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At SuiteWorld 2024, Evan Goldberg, Founder of NetSuite, engaged in a discussion with Hillel Cooperman, Oracle's Senior Vice President of User Experience Design, about the evolving expectations of business users and the efforts underway to reshape enterprise software user experiences.
Cooperman, with his background in user experience design, shared insights on the shifting landscape of business software. He noted how the advent of smartphones and consumer software has significantly raised expectations for enterprise software. Users accustomed to seamless, intuitive apps such as Uber or Airbnb have begun demanding similar ease of use in the tools they rely on for work. “There was a time when people used software primarily for work,” Cooperman explained, adding, “But with the rise of smartphones, people started using beautifully designed, intuitive software in their everyday lives, which raised the bar for business software. The need now is to make enterprise software feel better than consumer software.”
For The New Age Customer
This shift in expectations spurred Cooperman and his team at Oracle to rethink the way they approached user experience design. Initially, enterprise software was considered too complex to achieve the same level of user-friendliness as consumer software. However, Cooperman and his team rejected this notion, focusing on building an experience where business software could not only match but exceed the expectations set by consumer applications.
“One of the biggest challenges was that interfaces were cumbersome, requiring users to navigate between multiple screens to get simple tasks done. We needed to make the software more user-centric and adaptable,” Cooperman shared.
The conversation also touched on the role of AI in this transformation. Cooperman explained that AI is now central to reimagining how users interact with enterprise software. With generative AI, Oracle and NetSuite are moving towards a system where users do not need to adapt to the software; instead, the software adapts to them. AI-driven interfaces will allow users to communicate in natural language, making it easier to search for data, issue commands, and navigate complex systems without having to understand the underlying technology.
Ask Oracle
An interesting feature introduced at SuiteWorld is the ‘Ask Oracle’ search bar, powered by AI. This functionality will allow users to type in any query, command, or prompt and receive immediate, context-driven responses. “This is just the beginning. Generative AI is helping us create a system that truly understands what users want and delivers it without them needing to decipher complex computer terminology,” Cooperman said.
NetSuite’s intention to set the stage for a future where enterprise software is as seamless and intuitive as the consumer apps people use daily is evident. Whether it would be able to achieve this, is still a wait and watch.
BW Businessworld is attending SuiteWorld in Las Vegas as a guest of Oracle NetSuite
