IDENTIFYING USABILITY ISSUES WITH AN ERP IMPLEMENTATION

Abstract

Abstract: Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems hold great promise for integrating business processes and have proven their worth in a variety of organizations. Yet the gains that they have enabled in terms of increased productivity and cost savings are often achieved in the face of daunting usability problems. While one frequently hears anecdotes about the difficulties involved in using ERP systems, there is little documentation of the types of problems typically faced by users. The purpose of this study is to begin addressing this gap by categorizing and describing the usability issues encountered by one division of a Fortune 500 company in the first years of its large-scale ERP implementation. This study also demonstrates the promise of using collaboration theory to evaluate usability characteristics of existing systems and to design new systems. Given the impressive results already achieved by some corporations with these systems, imagine how much more would be possible if understanding how to use them weren’t such an overwhelming task. 1