SAP Usability Activities at ASUG 2002 Annual Conference & Vendor Fair
By Beth Russel and Markus Latzina ,Usability Engineering Center, SAP AG – 06/05/2002
What are Usability Activities?
For more than two years usability activities at ASUG events have given ASUG members the opportunity to give feedback to SAP developers, product management specialists, and usability experts in a hands-on, one-on-one setting. The purpose of the activities is to provide maximum input on new solutions and improve existing solutions that are in the process of upgrade.
Usability Activities at ASUG 2002 Annual Conference
At the ASUG 2002 Annual Conference & Vendor Fair in Anaheim (USA), May 12-15, usability activities were conducted by a team of 40+ dedicated usability team members from a range of 15 SAP development groups. About forty different solutions were featured falling into ASUG's six business process areas:
- Business Technology
- Customer Order Management & Delivery
- Financial Management & Internal Controls
- Human Capital Management
- Organizational & Enterprise Planning
- Supply Chain & Product Management
The usability activity sessions ran in parallel to the regular educational sessions. At this year's conference the sessions featured a usability test in which each participant was asked to solve a number of job-related tasks and give spontaneous feedback. Usability team members observed the test participant's behavior in order to find out where the specific solution - which may be just a prototype or an offline application - works well and where it needs some redesign to better accommodate the user's goals and task at hand. Usually a session lasted 60-90 minutes.
Post-conference Analysis and Communication
Development groups are now in the analysis & communication phase, which includes the analysis and interpretation of findings in order to come up with (re-)design ideas. In addition, the Usability Group which organized and helped to conduct the usability activities is analyzing participants' responses, which they entered in an evaluation form at the end of each session. More detailled information is upcoming. A joint presentation by a number of the groups which participated is planned for the SAP-internal Project Forum in Walldorf on June 27, 2002.
Future Usability Activities
Are you interested to conduct usability tests or other types of usability activities? Contact Ulrich Kreichgauer at the Usability Engineering Center.
