The Importance of User Experience in Identity Governance

In my years of experience implementing identity management (IdM) tools in large customer environments, I have often seen that a software tool is seen through a different lens after rollout. The focus shifts from feature functionality to flexibility, performance and user experience. When the tool is implemented to automate controls, implement IdM business processes and have a predominant focus on business users, end-user experience becomes a significant factor in user participation, confidence in the toolset and in some ways the effectiveness of the identity governance program.

User vs. Business

In this context, user experience is more than just good aesthetics. It is a design of system functionality and content delivery to ensure that users can make informed decisions, can get to information quickly and have an easy learning curve. These are good universal design principles, but they are especially important for effective identity governance.

The priorities of the business can be somewhat different. The business could rightly be more focused on “what” needs to be done than on “how easily” it can get done. However, in this unique problem space, business needs to be more mindful than ever about the needs of the user because strong user participation is key to the success of an identity governance program. End users look for efficiency and like to make informed decisions. For the program to be effective, the tool must not get in the way. IT and others involved in a viable tool selection are advised to truly understand usability requirements and incorporate them into tool selection and implementation scoping.

Enterprise Software Does Not Operate in a Vacuum

It also bears mentioning that the focus on user experience we see in consumer software has quietly but surely raised the bar on enterprise software. If we are not there already, we will soon be at a point where a good user experience is critical for business users to have confidence in their IT tools.

Three Questions on Behalf of the End User

In this context, I will offer three questions that the IT organization should ask during a vendor evaluation. Rather than be prescriptive, I am trying to frame an underlying end-user need as an IT requirement. My goal is to show why this perspective is important in identity governance.