Best Practices for an Enterprise Messaging UX

The role of smartphones continues to be essential in our lives. Most of our daily activities cannot be performed without a smartphone. We chat, do shopping, pay the bills, etc. All these activities are performed through user-friendly mobile apps that deliver high performance. From all the categories of mobile apps available, messaging apps keep the leading positions with the number of active users.

With their significant role in maintaining communication, messaging apps have now become an essential link to facilitate business processes. In the limelight of the latest global changes, promoting ongoing and stable remote communication has been the top priority of companies.

Tracing the changes, the tendency of working remotely will continue this year as well. Thus, integrating messaging platforms in the working sphere is significant. Enterprise mobile app development differs from other messaging app development processes. It faces distinct challenges and has a list of specifications to meet.

Quick summary

Moving from offline communication or desktop web interfaces to mobile apps is a challenge not only for the developers but also for the users. For business processes, the main adjectives should be simplicity, speed, stability, and security. Simultaneously, the app should be attractive and interactive. To start with enterprise messaging app UX, let’s move on with design guidelines. We will identify the specifications defining the best enterprise messaging app UX.

How does an enterprise messaging app speed up business operations?

The productivity of team members depends on the smooth functioning of the communication processes. Bringing under one window all enterprise information sharing and chats is beneficial to speed up the workflow.

The benefits of enterprise messaging app:

• Deliver Productivity. Messaging app speeds up communication and data sharing through the app.
• Assure Security. The app provides high-level data encryption for sensitive corporate information.
• Provide Connectivity. It allows anyplace connectivity among the users.
• Improve work ethic. Chat app boosts employee interaction and decision-making processes.

What are the challenges of enterprise messaging development?

The development of messaging app is a comprehensive research process. It requires identifying a tech stack with more complex, attractive, and interactive UX/UI designs. But the first thing to keep in mind is that enterprise users are not “casual” customers. The messaging app will not be categorized as an entertaining app. It may not look fine as wine, but it needs to be responsive, stable, and accurate.

Before picturing and designing an enterprise messaging app that delivers a good user experience, there are major factors to be considered.

• Understand end-user identity. There are certain questions that best specify the user needs and expectations from the app. “How the user wants or expects to receive the information?”, “What are their expectations?”, and, finally, “Who are they?”.
• Consider UI features specific to messaging apps.

Who are the people using messaging apps?

The first and the most challenging step of building user experience is identifying the user. We have already mentioned that the target user is going to use it for work expecting maximum flexibility and productivity. Aside from categorizing the users by business units and information accessibility, there are other variabilities to consider for UX design.

To identify the expectations of the users and start building a solid UX/UI, it is good to start with user experience mapping:

• What will work for them?
• How would they like to work?
• The challenges they faced before
• Advanced features to experience

Team size

Messaging app UX depends on the size of the company and the number of users. The capacity of the app for 10 and 100 users is different. The messaging app can work on a few channels or provide dozens of channels across the app. This factor should be considered when building UI/UX. The best option is to leave some space for extra channels.

Time zones

The specification is significant for the company employees working in different time zones. We should also take care of the team members using the app while traveling. The best thing to do is to consider the time zone difference when planning in-app notifications. Thus, the app will deliver maximum productivity and connectivity.

User access

The enterprise messaging app supposes a lot of sensitive data. It provides endless flow of documentation and records management. The access levels for administrators and authorized users are actually different. It is a matter of permissions. The solution is to check the access level and the type of the user before suggesting an action.

Consider UI features

Mobile app UX cannot be powerful without a solid UI design. It may be beautifully wrapped and attractive like a consumer messaging app, but it is not the key point. User’s journey map may help a lot to design UX and UI. It puts the accent on creating a pleasant experience and removing confusing cycles.

Platform compatible UI design

To get user satisfaction, the built-in messaging app should be aligned to the initial platform’s UI elements. It means details, color scheme, and fonts should be consistent with the platform. There are many ways to make the messaging app unique. For example, it is possible to play up the design with colored buttons or make the message more functional with linkified text.

Help users make smart default choices

Let’s keep in mind that we are talking about an enterprise messaging app meant to simplify the processes, so why not build a simple UX design? In these terms, it is wise to minimize the answer options as much as possible and add the option of a default choice.

Write for a global audience

Considering UI design elements, think of a global audience and add common words that may be easily understood. The professional messaging app should be free of slang and jargon. At the same time, UI text buttons should not exceed two words.

Personalize the experience

More personalized UX design drives user satisfaction and relevant experience. The messaging app may be personalized wherever possible by leveraging user data. The easiest way to personalize UI is to display the user’s name.

Micro-interactions

Yes, we are talking about enterprise messaging UX, and, yes, it should look professional, but nobody canceled emotions, right? Micro-interactions and emotions will make the interface feel human, and build a connection with users.

Tying it all together

Wrapping up this UX design guideline of enterprise messaging up let’s point out key points and specifications. To reach a smooth user experience, the messaging app should be helpful and simple. To build an enterprise messaging UX it is useful to start with key components defining the UX principles.

• Consistent
• Simple
• Intuitive
• Personalized

Taking a messaging app into a new platform is a challenge of managing multiple elements like delivering user satisfaction, smooth operation with the system, simple command language, etc. Diving deep into the understanding of messaging UX and identifying user experience it is possible to develop an app that fully corresponds to expectations.

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