If you’re searching for new accounting software for your small to mid-sized business (SMB), you’re probably spending a lot of time thinking about features. Does a particular system have the functionality to meet your needs and elevate your work? It’s a logical place to start. But there’s another important aspect of software that often goes overlooked during the evaluation process: the user interface. How your software looks and feels can have a major impact on how efficiently the system works for your business and how quickly and successfully you get buy-in from front-line users. Here’s a quick look at the benefits of a quality user interface and how thoughtfully designed accounting software can help improve your business.
What is a user interface?
A “user interface” is simply how you interact with a piece of software. It’s all of the visual elements, fields and buttons you use to control the system.
Most software users don’t think much about the interface of a system unless it’s really bad. A quality interface becomes almost invisible because it is so intuitive and well designed. Tiffany Eaton, a designer for Google, described it well when she wrote, “Good design is when users don’t even need to think about what they are using, let alone how it is designed. They just use it and it feels instinctual.”
On the other hand, a poorly designed interface can create headaches and inhibit efficiency with unnecessary clicks and hard-to-navigate menus. This is why it’s so important to choose accounting software that gets it right.
Benefits of a quality user interface
Easy-to-use accounting software provides inherent value to your business in two main ways: greater efficiency and better user satisfaction.
Greater efficiency
A well-designed interface makes it easier for your accounting personnel to accomplish tasks and execute their responsibilities. It does this with logical menu structures and organizational components that limit scrolling, switching between screens and eliminating the number of clicks it takes to reach an item. In short, the design of the interface itself speeds up the time it takes to perform basic tasks, instantly boosting efficiency for your accounting operation. Software that can be easily personalized and reconfigured will further allow you to adapt the software to the unique needs of your business, making it even more efficient for your front-line users.
For the full view of efficiency, you also have to think about how the interface coexists with the other software systems you use. Generally, there is very little overlap between disparate software systems that each exist within their own window on your desktop. But when you prioritize technological efficiency through system integrations, you can truly streamline your processes and achieve a new level of operational efficiency.
For example, Gravity Software® (Gravity) was built on the Microsoft Power Platform, so it is the only accounting solution that can natively integrate with Microsoft Teams. That means you can access all of your Gravity accounting functionality from within the Teams interface. The integration saves you time not only moving data between systems, but also moving between screens. That time adds up over the course of a year, a savings that is only achieved through a well-designed integration and user interface.
Better user satisfaction
If your accounting software isn’t easy to use, your employees will get frustrated and they won’t be happy. It’s as simple as that. And when people aren’t happy, they tend to be less productive. This is reason enough to invest in an intuitively designed system. But to see why you should really care about accounting software user satisfaction, you need to step back and look at the big picture.
In working to develop your ideal company culture, you can’t ignore technology. The software systems people use every day have a big impact on how they perceive their jobs. When you can provide a system that’s easier to use, it will create less stress for your employees and actually make their jobs easier. They will feel respected that the company spent resources getting them quality software and be more content executing their day-to-day responsibilities because they can do them faster and easier. In other words, their user satisfaction can have a direct impact on their employee satisfaction. So, there is real value in easy-to-use accounting software that makes life better for your personnel.
Invest in process and people
Ironic as it may be, a user interface can be easy to ignore. It’s the only thing we see when we use a piece of software, but its impact is more felt than seen. We take for granted that a system works a certain way simply because that’s how it works. But when we stop to ask if there’s a better way, we see that a piece of software’s interface design can have a profound impact on your daily operations. When you can find easy-to-use accounting software that has all the capabilities you need packaged in an intuitive, well-designed interface, you increase operational efficiency while improving the experience for users and strengthening your company culture. In other words, adding better accounting software that features a higher quality interface is a worthwhile investment in both your processes and your people.
Want to see how an innovative user interface can take your accounting software to the next level? Contact us to schedule a demo today to see how Gravity’s innovative design can improve efficiency for your team.
Gravity Software
Better. Smarter. Accounting.
