Ted here lives in a world where his phone warns him to leave early for his next appointment because of traffic. He’s also able to order a sandwich on the go from his local deli so that it’s just ready when he reaches to pick it up. And yet, his company’s mobile app does not provide any real-time updates of canceled appointments, often throwing his work schedule in disarray.

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The boundaries between products and services are merging into integrated experiences all over the digital world. Clearly, enterprise products have a lot of catching up to do.

Andrew McAfee, Co-Director of the IDE and Principal Research Scientist at the MIT Sloan School of Management had spoken about Enterprise 2.0 way back in 2009 when Instagram and Snapchat hadn’t even launched, and WhatsApp had just gone live. He highlighted the growing importance of collaboration among users, people networking, and novel content creation thanks to the free-form nature of social media products.

Cut to today, and there is a growing need and a call for collaboration and accessibility among enterprise users which has warranted a change in business dynamics. Microsoft Office vs. Google Docs is an example of how user behavior has compelled enterprise product designers to reshape their strategies and introduce more “social” features. Additionally, gaming design paradigms are also seen as an inspiration for crafting intuitive and personalized enterprise experiences.

Designing for power users

The best performing B2C services exhibit a full-circle user experience. This involves breaking down internal barriers among physical, digital, and service design. The importance of user-centricity demands a broad-based view of where design can make a difference.

What is common between Swiss Army Knife and Google’s home page? Simple, efficient design that lets the users do exactly what they want to and gives them exactly what they ask for. User-centric design is at the heart of both, disruptive and sustained commercial success in physical, service, and digital settings. But, just as B2C digital products compete for users, businesses compete for talent. With the line separating tools at work and those for personal use blurring rapidly, user and employee expectations are bound to grow. Are companies equipped to meet those expectations?

Clearly, running a business through this complex web of stakeholders requires capable digital resources.

Trying to recreate ‘wow’ moments for enterprise users seems like a fantastic idea on paper. Let’s not forget, B2B customer-experience index ratings significantly lag behind those of retail customers. B2C companies typically score in the 65 to 85% range, while B2B companies average less than 50%. However, the truth remains that the fundamentals of good design apply to both, albeit with some key differences in the design approaches. Here are 4 points to keep in mind while designing B2C-inspired experiences for enterprise users.

1. Map customer journeys instead of replicating interactions

Sure, it’s great to want a facility that can send a message or an email with a single tap, or have a natural-sounding voice assistant help out with customer queries. But, B2B workflows don’t involve a single customer at a time, but a plurality of stakeholders which in turn creates complex buying behaviors. For example, an auto component manufacturer’s actual buyers are the automaker’s procurement group, whereas its true users are the carmaker’s R&D team and the assembly technicians. Thus, the manufacturer has to deploy a sales team to handle the client’s procurement team; its own R&D team looks after the carmaker’s R&D team; and finally, its manufacturing lead is connected to the client’s assembly line manager. A structure such as this is key to aiding the component maker to have a smooth business relationship with his client.

So while it would be nice to have a feature that helps send a quotation via email in a single tap, speed may not be as important here as sending out the right figures ensuring fair deals. These differences only come into play when user journeys are mapped to reveal actual pain points. Journey mapping collects insights through a firsthand study of users in their own environment, thus revealing underlying needs as well as potential points of delight. B2B journeys require made-to-order solutions, extra services, or additional checks before installing shiny new features.

2. ‘Wow’ with caution

source: pinterest.com

Speaking of shiny new features that wow users, always proceed with caution as well as restraint. Consumer products allow a free-wheeling playground for instant delight and gratification.

There’s a memoji or a GIF that perfectly matches the user’s mood when communicating or deciding the course of an evening with a right or left swipe. Quirky microcopy, snappy UI interactions are key to building a product’s personality and experience. That said, things work differently in the B2B space. The quirky microcopy can come across as unhelpful and the snappy UI can only become distracting. The average enterprise user is already an expert and he’s using this tool to accomplish his daily (perhaps mundane but mission-critical) tasks.

In the words of Matt Armstrong, Product Designer at Dropbox, “Whenever you add a detail to a design, it should enhance that specific element rather than overpower it, and ideally aid in making the overall experience more usable or comprehensible.”

3. Acing the go-to-market dynamic

source: google.com

No article based on incorporating B2C trends into enterprise products can be complete without a shoutout to Slack — the poster child for the go-to-market dynamic. Slack’s simple yet sleek product experience itself was a primary driver of customer adoption. From its Giphy integration to its customized loading messages, Slack is a case study on doing enterprise products right. So what’s their secret?

When designing new features, Slack follows a 3-step design process dedicated to learning more about what users want and how well can the team execute it. Prior to the prototyping phase, the design team consults the yearly and quarterly plans alongside the information gathered during discovery to ensure that they’re moving in the right direction. Thus, be it commercial or enterprise, a user-centric approach is key to creating delight in users and ultimately acing that go-to-market dynamic.

4. Treat design as a process and not a phase

source: google.com

Coca-Cola’s Real Magic campaign, which dropped worldwide September 29 this year showcased their new ‘hug’ logo based on a design strategy that focused on consumer experiences. The campaign includes images, artwork, and photography created by a wide array of talent across the globe. What’s truly magical about the logo is that its iconic typeface wraps around what is assumed to be a Coca-Cola bottle — except that we don’t really see it (but it’s there).

Manolo Arroyo, Coke’s global CMO says, “Back to 1886 and that pharmacy, everything that surrounded the product, the vessel we pour it into, the syrup dispenser, the siphon, the contour bottle; It’s a great example of design thinking. But the world has now changed and so has the way people interact with brands. Jacob’s pharmacy had just one door. Today, there are many doors and windows we use as starting points. This is about making sure every touchpoint is consistent and unified.”

It is clear that design works best in organizations that thrive on learning, testing, and iterating with users. These are steps that boost the odds of creating breakthrough products and services while simultaneously reducing the risk of big, costly misses. Bringing delight to users in the manner of B2C products may be well-intentioned, but design is to be treated as a process and culture rather than a sprint or a quick-fix.