SAP Screen Personas 3.0 Design Handbook

Knowledge Base Article - Updated on

Purpose and Scope

Increasingly, companies are focusing on the user experience of their enterprise software.  SAP Screen Personas provides you a complete control

over how their business users interact with SAP on their desktop. The purpose of this handbook is to provide a “cookbook” to deliver a successful

SAP Screen Personas project.

Target Audience

• • • Design Professionals
    • Project Management
    • Developers
    • Customers
    • Partners
    • Consultants

Introduction

SAP Screen Personas allows companies to improve user productivity through personalization of their SAP ERP screens. By providing the right information to the right users in the right context, they can get more done in less time with greater accuracy. With more intuitive SAP screens, organizations can enhance user satisfaction, minimize training time, and spend less money on screen modifications.

Delivering a good user experience does not only rely on technology. You need to:

• • • Understand the needs of PEOPLE
    • Know the BUSINESS value
    • Use flexible SOLUTIONS & TECHNOLOGY
    • Follow user-Centric PROCESSES

While SAP is known for its extensive functionality and fast performance, many organizations are placing intuitive user experience at the same level of importance for

 evaluating new software purchases. Personas allows SAP to empower its customers with an extensive do-it-yourself tool kit to:

• • • Improve end user’s productivity and satisfaction
    • Save costs on training and technical support by simplifying UIs and business processes
    • Provide systems that can be used by all employees and not just business experts

Design thinking methodology allows you to successfully execute a Personas project.  The dates that are given are estimates on how you should plan a project. 

Depending on the complexity of the transaction and what you are planning to do with it, the whole process can be shorter or longer.    Make sure you obtain feedback

early and often to ensure alignment with the business objectives, increasing the probability of success of the project.  

Example flow chart

How to use this document

• Start with the Business Users and  Qualification Questionnaire

• Follow the steps in the Process Overview

• Maintain close communication with the customer throughout the project to ensure alignment on the objectives

Qualification

Questionnaire

Before starting the project, you must qualify the business owner and ensure that they have the right people, process, and technology in place to support a

Personas project.

Discuss the following issues with your Business owner BEFORE starting the project.

People

• • Have you identified the following roles, all of which are important for a successful project:

  • Executive sponsor

  • Business process expert

  • People familiar with SAP transactions that will be modified

  • Person with design skills, preferably with software user experience skills

  • Person with skills in using SAP Screen Personas (training can be part of the project)

  • Basis person to install and configure Personas add-on, update kernel as needed, address security issues

  • End-users (people that actually use the transactions in their daily work) to participate in interviews and design reviews.

  • Can you ensure that the personnel responsible for these areas will be readily available to assist during the project? End user involvement is critical to the success of the project because of the knowledge they possess on the business process.

Process

• What metrics will you track before and after to measure the success of the project?

• For example: Number of steps it takes to complete a process

• Time for the whole process

• List the intended application areas and the potential use cases you would like to target during the Personas project.

• Which SAP transaction codes are associated with these use cases?

• Which specific use cases (transactions) do you have in mind for Personas and what is the planned time frame?

• What is the approximate number of users targeted for your transaction?

Technology (IT Environment)

• Do you meet the Software Requirements listed for the service?
• Do you have the necessary know-how in-house to properly install, configure and administer the add-on?
• Do you need help from SAP with Personas or systems administration / tuning / installation?
• Can you provide remote connection to SAP to verify backend prerequisites (via OSS)?
• Do you have a well-defined security structure in your current environment, where existing SAP user roles correctly define the distinct user groups for which Personas customization will be used?
• Are you currently using the WebGUI to access ECC transactions? If yes, are there any performance concerns?

Design

• Do you already have an established theme concept, available branding elements, colors and other resources available to be used in Personas custom views? (e.g. Corporate branding and style guidelines)
• Have you already performed user experience research with your business users?

Timeline

• Will the software be installed so it is ready for the start of the project?

• Will you be able to make end-users available for user research, design iterations, validation and testing?

• If productive deployment is planned, what is the project start and go-live date?

SAP Screen Personas Environment

Make sure you have all the appropriate SAP Screen Personas documentation.

• • • Installation and configuration guide
    • System administration guide
    • User guide
    • Performance Optimization Guide

Process Overview

The following diagram shows a rough outline of what steps are performed at each phase of the project.

Preliminary Steps

Scoping the project

• • • Review agenda, set expectations, discuss logistics

Scoping the project

• • • Discuss use cases with business owners
    • What is the business problem they want to solve with Personas?
    • How many scenarios do they want to work on? Which ones?
    • Do they want training?
    • Feasibility check (today this is a manual check with PSO or Imagineering, it should also include functional experts to validate the business scenario)
    • Effort estimation by functional expert and Personas expert / developer.

Technical Enablement

• • • Do all realization team members have the proper training in SAP Screen Personas?
    • Set proper expectations on what can be done with Personas and how easy it is to use

Landscape Check

• • • Verify that the customer’s IT environment can accommodate Personas. Verify SAP version, kernel level, patch level, and hardware sizing.

Project Execution

Installation and Configuration

• • • Install and configure Personas
    • Validate installation and configuration to ensure ongoing optimal performance. (MANDATORY)
    • Make sure that if issues arise, you can provide remote and direct system access to the SAP support team

Discover

• • • Analyze the business process, the process steps, and the single tasks, which an end user needs to conduct in order to complete a process. This step focuses heavily on interacting with end users of the transactions.

Design

• In the Design Phase create preliminary prototypes of data flow and validate them with business and technical experts. This is a highly iterative process between business process owners and the SAP Screen Personas designer.

Develop

• • • In the Deliver Phase the actual Personas screen is developed.

Wrap-up

User Feedback

• In this step, we meet with the business users to validate that the Personas transaction that addresses their needs.

QA/Testing

• • • Prior to the project completion and handoff, we extensively test all the functionality in the prototype to ensure that it works as planned.

Final Delivery/Handover

• This is the final meeting in which we review the project goals, demonstrate the Personas proof-of-concept, and discuss the business value.

Process Steps

This section provides more detail on the individual steps that should be part of the POC, along with an approximate time line.

 These are all suggestions on how to run a Personas Project         

** All the above are suggestions.  For simple transactions the whole process could be less, and some more complicated can take longer.

Project Scoping

Define roles and responsibilities

Technical Enablement

Responsible: IT

Landscape check

Analyze the prerequisites of the landscape

• • • Check that remote access is available

    • Check backend and frontend prerequisites

    • Check designated backend transaction and test data

    • Ensure the system landscape (including configuration and data) of which the SAP Screen Personas screens will be built upon will be the comparable to the productive environment.

Output: Checklist with finding and instructions

Follow the steps in the SAP Screen Personas Installation and Configuration Guide.

Installation Support & Configuration

Install and customize the Add-On

• • Support from basis team during installation

  • Check installation

  • Provide necessary customizing for SAP Screen Personas Add-On

    Output: Configuration guide with screenshots from basic settings in customer system

    Follow the steps in the SAP Screen Personas Installation and Configuration Guide.

    Gate: Move forward only if installation and configuration are validated and customer infrastructure is sized sufficiently to deliver proper performance.

Discover

**The following are suggestions on how you might approach a SAP Screen Personas Project**

  Responsible: Designers/Business Owners

After the SAP Personas system is installed and configured, the “Discover”, “Design”, “Deliver” phases start. These three phases follow the Design Thinking methodology, aiming to deliver designs that optimize the user experiences.  

Discover Phase

The goal of the Discover Phase is to analyze the business process, the process steps and the tasks for an end-user to complete a process.  Through end-user interviews and observations, the design team gets a complete picture of issues and potential pain points in this process.

Ideal Staffing and End-User Research Conditions:

• • • Two user researchers (one interviewer and one note/artifact taker)

    • Conducting interviews on-site with end-users in their typical work environment.

    • Record user sessions through remote conferencing software (e.g. SAP Connect – internet access required on-site)

Alternative Conditions:

• • Can conduct some initial user interviews with subject matter experts and select end-users remotely with balance of end-user interviews on-site.

Key Tasks:

• • Scheduling of interviews, 5 end-user interviews are recommended per use case (good sample size)

    Conduct user research through individual end user observations or end user interviews

    • Understand what fields and buttons are needed and not needed. What are primary/secondary focus items for the user?

    • What is the workflow users are following while performing their tasks? Identify repetitive activities, fields where fixed or easily pre-determined values are entered, navigation steps that can be automated etc.

  • Analyze and visualize interview findings and review them with the end users

    Output: User Journey Map (outline end-user’s task flow and highlighting end-user’s current pain points)

    Information Flow (visualize the screen elements used by the end-user currently)

Design

Responsible: Designers/Business Owners

Design Phase

In the Design Phase the design team creates preliminary designs and check technical feasibility with technical experts.

• • Designers work with business users  to determine a preferred design approach from the following:

Target Design Approach – design team will deliver the ideal design for best user experience

Feasible Design Approach – design team will deliver a design based on standard SAP Personas capabilities.

Each design approach has its advantage and should be determined based on the customer’s requirements.

• • Designers create preliminary designs and check technical feasibility with technical experts

  • Team and business users iterate on designed solution

  • If there is custom-code, special attention needs to be paid to it

Sign-off on designs: Ideally, the end-users that participated in the interviews also participate in the design reviews to provide feedback on the designs. Key stakeholders are responsible for the final sign-off.

Output:

Output should be clickable mockups, data flow and other materials that will convey the Screen Personas Screens.  

Wireframes, Documentation and Visual Design – A wireframe is a visual guide that represents a skeletal framework of the screens.  Visual Design; Make sure to include pixel details in the visual design and placement details of all the UI elements

Deliver

Responsible: Project Team

In the Deliver Phase, the actual Personas screens are developed.

• • • project team implements the agreed design proposal in SAP Screen Personas

    • business users validates implementation

      Instructions on how to build screen in Personas is covered in the SAP Screen Personas User Guide.

      To ensure satisfactory performance on the screens you build during the project, follow the guidelines outlined in the SAP Screen Personas Performance Optimization Guide.

The end-user journey map is reviewed with the stakeholders (and ideally the same end-users who participated in the interviews). A demo of the prototype is given to the review participants and a before and after analysis is presented.

Output:  SAP Screen Personas project results, technical documentation, design artifacts (journey map, visual designs, before and after comparison).

Gate: Move forward only if there is agreement from Business users and the Personas design will make their life significantly easier by delivering productivity improvements on the defined use cases. (Design validation)

User Feedback

Responsible: SAP Screen Personas Project Team

In the User Feedback phase, the design and project team will conduct usability test with the business end-users, observing how users are using the newly developed solutions, and collect key metrics of user satisfaction.

QA and Testing

Responsible: SAP Screen Personas Project Team

• • Ensure all test cases are captured during the design/development phase. Ask the functional subject matter experts to define / prepare these test scenarios and to provide suitable data to run them.

  • Ensure all possible test cases are tested by the customer and approved. These should first be tested by subject matter experts and as a follow-up, by end users to make sure they cover typical use scenarios and possible error situations.

  • If there were defects encountered, ensure the defect resolution is captured and the test cases are retested. Follow up that test iteration results are sufficiently documented (for instance in a spreadsheet or similar). This should contain for instance: the test case description, expected and actual results, test date/time, indication of pass or fail, any experienced issues and the recommended resolution.

  • Designate individual test users representing any distinct user groups to make sure that customized transactions will work correctly with the planned security concept and authorization settings.

Gate: move forward only if everything on the screen consistently works as expected. Performance should meet customer expectations. (Implementation validation)

Final Delivery and Handover

Responsible: SAP Screen Personas Project Team

• • • Ensure all agreed upon deliverables are complete and handed over to the customer, along with any necessary documentation

    • Conduct knowledge transfer to the appropriate customer resources regarding the completed test cases and the solution

    • Ensure the customer has reviewed and approved the deliverables

    • Get sign-off from responsible subject matter experts indicating that each test case is complete and executed without errors

• • • .Journey map

    • Visual designs

    • Before and after scenario comparison

    • Testimonial/reference from select end-users and/or key stakeholders

    • Final sign-off by key stakeholders

Appendix

Here is an example of a potential document that you could use to document the process:

Requirements Document for a Flavor

1 Overivew

People Involved

• • • Project responsible owner:
    • Process Expert User deparmtment:
    • Development:

2 Business use case for the flavor

• • • Transaction Code:
    • SAP System:

3 Screen Elements that will be kept on all the screens ( marked yellow)

4 Mock up the desired screen element structure

5 Actual/Target situation

In the column “In SAP ERP System” with key notes and screenshots the process of the user. Use column “In Screen Personas” to describe the process, how it should be in Personas.

6 New Screen Element

Insert all new screen elements, which have to be created. These elements are not available in the original transaction.

7 Rename Existing screen elements

Insert all screen elements which should be re-named in the following table. Please do not insert any screen elements which are not available in SAP Standard. New screen elements have to be insert in table „New Screen Elements“

8 Predefined values

Insert all input fields, radio buttons or checkboxes, which should have a default value(s) in the following table.

9 Use Case Scenario

Create a Model of the current user process(es). It is also possible to make the models on paper, in excel or visio.

10 Scripting

Use the models to pick out the parts, which should be automated in Screen Personas and insert them in the column “SAP Standard” of the following table. Use the column “Screen Personas ” to visualize the improved process in Screen Personas. Help to describe the changes in the process with short key points.

POS	SAP Standard Behavior	Screen Personas Behavior
1	User starts IW21  System renders the intital screen and fills the notification type User has to click on button notification to reach the next screen

• Page:
  How to Install Personas through Maintenance Optimizer (SAP Imagineering)

  • personas300documentation
• Page:
  Personas 3.0 Design Handbook (SAP Imagineering)

  • personas300documentation