Improving Erp Usability

Improving ERP Usability Through User-System Collaboration

Tamara Babaian Computer Information Systems Department Bentley College Waltham, MA 02452-4705 (781) 891-3161 Fax: (781) 891-2949 tbabaian@bentley.edu

Wendy Lucas Computer Information Systems Department Bentley College Waltham, MA 02452-4705 (781) 891-2554 Fax: (781) 891-2949 wlucas@bentley.edu

Heikki Topi Computer InformationSystems Department Bentley College Waltham, MA 02452-4705 (781) 891-2799 Fax: (781) 891-2949 htopi@bentley.edu

Abstract Anecdotal evidence strongly suggests that enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems have unintuitive user interfaces that hinder usability, frustrate users, and ultimately interfere with their successful adoption and utilization in organizations. Despite the huge costsassociated with poorly implemented systems, ERP usability has received little attention from the IS and HCI research communities. We argue in this paper that existing theories on usability should be extended to address the unique challenges resulting from the size, complexity, and integrated functionality of these industrial behemoths. We believe that collaboration theory is a new and beneficial way toconceptualize the relationship between the user and the system. This theory has the potential to provide a foundation for user-system interaction that enhances user performance and satisfaction with ERP systems.

Keywords: Usability, Enterprise systems, ERP, Collaboration theory, Collaborative user interfaces

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Introduction A recent study by Forrester Research (Chew, Orlov, & Herbert, 2003)evaluated eleven different ERP products, including SAP, PeopleSoft, Oracle, JD Edwards, Microsoft and Lawson. Its findings suggested that poor usability characteristics and the unintuitive user interfaces of these systems contribute to decreased productivity and increased costs for businesses using them. In trying to perform a number of standard tasks that should have been “straightforward”without any training, the analysts from Forrester found that several of these tasks required “inordinate patience and expertise” to complete (Gilbert, 2003). The overall conclusion was that “users should demand better usability.” Yet, there has been little movement to date toward improving the design of the user interface components of these systems by either ERP vendors or the usability community as awhole. This motivates the research initiative described here. Given the time, effort, and money expended on implementation and training, it is surprising that so little attention has been focused on understanding the ways in which users interact with ERP software and the degree to which the interaction model supports the tasks being performed. In this paper, we suggest that applying the principlesof collaboration (Bratman, 1992) to systems development provides a means for addressing the gap between the capabilities of the ERP system and harnessing those capabilities to meet each user’s individual objectives. By “collaboration,” we refer to the collaboration between the user and the system, as opposed to using computing technology to support collaboration between users, which is commonlyreferred to as computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW). The novelty of our research lies in its emphasis on the relationship between collaborative support, task performance, and satisfaction. We believe that the more aligned the technology is with the user’s goals, the

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better able it will be to respond in a collaborative manner to the user’s needs, enhancing both task performance andsatisfaction with the process. Our long-term research goal is to improve the usability of enterprise systems by increasing the collaborative capabilities of their interfaces. This research currently includes the following components: • Field studies focusing on the nature of the users’ everyday needs and interactions with these systems • Development of enterprise system design guidelines based on...