NetSuite revealed a markedly improved user interface at the company’s annual conference in San Jose, US which will make the software easier and faster to use, NetSuite CEO Zach Nelson claimed in his keynote.
The new interface, due in July, would increase the appeal of the small business version of NetSuite, because it was simpler to operate, said JCurve Solutions’ CEO, Graham Baillie.
“NetSuite has spent a lot of time making it very simple. It’s a lot cleaner and less cluttered and designed for automatic clicking rather than having to think about where to look for things,” Baillie said. “You don’t need to have extensive training with the product to move around it.”
Highlights of the redesign included an anchored navigational header for quick access to tools such as global search, recent records, help, QuickAdd and shortcuts. A new global QuickAdd feature instantly added tasks, events, contacts and other data from any screen.
The revised interface reduced complexity on screen by hiding action prompts until the user rolled the mouse pointer over them.
Dashboards were easier to configure thanks to an improved personalisation panel. And the software had been optimised for use on tablets with responsive dashboards, larger menus and controls and improved scrolling.
The goal of the redesign was to automate business processes so users weren’t constantly switching between applications within NetSuite’s collection of apps, NetSuite said in a press release. The enterprise-resource planning program has been redesigned under the principles of modern “flat design” for greater crispness and clarity, and leveraged the HTML5 web standard.
The new interface used easy-to-read fonts, redesigned icons and graphics, increased white space and greater aesthetic simplicity.
“For JCurve in particular the simplicity will enable us to compete more effectively (as a multi-program suite) against the single functionality of Xero and MYOB. (Design) will be a significant advantage whereas it has previously been a disadvantage to us,” Baillie said.
NetSuite said it had conducted three years of deep usability research with customers to direct the cloud business management platform. The user experience was measured among users from different departments of a company including front-line sales, marketing, finance, e-commerce, HR and services employees through to C-level executives.
The redesign looked for ways to improve efficiency of common tasks.
“For example, sales professionals can more quickly and easily enter and track information on their customers and prospects, finance personnel can easily find the data necessary to close the books, services professionals get rapid insight into project status and profitability and the CEO gets a comprehensive view of company operations with the interactive, real-time dashboard,” NetSuite said in the release.