Interfaces CRM: the main thing that the suit sat?
Steve Jobs was once asked: "What makes Mac OS X so cool?" He replied: "We made the buttons on the screen so beautiful that you want to lick them." Since 2007, this bike has been replicated from the blog to the blog, from article to article, changing its details: asked about the iPod, iPhone, etc. ... However, Martin Lindstrom in his legendary Buyology refers us to the first candy-colored iMac when Jobs said that wants to achieve this effect, so that people would like to try the computer to the taste. In any case, it is obvious - Apple sought to intimacy with the consumer almost at the level of the senses. And he achieved this with the help of an interface - physical, graphic, gestural.
The world exploded: we are surrounded by incredible designs and colors, we control the technology with touches and gestures, the native laptop does not start if you don’t look into his eyes, and the accountant continues to sit in 1C, which seems to bother with interface issues only occasionally. However, a recent question with Toster pushed me to the study of CRM interfaces: “Please tell me that in your concept of CRM in Russian consists of 1-2 words. We do the interface in which we want to call things simple language. In this case, select the name for the menu item. Whether such simplifications and simplifications are necessary whether it is - we will try to understand.
The main goal of any business is to make a profit, no matter how lofty values ​​are proclaimed in the mission. In a competitive environment, the key to profit is a satisfied customer (customer, dealer, etc.). Successful implementation of CRM determines the quality of customer management and helps to work smoothly, quickly and without “forgotten” transactions. Accordingly, CRM, like any program for the operational management of the business, must meet three basic requirements:
In general, almost all serious CRMs are redundant from the outset - this is the essence of this class of programs, the vendor cannot know in advance what functions each of the thousands of users will need. The developer makes a system that meets most requirements and decides how to adapt the system for individual needs:
Most managers use CRM "as is" and they have to deal with the user interface that opened before them after installing the program. The distribution of software users to novices, middle peasants and pros, proposed by Alan Cooper, more than ever works for those who work in CRM systems. The success of the introduction and application of CRM in the company is determined precisely by the speed of the user’s transition from the “novice” to the “middle peasants” - and, oddly enough, the success of the vendor depends on the speed and quality of such a transition. If your CRM development was not mastered and soon abandoned, it will certainly sooner or later turn into a negative for you on the market. Vendors sometimes do not realize that their system will be used by ordinary salespeople and marketers without technical education, often promoted not owning a computer or simply lazy.
')
Meanwhile, any CRM system should have a number of standard interface features:
Let's do a little laboratory work and look at the interfaces of the five selected CRMs. I ’ll make a reservation right away: at first glance, the conditions of the participants are slightly unequal - two CRMs with a web interface ( BPMonline and amoCRM ) and three - with desktop ones ( FreshOffice , RegionSoft , Clic ) are compared , but this is true from the point of view of the level of product development and popularity of systems with our customers.
Initially, users expect maximum simplicity and convenience from the web-interface because the product works in the same browser in which everyone is accustomed to open search engines, social networks and so on ... In fact, the browser is the most familiar medium for most modern users who do not use special programs in professional activities. However, the expected furore does not happen - the user gets the usual interface of the business system, harmonious and beautiful in terms of design and standard, if not complicated, from the standpoint of usability.
Let's start the analysis from the main window - the “desktop” in CRM . In terms of its view settings, Desktop Region Soft and Clic have definitely succeeded, in which the necessary modules, schedulers, panels can be placed into the main window. The same two systems are leading in the range of colors for the interface design - the developers clearly reacted with humor both to the palette and to the names of the themes. It can be assumed that the developers of Clic are Star Wars fans and therefore provided for all sorts of cosmic interface colors, and the RegionSoft developers decided to differentiate their potential users by color and even provided for the color of the Shameless Glamor skin for glamorous ladies and Black Ultras for brutal men. But these actions, for all their humorous fullness, are not accidental: the color brings the user closer to the system. Often this happens - you sit down to work in a new program and you do not know where to poke the cursor, climb into the settings, change the color to the one you like. The first interaction was successful. The system has become more familiar - as if the wallpaper in the new apartment was re-glued. And besides, now the system displays not only data, but also a glamorous or brutal individuality of the user. In general, such a trifle with a serious background.
CliC offers its famous stylized “speedometers” and a weather-currency widget, which, however, overloads the already overloaded space, and is also completely irrelevant in the conditions of disconnection from the network. RegionSoft paid more attention to business objectives and goals - they organized their “desktop” on the principle of an airplane control panel: the maximum number of available modules is in the form of buttons, in the same window you can display a set of schedulers and a KPI panel, notifications and results for the current day . This interface is suitable for those who tightly control their time and their tasks.
FreshOffice refused the main window, implementing it in the form of a fairly convenient top panel. amoCRM offers a nice desktop for web-system with reminders, tasks, negotiations - everything important is on the user's eyes. In BPMonline, the desktop has been replaced with a side panel with clearly marked modules. In general, both web-systems are convenient for the user's “eyes” and are organized according to the classical perception zone in the form of the letter F.
In the web-interface there are no hot keys , which, as the combinations are memorized, significantly speed up the work of the employee. From desktop systems, hotkeys are provided in RegionSoft and Clic, they allow you to manage the creation, modification, saving data. FreshOffice clearly has a cloud version and is therefore deprived of the ability to control using keyboard shortcuts.
The data entry fields in the listed CRM are organized differently. In desktop systems, these are standard input fields, which are hard to miss. In cloud systems, fields are organized differently: in amoCRM, these are convenient, clear fields, in BPMonline , these are single lines, over which the user must enter data similar to input fields in mobile applications. Additional inconveniences make up collapsed groups of data that need to be disclosed with an additional click. For the sake of experiment, the phone entry fields were checked in the customer cards - all CRM safely “ate” both letters and symbols, none returned a warning about incorrect data, only the RegionSoft has a number storage mask that allows unification of call numbers. Meanwhile, number entry patterns, wired into the code using regular expressions, would help the system operators to get offensive errors, due to which customers are lost. It is especially important to take into account vendors that produce systems with integrated IP-telephony.
An important element of the user interface is the availability of help and the ability to call it from the system itself . Despite the common joke that the Russian person will first break and then look into the manual, the CRM-system reference is a universal reference book, which users often refer to both at the “beginner” stage and at the “middle peasant” stage. Of course, all five systems have extensive user guides, however, the help call is not intuitive for FreshOffice and Clic and is completely absent from RegionSoft - they have help filed in a separate PDF file. However, what help looks like is a matter of taste: it is convenient for someone to browse through the manual in the next window, while others would prefer to print a PDF and use it as a book. The main thing is that she could answer all the questions. amoCRM , for example, except for the manual, contains a system of built-in prompts. In general, amoCRM is very friendly to beginners, but, alas, not enough for more or less serious companies.
The buttons in the dialog boxes of the listed CRM return the expected results, are located in the expected places, but in most systems (except amoCRM), after pressing the save button, a feeling of "failure" appears - the program does not return the answer, but silently saves the data. This action wants to constantly double-check - an extremely uncomfortable feeling when working with a business decision. However, each vendor came up with a solution to this problem: BPMonline changes the color of the button, RegionSoft has provided two buttons “OK” (saves and silently closes) and “Save” (saves without closing). But a unified approach to the controversial issue of preservation in business software has not yet appeared.
A serious aspect of system and user interaction is the speed and responsiveness of the interface. In web-systems everything is simple - the speed depends on the speed and stability of the Internet connection, there is no Internet - there is no work, the session is broken - the data has not been saved. In the desktop, the speed of CRM depends on how smartly the DBMS works - here FreshOffice and Clic (it even has a data processing progress bar !) MySQL plays RegionSoft , which runs on lightweight, high-speed Firebird - this system’s interface response follows the user's action.
The directories in most CRMs are not filled or filled up very sparingly - the developers paid little attention to this point, while the ready data for filling in the fields from the drop-down lists allows you to start working in the system quickly and comfortably. In terms of directories ahead of other RegionSoft with organized and filled directories and FreshOffice with separate directories for the sections. The remaining systems structure and fullness of reference books are not strengths. But the user should not forget that the directories can be expanded and supplemented - then the work of the whole company will be unified, and the data - reliable.
All this research is not a boring quibble for good commercially successful products, but caring for users. It is the parameters of the user interface that determine the purity and accuracy of the input data, which is crucial for a system that works with money, exchanging data with accounting and forming the primary and closing documentation.
As mentioned above, desktop CRM is redundant - when developing business software, it is almost impossible to avoid complications without running into a trash. Often, users themselves complicate the system by overloading their working windows, leaving unnecessary modules and fields after the initial system setup. Moreover, there are users who prefer to include everything just in case - according to the browser principle with additions and widgets. The result is the same - sooner or later, the system overloaded with unused elements will either start to hang or break your eyes when working with it. Therefore, at the stage of CRM implementation, it is important to carry out the initial setup of the system for each user - this does not take much time and will save energy in the future.
Why do developers often move away from the standards of interface design and give vent to the imagination?
There are three main reasons for this.
The pursuit of originality. Originality is revealed in two extremes: the maximum simplification and the transformation of CRM into a notebook with beautiful Dashboards or the complication of an interface with maximum “bells and whistles”. Do not forget that the program for business should be primarily a convenient and effective tool with high efficiency - a hammer with a crystal handle and gold striker is handsome, but not able to perform its functions. CRM is an automation system, it should not increase the user's task chain, otherwise it will not compete with a sheet of paper and a ballpoint pen as an alternative data carrier and input device.
Ignorance of the user. Sometimes developers are guided not by the needs of the business for which they create a solution, but by the “best practices” of foreign companies or competitors. At the same time, completely incomprehensible “import” fields appear in the systems, such as the American numbering plan or invoice registration, while in Russia both acts and invoices, the forms of which are absent in CRM, are no less needed.
CRM as a trend. If such engines as Terrasoft , RegionSoft and Clic live on the market for more than ten years, today the market is flooded with new fashionable CRM every month, which can really save a five-field customer card. Developers produce raw, ill-conceived solutions, get their buyer, who, of course, afterwards refuses not only the purchased system, but also CRM as a whole. In pursuit of simplifications and flirting with the user, vendors get at it ridiculously - corporate systems with a chicken and a magic button, systems in the style of “a little bit and web 1.0” are already known. They forget the truism that they meet all the same by their clothes, and if the system does not look business-like, then things will not work in it.
It is very difficult to choose CRM for your business, it is even more difficult to work and work correctly in it. Therefore, the choice is to be guided not only by the price and bright windows of screenshots on the site, but also the capabilities of these windows. Remember that the key to successful implementation is a combination of skillful use of functionality + cleanliness and data unification. And then any interface will become much friendlier.
The world exploded: we are surrounded by incredible designs and colors, we control the technology with touches and gestures, the native laptop does not start if you don’t look into his eyes, and the accountant continues to sit in 1C, which seems to bother with interface issues only occasionally. However, a recent question with Toster pushed me to the study of CRM interfaces: “Please tell me that in your concept of CRM in Russian consists of 1-2 words. We do the interface in which we want to call things simple language. In this case, select the name for the menu item. Whether such simplifications and simplifications are necessary whether it is - we will try to understand.
CRM for business: we work in them
The main goal of any business is to make a profit, no matter how lofty values ​​are proclaimed in the mission. In a competitive environment, the key to profit is a satisfied customer (customer, dealer, etc.). Successful implementation of CRM determines the quality of customer management and helps to work smoothly, quickly and without “forgotten” transactions. Accordingly, CRM, like any program for the operational management of the business, must meet three basic requirements:
- allow you to achieve the goal in the shortest possible time - work quickly and without lags, it is easy to deploy and update, to have obvious modules with the usual names;
- to be as convenient as possible - everything is customized for the user, a minimum of superfluous, control of data entry, detailed reference books;
- save labor costs - make all the actions obvious and in the least number of clicks, allow you to create and save custom values, automatically fill in the associated fields in different modules.
In general, almost all serious CRMs are redundant from the outset - this is the essence of this class of programs, the vendor cannot know in advance what functions each of the thousands of users will need. The developer makes a system that meets most requirements and decides how to adapt the system for individual needs:
- modify for an additional fee under the order (as desktop vendors Terrasoft , RegionSoft , Clic )
- allow you to disable unnecessary partitions (modules, fields, widgets) or include the necessary ones (deeply implemented in desktop Terrasoft , RegionSoft , Clic , to a lesser extent in FreshOffice and amoCRM )
- to offer built-in tools for self-completion by advanced users (especially RegionSoft and Clic succeeded in this with their powerful capabilities of self- doping ) of the system’s functionality.
Most managers use CRM "as is" and they have to deal with the user interface that opened before them after installing the program. The distribution of software users to novices, middle peasants and pros, proposed by Alan Cooper, more than ever works for those who work in CRM systems. The success of the introduction and application of CRM in the company is determined precisely by the speed of the user’s transition from the “novice” to the “middle peasants” - and, oddly enough, the success of the vendor depends on the speed and quality of such a transition. If your CRM development was not mastered and soon abandoned, it will certainly sooner or later turn into a negative for you on the market. Vendors sometimes do not realize that their system will be used by ordinary salespeople and marketers without technical education, often promoted not owning a computer or simply lazy.
')
Meanwhile, any CRM system should have a number of standard interface features:
- the possibility of making and fixing frequently used items in the main panel (on the so-called "desktop" CRM)
- readable and understandable names of functional sections and modules (for example, as in a question from Toster - CRM is a generally accepted understandable abbreviation, you should not translate it and turn it into something incomprehensible)
- good and convenient custom filters
- up-to-date, well-designed printing forms and well-thought-out document templates (for example, invoice forms must meet the latest legal requirements, and not be hopelessly weary)
- convenient file attachment and saving
- simple set of basic commands of the program.
CRM comparison: a little lab work
Let's do a little laboratory work and look at the interfaces of the five selected CRMs. I ’ll make a reservation right away: at first glance, the conditions of the participants are slightly unequal - two CRMs with a web interface ( BPMonline and amoCRM ) and three - with desktop ones ( FreshOffice , RegionSoft , Clic ) are compared , but this is true from the point of view of the level of product development and popularity of systems with our customers.
Initially, users expect maximum simplicity and convenience from the web-interface because the product works in the same browser in which everyone is accustomed to open search engines, social networks and so on ... In fact, the browser is the most familiar medium for most modern users who do not use special programs in professional activities. However, the expected furore does not happen - the user gets the usual interface of the business system, harmonious and beautiful in terms of design and standard, if not complicated, from the standpoint of usability.
Let's start the analysis from the main window - the “desktop” in CRM . In terms of its view settings, Desktop Region Soft and Clic have definitely succeeded, in which the necessary modules, schedulers, panels can be placed into the main window. The same two systems are leading in the range of colors for the interface design - the developers clearly reacted with humor both to the palette and to the names of the themes. It can be assumed that the developers of Clic are Star Wars fans and therefore provided for all sorts of cosmic interface colors, and the RegionSoft developers decided to differentiate their potential users by color and even provided for the color of the Shameless Glamor skin for glamorous ladies and Black Ultras for brutal men. But these actions, for all their humorous fullness, are not accidental: the color brings the user closer to the system. Often this happens - you sit down to work in a new program and you do not know where to poke the cursor, climb into the settings, change the color to the one you like. The first interaction was successful. The system has become more familiar - as if the wallpaper in the new apartment was re-glued. And besides, now the system displays not only data, but also a glamorous or brutal individuality of the user. In general, such a trifle with a serious background.
CliC offers its famous stylized “speedometers” and a weather-currency widget, which, however, overloads the already overloaded space, and is also completely irrelevant in the conditions of disconnection from the network. RegionSoft paid more attention to business objectives and goals - they organized their “desktop” on the principle of an airplane control panel: the maximum number of available modules is in the form of buttons, in the same window you can display a set of schedulers and a KPI panel, notifications and results for the current day . This interface is suitable for those who tightly control their time and their tasks.
FreshOffice refused the main window, implementing it in the form of a fairly convenient top panel. amoCRM offers a nice desktop for web-system with reminders, tasks, negotiations - everything important is on the user's eyes. In BPMonline, the desktop has been replaced with a side panel with clearly marked modules. In general, both web-systems are convenient for the user's “eyes” and are organized according to the classical perception zone in the form of the letter F.
In the web-interface there are no hot keys , which, as the combinations are memorized, significantly speed up the work of the employee. From desktop systems, hotkeys are provided in RegionSoft and Clic, they allow you to manage the creation, modification, saving data. FreshOffice clearly has a cloud version and is therefore deprived of the ability to control using keyboard shortcuts.
The data entry fields in the listed CRM are organized differently. In desktop systems, these are standard input fields, which are hard to miss. In cloud systems, fields are organized differently: in amoCRM, these are convenient, clear fields, in BPMonline , these are single lines, over which the user must enter data similar to input fields in mobile applications. Additional inconveniences make up collapsed groups of data that need to be disclosed with an additional click. For the sake of experiment, the phone entry fields were checked in the customer cards - all CRM safely “ate” both letters and symbols, none returned a warning about incorrect data, only the RegionSoft has a number storage mask that allows unification of call numbers. Meanwhile, number entry patterns, wired into the code using regular expressions, would help the system operators to get offensive errors, due to which customers are lost. It is especially important to take into account vendors that produce systems with integrated IP-telephony.
An important element of the user interface is the availability of help and the ability to call it from the system itself . Despite the common joke that the Russian person will first break and then look into the manual, the CRM-system reference is a universal reference book, which users often refer to both at the “beginner” stage and at the “middle peasant” stage. Of course, all five systems have extensive user guides, however, the help call is not intuitive for FreshOffice and Clic and is completely absent from RegionSoft - they have help filed in a separate PDF file. However, what help looks like is a matter of taste: it is convenient for someone to browse through the manual in the next window, while others would prefer to print a PDF and use it as a book. The main thing is that she could answer all the questions. amoCRM , for example, except for the manual, contains a system of built-in prompts. In general, amoCRM is very friendly to beginners, but, alas, not enough for more or less serious companies.
The buttons in the dialog boxes of the listed CRM return the expected results, are located in the expected places, but in most systems (except amoCRM), after pressing the save button, a feeling of "failure" appears - the program does not return the answer, but silently saves the data. This action wants to constantly double-check - an extremely uncomfortable feeling when working with a business decision. However, each vendor came up with a solution to this problem: BPMonline changes the color of the button, RegionSoft has provided two buttons “OK” (saves and silently closes) and “Save” (saves without closing). But a unified approach to the controversial issue of preservation in business software has not yet appeared.
A serious aspect of system and user interaction is the speed and responsiveness of the interface. In web-systems everything is simple - the speed depends on the speed and stability of the Internet connection, there is no Internet - there is no work, the session is broken - the data has not been saved. In the desktop, the speed of CRM depends on how smartly the DBMS works - here FreshOffice and Clic (it even has a data processing progress bar !) MySQL plays RegionSoft , which runs on lightweight, high-speed Firebird - this system’s interface response follows the user's action.
The directories in most CRMs are not filled or filled up very sparingly - the developers paid little attention to this point, while the ready data for filling in the fields from the drop-down lists allows you to start working in the system quickly and comfortably. In terms of directories ahead of other RegionSoft with organized and filled directories and FreshOffice with separate directories for the sections. The remaining systems structure and fullness of reference books are not strengths. But the user should not forget that the directories can be expanded and supplemented - then the work of the whole company will be unified, and the data - reliable.
All this research is not a boring quibble for good commercially successful products, but caring for users. It is the parameters of the user interface that determine the purity and accuracy of the input data, which is crucial for a system that works with money, exchanging data with accounting and forming the primary and closing documentation.
Who is to blame and what to do?
As mentioned above, desktop CRM is redundant - when developing business software, it is almost impossible to avoid complications without running into a trash. Often, users themselves complicate the system by overloading their working windows, leaving unnecessary modules and fields after the initial system setup. Moreover, there are users who prefer to include everything just in case - according to the browser principle with additions and widgets. The result is the same - sooner or later, the system overloaded with unused elements will either start to hang or break your eyes when working with it. Therefore, at the stage of CRM implementation, it is important to carry out the initial setup of the system for each user - this does not take much time and will save energy in the future.
Why do developers often move away from the standards of interface design and give vent to the imagination?
There are three main reasons for this.
The pursuit of originality. Originality is revealed in two extremes: the maximum simplification and the transformation of CRM into a notebook with beautiful Dashboards or the complication of an interface with maximum “bells and whistles”. Do not forget that the program for business should be primarily a convenient and effective tool with high efficiency - a hammer with a crystal handle and gold striker is handsome, but not able to perform its functions. CRM is an automation system, it should not increase the user's task chain, otherwise it will not compete with a sheet of paper and a ballpoint pen as an alternative data carrier and input device.
Ignorance of the user. Sometimes developers are guided not by the needs of the business for which they create a solution, but by the “best practices” of foreign companies or competitors. At the same time, completely incomprehensible “import” fields appear in the systems, such as the American numbering plan or invoice registration, while in Russia both acts and invoices, the forms of which are absent in CRM, are no less needed.
CRM as a trend. If such engines as Terrasoft , RegionSoft and Clic live on the market for more than ten years, today the market is flooded with new fashionable CRM every month, which can really save a five-field customer card. Developers produce raw, ill-conceived solutions, get their buyer, who, of course, afterwards refuses not only the purchased system, but also CRM as a whole. In pursuit of simplifications and flirting with the user, vendors get at it ridiculously - corporate systems with a chicken and a magic button, systems in the style of “a little bit and web 1.0” are already known. They forget the truism that they meet all the same by their clothes, and if the system does not look business-like, then things will not work in it.
It is very difficult to choose CRM for your business, it is even more difficult to work and work correctly in it. Therefore, the choice is to be guided not only by the price and bright windows of screenshots on the site, but also the capabilities of these windows. Remember that the key to successful implementation is a combination of skillful use of functionality + cleanliness and data unification. And then any interface will become much friendlier.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/236915/
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