiori experience. This is achievable with Fiori Elements, SAP’s Mobile Development Kit, or through solution extensions like Mendix. Using a tool that delivers a non-SAP experience may work better if your users rarely use SAP. This does not include using SAP for a few small transactions. In this case, there is a wider range of platforms to choose from. You should select one that fits your particular needs.
Ultimately, you should base the decision to go with a low-code platform or custom development on user needs and the complexity of what needs to be built. I have found that talented designers and developers can achieve much more than what’s possible within low-code platforms. Quality development helps take complexity away from the user. If you do decide that low code is the way to go, consider what experiences the users have today. Make sure you align with a platform that will be most familiar for your end-users. Keeping key experience principles in mind throughout the design enables you to make the right decisions.
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