SAP DESIGN GUILD

SAP Usability Activities at ASUG Events: Collecting Feedback From End Users

By Keri Carpenter, SAP User Experiene, SAP Labs, Palo Alto – 06/05/2007

Overview

• Summary
• What is ASUG and how does it Relate to SAP?
• What are Typical SAP Usability Activities at ASUG events?
• Events
• Previous Events
• Additional Information and Resources

 

Summary

At ASUG events, SAP development staff – developers, product management specialists, and user interface designers – have the opportunity to collect feedback on design concepts and applications directly from end users. This is accomplished by carrying out SAP Usability Activities, including usability tests, user interviews, or focus group sessions. The User Productivity Group of SAP Labs in Palo Alto organizes and supports these activities by collaborating with development groups in all phases: preparation, on-site support, and post-event analysis and reporting.

 

What is ASUG and how does it Relate to SAP?

ASUG stands for "Americas' SAP Users' Group." ASUG is an independent, non-profit organization of SAP customer companies and eligible third- party vendors and consultants. The organization's goals are to educate members, facilitate networking among colleagues and SAP representatives, and influence future SAP product releases and direction. ASUG has more than 1,300 corporate memberships, which includes over 30,000 individuals who participate in ASUG functions throughout the year.

SAP Usability Activities are part of the Product Changes section of the mutual ASUG-SAP Influence Model, working towards the creation of benefits for both ASUG members and SAP.

 

What are Typical SAP Usability Activities at ASUG Events?

Usability activities give SAP colleagues the opportunity to interact with a wide array of SAP customers, partners, and prospects one-on-one, in a hands-on setting. Individual activity sessions normally last 60-90 minutes, and include one or a combination of the following:

• Usability Testing
• Interviews
• Focus Group Sessions

How do you benefit from conducting SAP Usability Activities at ASUG events? You can receive direct feedback and ideas from the end users with regard to your application or design concept. When using prototypes this helps to make the right design decisions and avoid risks at an early stage of the development phase, thus increasing chances that your final design will meet customer needs. By conducting usability activities, development groups put the Usability Standard of our Product Innovation Lifecycle (PIL) into practice which is based on the ISO standard 13407 on Human-Centered Design Processes for Interactive Systems, particularly with regard to:

• Actively involving users
• Iterating design solutions
• Evaluating designs against requirements

Usability activities bear the potential for additional benefits which are closer related to product management or product definition goals: e.g., inquiring about customer requirements, educating participants about new design features or development directions. While a portion of participants also wants to learn something new, they choose usability activities deliberately for their high degree of interactivity and opportunity to give personal input.

See how SAP Usability Activities ("Usability Testing") fit into the mutual ASUG Influence model

 

Events

2007

ASUG Fall Forums

• Sept. 19-21: Supply Chain Management, Product Lifecycle Management and Enterprise Asset Management, San Francisco, CA
• Nov. 12-14:  Human Capital Management, Financials and Public Sector, Orlando, FL

2007 ASUG/SAPPHIRE Annual Conference & Vendor Fair

• April 23-25:  ASUG/SAPPHIRE Annual Conference & Vendor Fair, Atlanta, GA 

 

Previous Events

2006

2006 ASUG Annual Conference & Vendor Fair (and SAPPHIRE)

• May 14-17: ASUG Annual Conference & Vendor Fair, Orlando, Florida
• May 16-18 SAPPHIRE 06

2005

ASUG Fall Forums

• Oct 16-19: HCM&Financials Forum, Philadelphia, PA
• Oct 9-11: CRM Forum, Phoenix, AZ
• Sept 18-21: SCM&PLM Forum, Atlanta, GA

2005 ASUG Annual Conference & Vendor Fair

• May 1-4: ASUG Annual Conference & Vendor Fair, Anaheim, California

TechEd '05

• Sept 27-30: SAP TechEd '05 Boston

2004

• Nov 7-10: Technology Forum featuring SAP Netweaver in Dallas, Texas
• Oct 24-27: Extended Supply Chain Management and Manufacturing Forum in Orlando, Florida
• Oct 10-13: Customer Relationship Management Forum in Baltimore, Maryland
• Sept 19-22: Enterprise Resource Planning Forum in Phoenix, Arizona
• Apr 18-21: Annual Conference and Vendor Fair in Atlanta, Georgia

2003

• Nov 2-5: Product Lifecycle Management Forum in Phoenix, Arizona
• Oct 29-31: Financial Management & Business Analysis Forum in Dallas, Texas
• Oct 26-29: Business Information, Technology & Infrastructure Forum in Dallas, Texas
• Oct 22-24: Implementation & Organization Management Forum in Orlando, Florida
• Oct 19-22: Human Capital Management Forum, Orlando in Orlando, Florida
• May 18-21, 2003: 2003 ASUG Annual Conference & Vendor Fair, New Orleans, Lousiana

2002

• Oct 14-16, 2002: Business Warehouse & Enterprise Portals, Group Meeting, in Denver, Colorado
• Sep 15-17, 2002: Financial Management & Business Analysis, Group Meeting, in Burlingame, California
• Sep 30 - Oct 2, 2002: Supply Chain Management, Group Meeting, in Orlando, Florida
• May 2002: ASUG Annual Conference & Vendor Fair in Anaheim, California

2001

• Nov 12-14, 2001: Customer Order Management (COM): St. Petersburg, Florida
• Nov 4-7, 2001: Plant Maintenance (PM), Service Management (SM) (joint meeting) in New Orleans, Louisiana
• Oct 12-25, 2001: Procurement (Pro), Project Systems (PS) (joint meeting) in New Orleans, Louisiana
• Oct 17-19, 2001: Business Warehousing (BW) in San Antonio, Texas
• Oct 10-12, 2001: Warehouse Management (WM) in Minneapolis, Minnesota
• May 2001: ASUG Annual Conference & Vendor Fair in Miami Beach, Florida

2000

• Nov 6-8, 2000: Customer Order Management/Service Management (COM/SM), in St. Petersburg, Florida
• Oct 25-27, 2000: Procurement (Pro), in Tampa Bay, Florida
• Oct 23-25, 2000: Financial Management (FI), in Tampa Bay, Florida
• Oct 18-20, 2000: Business Information & Analysis (BI&A), in New Orleans, Louisiana
• May 2000: ASUG Annual Conference & Vendor Fair in Atlanta, Georgia

1999

• Initial contact with ASUG at ASUG group meetings (i.e. Financials (FI))

 

Additional Information and Resources

• ASUG, SAP, and Usability – Face-to-Face Influence on Development, SAP INFO 122 (November, 2004)
• It's All About Usability, SAP INFO (Dec 9, 2002) – Provides some background on the why and how of SAP Usability Activities at ASUG Events, including a summary of 2002
• FAQ Usability – answering questions from the point of view of customers (User Experience Group, SAP Labs Palo Alto)

Contact

• Keri Carpenter, SAP User Experience, SAP Labs, Palo Alto

 

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