User Experience Innovation In Multinational Corporations

Don't reject unconventional use of your products. Embrace unanticipated ways that your customers use your products. 🚀 As product managers, we design, develop, and forecast how our products would be used by customers. But what happens when our customers surprise us by employing our products in entirely unexpected ways? Some examples 💡 Collaboration tools like Slack or Microsoft Teams were designed to facilitate team communication and project management. However, users have expanded their use cases by creating virtual communities, hosting webinars, or even organizing online events and conferences. 💡 Ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft were originally created as an alternative to traditional taxis. However, users have found additional uses, such as using these services for deliveries, running errands, or even as a means of transportation for their pets. 💡 Crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter or Indiegogo were designed to help individuals raise funds for creative projects. Users have extended their use cases to include launching new product lines, funding charitable initiatives, or even validating market demand for new business ideas. Instead of resisting unexpected customer usage, product managers should eagerly embrace the unanticipated, reaping the rewards of uncharted territory. 1️⃣ Listen and Learn: Actively seek feedback from your customers and diligently monitor their usage patterns. Their unanticipated usage reveals new needs and pain points, allowing you to unlock innovation and tailor your product more effectively. 2️⃣ Adapt: Embrace the mantra of flexibility and adaptability. By tweaking your product roadmap to incorporate unexpected use cases, you can stay ahead of the curve and respond to emerging customer demands with agility. 3️⃣ Redefine User Research: Traditional user research focuses on expected use cases, but true insights lie in understanding the context and motivations behind unexpected usage. Dive deeper into your customers' experiences to unveil hidden opportunities and build stronger, more customer-centric products. #productmanagement #productleadership #productinnovation #productdesign

As I've expanded from cloud and commerce to finance, fintech, and payments, I've seen the huge opportunity and need for UX in this complex category. Fintech is about helping people create and exchange value, where trust is essential and every second counts. People want tools they never need to second-guess, not to mention that they find delightful, making UX crucial. (Shopify's Shop Pay has always surprised me by how genuinely happy I am when I see that it is an option). In fintech, complexity is often hidden beneath the surface. This is true in every category but which is particularly true in finance. We need to balance visible and invisible elements, requiring creative problem-solving and a keen understanding of how to balance tech, regulatory environments, and human needs to drive innovation that adds user (and business!) value. Inspired by Simon Taylor's recent rant (it's excellent, you should read it), here's a framework I'm thinking through to navigate fintech UX challenges: Friction-Efficiency Balance: Optimize necessary friction while eliminating the unnecessary. Duh, I know. But it's easy to forget that friction can be beneficial (e.g., to prevent errors or ensure security). Our goal is to find the sweet spot where friction enhances the experience without hindering it. Hidden Complexity Management: Design intuitive interfaces using techniques like progressive disclosure and simplification, and by providing clear and concise feedback to users. Also, duh, but so much easier said than done! Trust-Building through UX: Foster trust through transparency, clear communication, and by understanding and designing for key emotional design elements related to finance. Inclusive UX: Not covered in Taylor's rant but critical to include. Design accessible experiences following the latest standards and guidelines, conducting accessibility testing, and committing to inclusive research practices. Full-Spectrum Research: Build a UX-driven culture with continuous user research and testing throughout the product lifecycle -- from exploratory to evaluative research (discover and de-risk). Especially critical in the context of generative AI-powered experiences. What other aspects of fintech UX deserve more attention?

The biggest challenge in user experience isn’t research or execution — it’s proving impact on the business. Design doesn’t speak for itself. You have to connect the dots between user insight and business outcomes. Executive support doesn’t hinge on polished prototypes. It hinges on showing how your work moves the business forward. Here are 5 ways to bring UX and business into alignment — and turn design into a growth lever: 𝟭. 𝗠𝗮𝗽 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝘀𝘆𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗸𝗶𝗰𝗸-𝗼𝗳𝗳 Want support? Know what they care about. Whether it’s speed, revenue, risk, or reputation, tailor your framing to their drivers and their biases. 🎯 Someone obsessed with sunk cost? Show long-term savings. 📊 Data-driven skeptic? Come with a prototype and a revenue forecast. 𝟮. 𝗕𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆, 𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝘆 Your best critics become co-owners when they’re part of the journey. Invite cross-functional stakeholders into problem-framing workshops. Co-create problem definitions. Align on what matters before the pixels move. 💬 Early involvement = fewer late-stage “surprises.” 𝟯. 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘀 Executives speak numbers. If your research can’t be tied to retention, revenue, or risk mitigation, it gets sidelined. 🧠 “Users were confused by the form” → “This friction costs us $XM/month in lost conversions.” 𝟰. 𝗣𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗶𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 Skip the 40-slide deck. Try an “impact brief.” Focus on the most powerful video clip. Use AI summaries. Give busy execs a frictionless way to get it. ⏱ Clarity wins trust. Brevity wins time. 𝟱. 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗰𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗺 Want executive buy-in? Don’t ask for a leap of faith. Pilot something small. Deliver a win. Share results. Then propose the next step. 📈 Stakeholders fund demonstrated momentum, not hypothetical potential. Bottom line: Great experience doesn’t just serve users. It drives strategy. But only when we meet the business where it is, and bring it with us. How are you aligning UX with business value in your work? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

In the age of hyper-automation and generative AI, the most powerful insight your HR software can capture isn’t what users say, it’s what they don’t. Every delayed click, abandoned form, and silent pause tells a story. Yet 90% of HR platforms today still treat user experience as a static checklist, blind to the nuance of human behavior. A 2024 report by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Digital Experience Lab found that platforms using passive behavioral inputs, like hover time, scroll hesitation, and navigation loops, improved task completion rates by up to 37% compared to those relying solely on forms and explicit feedback. Even more telling: employee satisfaction scores rose by 22% when the system “preemptively adapted” without users needing to submit complaints or support tickets. “Great UX today means anticipating friction, not reacting to it,” says Dr. Miriam Blackstone, behavioral systems scientist at the University of Toronto. “Passive inputs are the new emotional telemetry of enterprise software.” Most HR systems are still “form-first,” requiring employees to articulate needs, even when confused, fatigued, or disengaged. But WebHR flips that paradigm. It listens to micro-signals: where users stall, when they repeat steps, how they react to specific fields, and then quietly reshapes the experience to support them. This article explores the silent revolution in UX: how passive signal processing will define the next decade of intelligent HR design, and why WebHR is already leading with an architecture built to sense, adapt, and simplify without asking. If you’re building systems for a global, distributed, time-starved workforce, this piece will reshape how you think about feedback, productivity, and software empathy. for more https://web.hr

Accessibility isn’t just about compliance—it’s a driver of innovation! Yet, many companies still see accessibility as an afterthought rather than a key metric of business success. Microsoft transformed its Xbox Adaptive Controller, making gaming accessible to millions. For decades, video games were designed with a standard controller in mind—two joysticks, multiple buttons, and triggers. But what about players with limited mobility? Enter the Xbox Adaptive Controller (XAC). Microsoft didn’t just tweak an existing controller—they co-created it with gamers who have disabilities. The result? A revolutionary, modular design that allows users to customize inputs based on their unique needs. + Designed for flexibility – Large programmable buttons and multiple input jacks let players connect switches, joysticks, and other assistive devices. + Built with community input – Microsoft worked with organizations like The AbleGamers Charity and SpecialEffect to ensure real-world usability. + Revolutionized an industry – The XAC paved the way for more inclusive gaming, proving that accessibility isn’t just a checkbox—it’s a business advantage. This wasn’t just a win for gamers with disabilities. It was a lesson in human-centered innovation: 🎮 Solve for one, extend to many – Customizable, ergonomic design benefits a broader audience, including those recovering from injuries or experiencing temporary impairments. 🎮 Innovation thrives on inclusion – By focusing on diverse needs, companies unlock new markets and drive better user experiences for everyone. 🎮 Accessibility fuels brand loyalty – Microsoft’s commitment to inclusive gaming strengthened its position as an industry leader, proving that designing for all is good for business. 💡 What’s one product you love that was designed with accessibility in mind? #InclusiveInnovation #Accessibility #DesignThinking #Innovation

Starting with the user experience is a fundamental best practice. Not so much for industrial tech. 76% of industrial companies report frontline workforce challenges. One of the reasons: We build our technology focused on an asset, or a KPI, or a manufacturing process, or a data type, or a ... This leaves the operator, mechanic, electrician, supervisor, process engineer, controls engineer, or manager with a kluge of different disconnected technologies. Insert some supply chain disruptions, worker turnover, and lack of trainning materials... It quickly becomes an environment where new workers struggle to see a path to success. Enter #CFW applications. These solutions strive to address the full user experience of frontline roles. And they are growing faster than any other major category of industrial software. QAD, IFS, and now Epicor have made major acquisitions in the space. Many major LNS Research member clients have strategic and funded future of industrial work initiatives. Is this the start of a new paradigm? Maybe. ERP vendors have struggled (remember MES and EMI) in the past with indusrial software. But my sense is they have learned and these new technologies better play to their strengths. But hopefully, at least, it will push industrial automation and industrial software behmoths to reconsider their approach to developing and delivering technology - with a prioritization on frontline user experiences.