2021 Release Features Redesigned Profiles with “Carding Components” that Eliminates Guesswork and Reduces Clicks
User Experience Matters
Last year we published a blog about How User Experience Impacts Services Delivery. The post covered how usability and sophisticated technology merge to make services delivery easier on executives, managers and consultants. These people are required to juggle many sophisticated tasks critical to maintaining a healthy bottom-line. That in and of itself is stressful enough. Doing it with software that does not make sense to them bogs them down further.
Services automation software that groups data illogically requires many clicks to make sense of things like project status, and the underlying details. For example, if a delivery manager changes an assigned resource on a project, everyone impacted needs an easy, immediate way to understand how that change affects their work.
Unfortunately, this is not always the case which makes services workers’ jobs more difficult. If information in thier software application does not flow well, cognitive load increases. All of it adds up to wasted time trying to find, understand, and action their critical services delivery tasks.
Updated Profile Views for Changepoint SA
Changepoint is tackling this issue head-on with its new 2021 release centered around an enhanced profile view. Since February of last year, our primary strategy with Changepoint SA is has been reimagining the user experience by enhancing its look and feel with a contemporary design. The enhanced set of profiles, centered around Customers and Projects, use a “view card” concept that groups related information together. This helps users better discern and uncover important details related to services project status, KPIs, active workflows and more – with less cognitive load and fewer clicks.
Greg Davidson, our Director of Product Management for Changepoint SA says it best, “These enhanced profiles give our users a modern experience that provides greater data visibility and discoverability. By grouping services information through a carding experience, users will know almost instantly what actions are needed to keep services projects tracking to success.”
The Customer Profile
These updated profiles have several components that place information in front of people in intuitive, straightforward fashion like:
- Carding Components: groups important profile information in a way that’s easy to grasp. Each card has supplementary information, allowing users to quickly identify and investigate key information within the profile. The Customer Profile above has cards related to things like customer opportunities, contracts and projects. With clear visibility into these respective areas, users can then dive deeper by clicking right on the card itself, as opposed to clicking around the entire tool.
- General Information and Status: displays important status items with regards to the profile you are viewing. Referring to the Customer Profile above, general information about the customer including account type, address, and contact information, are right there for users to access quickly. You will know everything about the customer like key stakeholders and important representatives.
- Summary KPIs: this section, located across the top on the right, surfaces KPIs associated to the profile. For example, in the Customer Profile users will see “cards” related to number of contracts, invoices and more – all tied to that specific customer. This keeps leaders apprised of factors that could potentially hamper delivery success like the project schedules slipping and late invoicing.
The Project Profile
Wait, there is more! Above you see a screenshot of the Project Profile. While the overall concept around how information is presented is the same as that of the Customer Profile, it varies slightly. This profile is project based, with appropriate sections related to:
- Budget: helps users understand how well the services project is tracking to budget. This is key for keeping the engagement thriving and cash flow positive.
- Workflows: illustrates all workflow processes tied to the services delivery project. It helps financial, resource and project managers understand progress throughout the delivery lifecycle while fostering greater governance.
- Project teams list each team member, their function, billing role, estimated hours and a start and finish date for those hours. This sets the stage for the agility needed to optimize resource utilization.
The Mission Continues
These updated profiles are the latest in a series of user experience enhancements from Changepoint SA, following the releases of Project Worksheet and Resource Planner, new mobility enhancements, as well as Self-service Analytics dashboards. These design updates are based on in-depth user experience testing that ensures our software continues being easy while not requiring users to invest in too many clicks. From color-scheming, to navigation, to design, Changepoint will continue delivering pleasant, meaningful experiences that meet enterprise software workers’ expectations.
We are just getting started. Stay tuned for exciting new features as we continue taking the user experience to the next level.
For more information, visit the Planview Changepoint Services Automation software page.
