This article was originally authored and contributed by Jonathan Jones, Sr Advisory Solution Consultant for ServiceNOW
Welcome aboard!
Please ensure your seat is back and your tray tables are in the upright and locked positions 💺
Let's try and taxi this new community to the runway and discuss one of the most exciting changes to ServiceNow:
The Next Experience UI.
But first...press your call button ☝️(Like or comment) if this is what you see when you login to ServiceNow?
2016 called: It wants its UI back
What is the Next Experience UI?
Simply put it is an entirely new user experience that aims to improve the overall user experience of ServiceNow, make it more accessible and intuitive for new, existing, or infrequent users of the NOW platform and makes everything you do in the platform easier and quicker. Our goal was to put all your applications in one place within a single view.
There are three short videos that sum up the best of our new UI and why you should read further:
Unified Navigation
Landing Pages
Tell me it is 2023 without telling me it is 2023
Looks great > I want to migrate > but my users don't want change!
As application owners I am guessing we have all thought a version of this sentiment when a vendor shows you a fancy new UI for an enterprise app, but the question we have to ask ourselves is what is going to happen if we don't make the change?
Here is my attempt at an answer in 5 Frequent Flyer points:
- Outdated experience - It feels outdated for new users of the system, decreasing adoption and user satisfaction
- Lack of functionality - We miss out on improved functionality which will make users more efficient
- Support for the old UI is going to decrease
- Delaying the change could mean a double up of training for new users
- Finally...Most likely it is going to have to change eventually and the longer you delay, the harder it will be for users to adjust
I am willing to give it a shot...How can ServiceNow help me?
I would start here 👉 a post that is way better than this one but has less gifs, emoji's and aviation references, then...
- The dedicated community for Next Experience
- I ❤️ this.. A Next Experience Readiness Checker on the Store that allows Admins to check if applications are compatible and provides recommendations to resolve potential issues
- A great FAQ is available
- Pre-flight checks to ensure no nasty surprises
- What changes in the Next Experience in Tokyo
- The good ol' Release Notes
As we come into land
It is understandable why organisations are often reluctant to change UI's for corporate applications, they commonly cite user training & effort to rewrite documentation, all valid concerns but modern technologies such as ServiceNow offer new ways to help address these challenges.
One that springs to mind is the Onboarding guidance that pops up to welcome new users and talks them through the new experience, it has the added benefit of allowing organisations to personalise the messaging and guidance to its user communities. These types of walkthroughs are now commonplace in our personal lives. For example, think about how often your Gmail interface has changed since you signed up – did you need retraining, or did Gmail tell you where you need to go?
Coming in the Utah release is the Guided Tours functionality in the Next Experience UI. This should certainly be part of your plan to upgrade.
And lastly, it's worth noting that the Next Experience UI is not an all-or-nothing thing. You can selectively roll it out to your users, and allow them to opt-in themselves when they're ready using system properties and user preferences.
Give the Next Experience UI a try...your organisation deserves it!
This article was originally authored and contributed by Jonathan Jones, Sr Advisory Solution Consultant for ServiceNOW
