Articles

A-Z Guide to an Ideal Dashboard Design

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In the modern tech-savvy age, it’s hard to imagine a person who doesn’t use a dozen apps every day. Thousands of apps enter the market every day in hopes of winning a fair share of the booming mobile technology market. Still, only a few of them succeed. The reason for this is the growing sophistication of users picking only intuitive, helpful, and visually appealing software.

So, how can you maximize the chances of your app’s success on the market? One of the key considerations at the design stage is the app’s dashboard. It is often the primary criterion of the user’s app choice. In a nutshell, a dashboard is the app’s activity display showcasing the KPIs and activities you can measure with its help.

Source de l’article sur DZONE

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How To Improve UX With Sketching

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Is sketching essential to UX and UI designers? Well, if you think of sketching as a way to explore problems and record potential solutions, then yes, it absolutely is.

One of the most challenging tasks of any design process is capturing the initial idea. We’ve all spent countless hours thinking through an innovative solution to a project, only to lose the idea again. It turns out that sketching is a brilliant solution to this problem.

In this guide, you’ll learn how to improve your UX designs using sketching as a tool. First, we’ll answer the question of how sketching benefits design, then we’ll look at the tools you need, and finally what an efficient sketching process looks like. By the end of this 3-minute read, you’ll have valuable new knowledge that will help you as a designer.

Why Sketching Is Important For Designers

When you start working on a project, it’s tempting to jump straight into high-resolution wireframes. But in doing so, you run the risk of spending hours on each little detail, only to discover that the overall concept doesn’t work.

Sketching — unlike drawing, which is about communicating an idea — is a free-flowing, process that allows you to get your ideas down on paper (yes, paper!) fast.

If there’s one thing you take away from this guide, let it be this: sketches aren’t for clients, or colleagues, or Dribbble, sketches are just for you. They’re a non-written way of rapidly making notes. Sketches will help you recall all the possible routes to consider.

Sketching is all about visualizing your ideas quickly and efficiently. When you’re sketching, you don’t have to worry about details, and you don’t have to worry about communicating with anyone else.

By sketching ideas without detail, you can quickly explore numerous solutions for a project. It’s fascinating how sketching can help you visualize an idea and revise it again and again along the way with minimal effort.

So, what revolutionary new tools do you need?

What Tools Do You Need For Sketching?

Designers love new tools, but when it comes to sketching there are relatively few, and you probably already have them to hand.

First, you’re going to need paper. A notebook is fine, it doesn’t have to be high-quality paper; in fact, you will probably feel freer and less restrained if you make sure that it is cheap.

You’ll need something to make a mark on the paper. A pencil is fine, as is a pen, a biro, and just about anything else. Don’t worry about an eraser, sketching isn’t about correcting mistakes, but you will need a sharpener if you’re using a pencil — never draw with a blunt pencil!

Whatever implement you choose, it’s a good idea to have a heavy marker, like a Sharpie, to pick out an important detail, and perhaps a fine pen to add small detail (if required).

Finally, make sure you have a timer to hand. A chess clock is perfect for an old-school aesthetic, but a timer on your phone is perfectly fine. The timer is to make sure you don’t spend too long on one sketch, so you don’t have time to get wrapped up in perfecting the details.

Sketching 101: A Step-by-Step Process

When you’ve been sketching for a while, you’ll discover your own process, and preferred methods. But for anyone new, here’s how to get started.

1. The Initial Idea

As with designing a wireframe, the most challenging step is getting started. Usually, at the beginning of a project, we are overwhelmed. This is because there are so many ideas, and we do not know where to start. For this reason, a detailed analysis of the project is essential.

You can start by thinking about the most important interactions you need to create. This way, you will find out the most important and exciting aspects of the project.

Since most of us get caught up in the fine details, it is beneficial to think of sketching as a brainstorming session. This session is simply about coming up with an innovative solution for a project and visualizing it.

It’s fine to have an idea that you’ll ultimately disregard. This is not the time to edit yourself.

2. Start Sketching

Take a piece of paper and use your sketching tool to divide it into six sections. Set your timer for 5 minutes and start drafting mockups for the first interaction.

Often, designers struggle with this step, and fall back on what they’re used to, i.e. wireframing and high-res mockups. If you find that you’re struggling to start sketching, start by making a mark on the paper; any mark at all. Then, make a second mark. With the third mark, try to position it in a way that says something to you about the project, by its size, weight, position — anything at all. Keep going, and before you know it you’ll have a complete sketch.

It’s vital that you do not exceed the time you give to yourself because sketching is not about fine details. The time is better spent exploring multiple ideas, even if those ideas only serve to confirm that the first idea was the most promising.

Repeating this step can be very valuable. Once you are happy with the results, you can move on to the next and final step.

3. Self-Editing

Unfortunately, you can not take away every concept you have outlined. This step is about choosing your most effective ideas and expanding on them.

Most designers want to create top-notch, detailed designs, and that’s fine. However, sketches are only really helpful for the early stages of a project, and creating perfect sketches in the first stages of a project may not be productive — in fact, it can be restrictive.

It’s often a good idea to combine some of your designs. Redraw them together, and once you’ve done that expand and refine them.

Improve Your Design With Sketching

It doesn’t matter if you think you’re bad at sketching — no one is going to see your sketches except you. Many of us would struggle to sing in public, but are absolutely fine singing in the shower.

Remember that sketching is not about your artistic skills; it’s about capturing an idea and expanding on it. After all, once you have your final design, you will recreate it digitally.

You don’t have to be an artist to be a designer. And since sketching can improve your UX designs, there are many reasons you should give it a try.

Once you’re comfortable with sketching, you’ll find it an invaluable tool for identifying sticking points in a project, and solving them before you reach the wireframe stage.

 

Featured image via Pexels.

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How to Partition MySQL Tables

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Horizontal and Vertical Partitioning

There are two types of database partitions: vertical and horizontal.

Vertical Partitioning

Vertical partitioning relies upon initially creating tables with fewer columns and then using additional tables to store leftover columns. Since rows are split according to their columns, vertical partitioning is also known as row splitting (opposite horizontal partitioning). As of right now, MySQL does not support vertical partitioning in its database.

Source de l’article sur DZONE

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7 UX Principles to Boost SERPs

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User experience is one of the most important principles of web design. There’s no doubt that you focus on UX with every page you design on the web, whether it’s a portfolio, a profile page, or an entire website. 

Unfortunately, what many experts forget is that UX doesn’t just apply to digital pages. That means that you need to discover the right UX strategies for everything from your website homepages to your email marketing messages and even your listings on Google. 

Today, we’re going to explore ways you can apply UX principles to your client’s image on search engines. 

Why Your Search Engine Listing Matters

Let’s start with the basics…

89% of customers start their purchasing process with a search engine. 

That means that whether you’re creating a portfolio to sell your services or building a website for a client, the first connection a customer has with your design isn’t on the homepage.

Developers and designers know that first impressions count when it comes to succeeding online. However, they assume that those first impressions happen on a social media channel, a landing page, or a home page. 

The truth is that most of the time, you’re driving a specific experience for an end-user before you even realize it. Before you can wow an audience with a beautiful site design or a fantastic CTA offer, you need to convince them to click on your Google link.

Just as UX on a website is all about giving your audience what they need in an informed and strategic manner, UX in search engine results works the same way. 

How to Make Your Search Listing Stand Out with UX

So, how do you begin to apply the principles of UX to your Google Search results?

It’s much easier than you’d think. 

Step 1: Show Immediate Value 

Delivering an excellent experience on a website often means providing end-users with the information they need as quickly as possible. Imagine designing a landing page; you wouldn’t want your audience to scroll forever to find what they need. Instead, you’d make sure that the value of the page was immediately apparent. 

When creating an image for your search engine listing, you’ll need to take the same approach. This often means thinking carefully about two things:

  • Your headline
  • Your meta description

Around 8 out of 10 users say that they’ll click a title if it’s compelling. That means that before you do anything else to improve your SEO strategy, you need to make sure that the title of your web page is going to grab the audience’s attention. 

The best titles deliver instant value.

Immediately, these titles tell the audience exactly what they’re going to get when they click onto the page. The promise drives action, while clarity highlights the informed nature of the brand. 

The great thing about using an excellent title for a page is that it doesn’t matter where you’re ranked on the search results. Whether you’re number 2 or number 5, your customers will click if they find something they want. 

It’s just like using a CTA on a landing page. Make sure your titles are:

  • Informative: Show your audience value immediately
  • Optimized for mobile: Remember, your audience might not see your full title on some screens. That means that you need to make the initial words count.
  • Easy to read: Keep it short, simple, and straightforward. Speak the end-user’s language

Step 2: Build Trust with Your URLs

Trust factors are another essential part of good UX. 

When designing a website for a new brand, you know that it’s your job to make visitors feel at ease. Even in today’s digital world, many customers won’t feel comfortable giving their money or details to a new company. 

Within the website that you design, you can implement things like trust symbols, reviews, and testimonials to enhance brand credibility. In the search engines, it all starts with your URL. 

Search-friendly URLs that highlight the nature of the page will put your audience’s mind at ease. When they click on a page about “What is SEO” in the SERPs, they want to see an URL that matches, not a bunch of numbers and symbols

Use search-friendly permalink structures to make your listing seem more authoritative. This will increase the chances of your customer clicking through to a page and make them more likely to share the link with friends. 

Once you decide on a link structure, make sure that it stays consistent throughout the entire site. If a link doesn’t appear to match the rest of the URLs that your audience sees for your website, they may think they’re on the wrong page. That increases your bounce rate. 

Step 3: Be Informative with Your Meta Description

To deliver excellent UX on a website, you ensure that your visitor can find all the answers to their most pressing questions as quickly as possible. This includes providing the right information on each page and using the correct navigational structure to support a visitor’s journey. 

In the SERPs, you can deliver that same informative experience with a meta description. Although meta descriptions often get ignored, they can provide a lot of value and help you or your client make the right first impression. 

To master your meta descriptions:

  • Use the full 160 characters: Make the most of your meta description by providing as much useful information as you can within that small space. 
  • Include a CTA: Just as CTAs help guide customers through the pages on a website, they can assist with pulling in clicks on the SERPs. A call to action like “read about the” or “click here” makes sense when you’re boosting your search image. 
  • Focus on value: Concentrate on providing your customers with an insight into what’s in it for them if they click on your listing.

Don’t forget that adding keywords to your meta description is often helpful too. Keywords will boost your chances of a higher ranking, but they’ll also show your audience that they’re looking at the right result. 

Step 4: Draw the Eye with Rich Snippets

You’ve probably noticed that the search engine result pages have changed quite a bit in the last couple of years. As Google strives to make results more relevant and informative, we’ve seen the rise of things like rich snippets. Rich snippets are excellent for telling your audience where to look. 

On a website, you would use design elements, like contrasting colors and animation, to pull your audience’s attention to a specific space. In search engines, rich snippets can drive the same outcomes. The difference is that instead of telling a visitor what to do next on a page, you’re telling them to click on your site, not a competitor’s. 

When Google introduced rich snippets, it wanted to provide administrators with a way of showcasing their best content. Rich snippets are most commonly used today on product and contact pages because they can show off reviews. 

Install a rich snippet plugin into your site if you’re a WordPress user or your client is. When you enter the content that you need into the website, use the drop-down menu in your Rich snippet tool to configure the snippet.

Ideally, you’ll want to aim for the full, rich snippet if you want to stand out at the top of the search results. Most featured snippets have both text and an image. You need to access both of these by writing great content and combining it with a relevant image. 

Step 5: Provide Diversity (Take Up More of the Results)

As a website designer or developer, you’ll know that different people will often be drawn to different things. Some of your visitors might immediately see a set of bullet-points and use them to search for the answer to their question. Other visitors will want pictures or videos to guide them. So, how do you deliver that kind of diversity in the SERPS?

The easiest option is to aim to take up more of the search result pages. Google now delivers a bunch of different ways for customers to get the answers they crave. When you search for “How to use Google my Business” on Google, you’ll see links to blogs, as well as a list of YouTube Videos and the “People Also Ask” section. 

Making sure that you or a client has different content rankings for the same keywords can significantly improve any customer’s experience on the search engines. Often, the process of spreading your image out across the SERPs is as simple as creating some different kinds of content. 

To access the benefits of video, ask your client to create YouTube videos for some of their most commonly asked questions or most covered topics. If you’re helping with SEO marketing for your client, then make sure they have an FAQ page or a way of answering questions quickly and concisely on articles, so they’re more likely to appear in “People Also Ask”.

Step 6: Add Authority with Google My Business

Speaking of Google My Business, that’s another excellent tool for improving UX in the search results. It allows business owners to manage how information appears in the search results. 

With this service, you can manage a company’s position on Google maps, the Knowledge Graph, and any online reviews. Establishing a company’s location is one of the most important things you can do to help audiences find a business quickly. Remember, half of the customers that do a local search on a smartphone end up visiting the store within the same day. 

Start by setting up the Google Business listing for yourself or your client. All you need to do is hit the “Start Now” button and fill out every relevant field offered by Google. The more information you can add to Google My Business, the more your listing will stand out. Make sure you:

  • Choose a category for a business, like “Grocery store.”
  • Load up high-quality and high-resolution images
  • Ensure your information matches on every platform
  • Use a local number for contact
  • Encourage reviews to give your listing a five-star rating

Taking advantage of a Google My Business listing will ensure that your audience has all the information they need to make an informed decision about your company before they click through to the site. This means that you or your client gets more warm leads and fewer people stumbling onto your website that might not want to buy from you. 

Step 7: Use Structured Data Markup to Answer Questions

If you’re already using rich snippets in your Google listings, you should also have a plan for structured schema markup. Schema markup on Google tells the search engines what your data means. This means that you can add extra information to your listings that will more accurately guide your customers to the support they need. 

Providing additional schema markup information to your listings gives them an extra finishing touch to ensure that they stand out from the competition. For example, you might add something like a “product price” to a product page or information about the product’s availability.

Alternatively, you could provide the people who see a search result with other options. This could be an excellent option if you’re concerned that some of the people who might come across your listing might need slightly different information. 

For instance, you can ask Google to list other pages along with your search results that customers can “jump to” if they need additional insights.

Baking structured data into your design process when you’re working on a website does many positive things. First, it makes the search engine’s job easier so that you can ensure that you or your client ranks higher. Additionally, it means that your web listings will be more thorough and valuable.

Since UX is all about giving your audience the best possible experience with a brand, that starts with making sure they get the information they need in the search results. 

Constantly Improve and Experiment

Remember, as you begin to embed elements of UX into your search engine listings, it’s essential to be aware of relevant evolutions. Ultimately, the needs of any audience can change very rapidly. Paying attention to your customers and what kind of links they click on the most will provide you with lots of valuable data. You can use Google analytics to A/B test things like titles, pictures, featured snippets, and other things that may affect UX. 

At the same time, it’s worth noting that the Google search algorithms are constantly changing too. Running split tests on different pages will give you an insight into what your customers want. However, you’ll need to keep an eye on the latest documentation about Google Search if you want to avoid falling behind the competition. 

Like most aspects of exceptional UX, mastering your SERP position isn’t a “set it and forget it” strategy. Instead, you’ll need to work on constantly expanding your knowledge if you want to show clients that you can combine UX and SEO effectively. 

Make sure you have plenty of tools set up to offer reports and insights into the kind of changes that you may need to make to align with search engine expectations. 

Making the Most of UX in the SERPS

It’s easy to forget that there’s more to UX than making your buttons clickable on mobile devices or ensuring that scrolling feels smooth. For a designer or developer to deliver excellent UX for a brand, they need to consider every interaction that a company and customer has. 

This means starting with the way a website appears when it’s listed on the search engines most of the time. Getting your SEO listing right doesn’t just boost your chances of a good ranking. This strategy also improves your reputation with your audience and delivers more meaningful moments in the buyer journey. 

Don’t underestimate the power of UX in SERPs. 

 

Featured image via Pexels.

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Popular Design News of the Week: September 27 2021 – October 3, 2021

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Every day design fans submit incredible industry stories to our sister-site, Webdesigner News. Our colleagues sift through it, selecting the very best stories from the design, UX, tech, and development worlds and posting them live on the site.

The best way to keep up with the most important stories for web professionals is to subscribe to Webdesigner News or check out the site regularly. However, in case you missed a day this week, here’s a handy compilation of the top curated stories from the last seven days. Enjoy!

The Pros and Cons of Tailwind CSS

19 Examples of Beautiful Blog Layout Designs

21 UX Laws Used by the Most Successful Designers

A List of Games for Bored (and Curious) Designers

5 Ways to Make HTTP Requests in JavaScript

On Fire – Free Illustrations for Websites and Apps

GoodBrief 3.0 – Practice your Design Skills with Unique Creative Briefs

The Ultimate Guide to Lean UX Design

How to Create a Typography for your Website Right

15 Signs You Joined the Wrong Company as a Developer

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6 Tips for Collecting Customer Feedback (The Right Way)

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Feedback is one of the most valuable resources for any business. Informative messages from your customers can tell you a lot about your company. They’re a way to check that your service strategies are paying off and a chance to learn which parts of your product need an upgrade.

Reviews and testimonials can also help you better understand your audience and the kind of solutions they’re looking for with your brand. 

Solid feedback is also how you improve your chances of gaining more customers in the long term. Brands with superior customer service generate about 5.7 times more revenue than their competitors. 

Of course, before you can begin tackling challenges like pulling trends from feedback or using your reviews to upgrade your business, you have one essential task to consider: How are you going to collect the valuable information your customers have to share?

There are a lot of options to choose from. You can reach out to clients individually with email messages or set up a feedback form on your website. You could even consider working with a review site to give your audience more options. 

Today, we will look at the steps you can take to collect customer feedback the right way.

Unlocking the Benefits of Customer Feedback

Customer feedback is the information and input shared by your community. It provides a behind-the-scenes view of people’s interactions with your team and shows you where you need to focus on beginning driving new opportunities. 

Customer feedback becomes a guiding compass for your organization when used correctly. It shows you what you’re getting right and wrong from your customer’s perspective. Positive feedback can even become part of your marketing campaigns. User-generated content in the form of reviews and testimonials makes for excellent tools to encourage new people to purchase your products. 

Case studies and in-depth reviews from your clients can also help generate trust among potential customers, so you’re more likely to earn crucial sales. 

Only around 3% of customers say that they find marketers and salespeople “trustworthy.” This means that no matter how good your marketing messages might be, you’re only going to be able to accomplish so much with the claims you make about your brand. Ultimately, your clients will turn to other customers like them to determine who they should buy from.

On average, buyers read around seven reviews before they’ll even consider trusting a business. 

The good news is that around two-thirds of customers will share their personal information with a brand. Clients are happy to provide feedback in the right circumstances. It’s your job to ensure that the process is as easy as possible for your customers.

So, how do you get customer reviews?

1. Design an Effective Feedback Survey

The most obvious way to encourage feedback from your customers is to ask for it. Unfortunately, designing a good customer survey isn’t always as simple as it seems. 

On the one hand, you’re keen to gather as much information as possible from your customer, which could mean that you want to ask many questions. On the other hand, asking too many questions could easily scare your audience away. 

To improve your audience’s chances of actually sharing information, keep the feedback requests as simple as possible.

One or two questions at a time should be enough to give you some helpful information about customer preferences and expectations. When choosing what to include in your survey, remember:

  • Only ask essential questions: If the answer to a question isn’t going to help you achieve your goals, don’t ask it. You don’t need to know someone’s age if you want to know if they had a good experience with your service reps. Keep it relevant. 
  • Make the questions thoughtful: Yes or no questions are great for collecting quick information. However, if you want more valuable feedback, leave your queries open-ended, and give customers room to explain themselves. 
  • Use rating scales: If your customer doesn’t have time to respond to a question in your survey with a complete answer, a rating scale can give you some helpful insights with minimal effort from the client. 

Ensure none of the questions on your survey are leading or loaded. Customers don’t want to feel like you’re answering questions for them. It might also be worth showing your audience how much you value their data with a quick response. Hilton Hotels always responds to any adverse reactions to surveys within days of receiving the information. 

Customers can even see how their reviews contribute to the overall rating of the business. 

2. Master Your Emails and Customer Contact Forms

Email is one of the easiest and most effective ways to gather customer feedback. Because this is a standard support channel for most businesses, there are plenty of opportunities to generate feedback. 

The first step in using emails for feedback is to send a message thanking your customer for their recent interaction with you. If someone purchased a product from your company, immediately follow up to let them know you appreciate their custom. A couple of days after, when your customer has had a chance to use your product or service, that’s when you follow up with your feedback request. 

Ideally, your email request should be as short and straightforward as possible, with a clear call to action that tells your customer what to do next. This example from Papier keeps things as detailed as possible.

If you want to boost your chances of engagement, you can add elements to your email that might encourage a positive response, for instance:

  • Remind them of what they bought: Remind your customer of the item they purchased with a picture and a bit of information. Highlight the key features and benefits of that product, so they have some inspiration on what to write about in their review. 
  • Offer them a reward: If you want to boost your chances of your customers doing something for you, you need to offer something in return. This could be a discount on their next order, a chance of winning something, or even just free shipping on their next purchase. 
  • Personalize the message: Make your customer feel special by personalizing the message. Use their name and reference their previous interactions with your company. If they’ve been with your business for a while, mention that in the email.  

Remember, many of your customers are likely to check their emails on the go. That means that giving feedback should be as simple as possible, regardless of the tech your customer is using. For instance, in this Zomato example, users can choose to drop an email to the company or send feedback straight from the app. 

3. Create App Usability Tests

If you want some in-depth insights into your company, and your business processes, then a usability test could be the best way to generate valuable feedback. If you have your app, ask your customer to submit some information right there and then, after they’ve finished using the service. The great thing about this kind of input is it’s fresh.

Unlike other customer reviews that might come a day or two after your customer has used a product, usability tests allow you to get feedback at the moment. There’s a much better chance that you’re going to get some relevant and detailed responses here. 

For instance, in this Skype lab feedback request, customers can tick boxes for any video or audio issues they had and leave a starred review. 

If there’s extra information to share, the customer can tap on the comment box to elaborate. However, they don’t need to do this part unless they want to. 

With usability tests, it’s a good idea to focus on a few key things that you want to learn about. For instance, Skype’s example above demonstrates that the company wants to check at least five user experience issues for both video and audio. 

Giving your customers options that they can choose from reduces the amount of work they need to put into leaving a review. It also means that you can get actionable information on which parts of your app or site need the most improvement. 

You can get the same kind of instant feedback on your website, too, mainly if you’re using a live chat app for customer service. 

Live chat is quickly becoming an essential part of the customer experience environment because it’s fast, easy to use, and efficient. It’s also highly affordable for most companies, thanks to evolving technology. Set up your Live Chat app to immediately request a review from your customer when the interaction is over.

For instance, SiteGround asks customers to rate their service provider with a picture of the employee they spoke to. The image lets the customer see that they were talking to a real person, which improves the relationship with the company. The statement about feedback improving the customer service and support that SiteGround can offer shows the customer how valuable their reviews are. 

4. Conduct Customer Interviews

Conducting a customer interview is a lot like sending out a survey. The main difference is that you ask the client to engage in a much more in-depth conversation. Usually, these interviews will be the initial research required for a published case study on a B2B website. 

Reaching out to valuable and loyal customers can give you a fantastic source of in-depth information to learn from. You’ll need to make sure that you have a good relationship with the customer in question before you attempt this, however. Most one-time clients won’t want to get involved with a time-consuming interview. 

Look at your CRM technology and find out who your most impressive VIP customers are. Reach out to them with a request for feedback, and make sure you offer something in return. For instance, tell them that you’d like to interview for a case study that you can display on your website. If they’re happy for you to do this, you can reward them with a discount on their next purchase or some gifts. 

You could also follow up with a customer who recently contacted your team for an interview, like Ticket Arena does here. With this message, they promise the customer that their insights will make the customer experience better for future clients:

When requesting long-form qualitative feedback, remember to think through your questions carefully. In-depth stories from customers bring nuance and color to your quantitative data. They could even guide your business to making some crucial future decisions. 

When talking to your customers:

  • Start with an open-ended dialogue: Remember that open-ended questions are crucial to get as much detail as possible from your customers. These queries give your customers more flexibility to cover the details of their experiences.
  • Get more specific as you go: Start with simple questions, then build on them as your conversation evolves. Use the things you learn from your customers to dive into topics that are relevant to them. For instance, if a customer mentions your live chat app, go into a deeper discussion about the channels they prefer to use. 
  • Practice active listening: Make sure that you’re open and receptive to the information you’re given. Actively listen to customers, even if you’re not in the same room, by acknowledging what they say and providing valuable responses. 

5. Use Social Media

Sometimes, people are reluctant to give feedback for your business on your website because they’re not in the frame of mind. When customers come to your site, there’s a good chance they’re looking for information from you or want to check out a new product. 

They’re probably not in the right mood to start sharing their opinions. 

However, if you capture your customers on social media, there’s a good chance they’ll be feeling a lot more talkative. After all, social media platforms are where most customers discuss their issues with companies, talk about purchases with friends, and make their voices heard. 

Simply paying attention to when people talk about your company on social media can give you a lot of helpful feedback. Social listening tools allow you to collect post information every time someone mentions your business name or product. 

Alternatively, you can actively use the tools on social media to gather data from customers. For instance, Instagram has its own “poll” feature on Stories that allows companies to collect opinions. 

If you’re collecting feedback on social media, remember that you shouldn’t be asking any questions that are too complicated. Although people are more willing to share their opinions on social, they’re still looking for a relatively laid-back and casual experience.

Polls, where people can vote for their preferences with a single click, are more likely to garner engagement than a post asking people to tell you about the best purchasing experience they ever had with your brand. 

If you do want to encourage more in-depth feedback, the best option is to promise a reward in return for your follower’s effort. 

Make the experience fun by transforming it into a competition. 

For instance, ask your customers to share their favorite story involving your brand for a chance to win an impressive prize. You can ask each customer to tag their response with a branded hashtag so that relevant answers are easier to find. You could even add users to tag their friends in their posts too, to increase brand reach while you collect feedback:

With gifts and rewards to incentivize them, people will be much more likely to interact with your brand and put effort into the reviews they leave. You could even gather some user-generated content to put into your subsequent ad campaigns. 

6. Create a Dedicated Website Page

Finally, if you want to make it as simple as possible for people to leave feedback on your website and for you to collect all of that information into one space, then create a review page on your website. This can double up as social proof for people who need additional evidence to buy from your brand. 

A review page could be as simple as a page on your website listing the latest comments that your customers have left. You can include a form at the bottom of the page where people can add their thoughts. Just make sure that you carefully review these posts before they’re submitted to your website if you want to prevent spam from getting through. 

You could also create a case study or portfolio page that showcases the work you’ve done with other companies like Fabrik Brands does here:

At the bottom of each case study, give your customers a unique email address they can reach out to if they want to be featured as your following case study. Or include a contact form where people can get in touch to discuss their own experiences. 

Having a dedicated review, case study, or testimonial page on your website could be enough to inspire more feedback from your customers. It’s also a fantastic way to demonstrate how credible your company is to potential buyers. 

Still, Struggling? Take the Customer Out of the Equation

If, even with all the suggestions above, you still can’t seem to convince your audience to give you some decent feedback, then take them out of the equation. You can learn things about your audience without asking them for information. Google Analytics and other tools will give you valuable insights into which of your blog pages get the most engagement and how many people click on individual buttons throughout your site. 

These fundamental insights might not be as good as valuable, contextual feedback from your audience, but they’re an excellent way to start figuring out how to invest in your future growth. 

Remember, feedback of any kind – even if it’s just statistics and numbers – gives your business the ability to grow and make informed decisions.

Gather as much feedback as you can, and make sure you use it!

 

Featured image via Pexels.

Source

The post 6 Tips for Collecting Customer Feedback (The Right Way) first appeared on Webdesigner Depot.


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SAP Tax Compliance, un outil de transformation digitale des fonctions fiscales

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Dans notre précédent article intitulé « Et si l’avenir de la fiscalité passait par le système d’information ? », nous mettions en avant les besoins grandissants en termes de contrôles autour des fonctions fiscales. En effet, les entreprises sont soumises à de nombreuses réglementations ainsi qu’à une complexification de leur système d’information. Il devient donc nécessaire pour beaucoup d’entre elles de mettre en place des outils de « Tax Compliance ». Ils permettent de supporter les équipes fiscales et d’assurer le respect des obligations. Dans ce second article, nous illustrerons au travers des fonctionnalités offertes par un des outils du marché, SAP Tax Compliance, la valeur apportée par cette démarche d’outillée.

Que peut-on attendre d’un outil de Tax Compliance ?

De nombreux outils de Tax Compliance sont aujourd’hui présents sur le marché français et mondial. Ceux-ci diffèrent en fonction de la cible visée, de la PME nationale à la multinationale implantée dans de nombreux pays. Ils offrent des fonctionnalités plus ou moins avancées ainsi qu’une complexité de mise en œuvre plus ou moins lourde.

Néanmoins, nous pouvons regrouper les fonctionnalités offertes en deux grandes catégories :

  • L’aide à la conformité des déclarations (a priori) :
    • l’optimisation de l’élaboration de la liasse fiscale (élaboration, vérification et dématérialisation),
    • la détermination de taux,
    • la conformité de la facturation électronique,
    • La déclaration de TVA (soumission, reporting et contrôles).
  • La mise en place de contrôles afin de s’assurer de la conformité (a posteriori) :
    • l’analyse du FEC,
    • les contrôles sur les référentiels (fournisseurs, articles, etc.),
    • les contrôles sur les transactions effectuées.

En complément, nous devons également prendre en compte le fait que les gouvernements exigent de plus en plus de données en temps réel, la qualité des données devient un prérequis clé pour la gestion des processus fiscaux et cela peut être amélioré en mettant en œuvre des contrôles fiscaux et en abordant les problèmes à la source, comme nous allons le voir avec l’outil SAP Tax Compliance.

Quels critères prendre en compte dans le choix de son outil de Tax Compliance

 

Le choix d’une solution doit être fondé sur les critères tant fonctionnels que techniques, pour répondre aux besoins suivants :

  • Facilité d’installation et d’exploitation de la solution: évaluer le degré d’autonomie sur l’installation et le paramétrage du logiciel, ainsi que le degré d’intégration dans le paysage SI existant. Il est en effet important que les utilisateurs métiers aient un degré d’autonomie suffisant sur l’exploitation de l’outil pour ne pas avoir de besoin de solliciter les équipes IT pour la moindre opération dans l’outil
  • Réponse aux besoins métier au travers de la couverture et richesse fonctionnelle: il est nécessaire d’évaluer la couverture d’un maximum de fonctionnalités et de contrôles standards, ainsi que la couverture géographique au travers d’une gestion multi-pays. Assurance de la facilité de prise en main par l’utilisateur final ou l’auditeur externe au travers d’une ergonomie conviviale et intuitive
  • Exploitation des résultats simple et accessible : évaluer la facilité de compréhension et d’interprétation des résultats de contrôles, la facilité d’export sur des outils bureautiques, ainsi que la capacité de génération des rapports d’anomalie sous format.doc ou .pdf avec explication des résultats, annotations utilisateurs, etc.,
  • L’intégration dans le paysage applicatif de l’entreprise est également primordiale dans le cas très fréquent où plusieurs ERP ou systèmes comptables cohabitent. Devoir multiplier les outils de Tax Compliance pour adresser les différents systèmes serait en effet contre-productif.

Présentation d’un outil : SAP TAX Compliance

SAP Tax Compliance propose une approche centralisée des contrôles de conformité, couvrant tout l’ensemble du processus, de la détection à la correction, en passant par le reporting et l’audit. À l’aide de l’apprentissage automatique à l’échelle de l’entreprise et de contrôles automatisés, l’application permet aux utilisateurs de détecter systématiquement les problèmes de conformité. Mais aussi d’améliorer la qualité des données fiscales, de rationaliser les corrections et d’atténuer rapidement le risque de non-conformité.

L’automatisation des processus de contrôle fiscal en temps quasi réel permet aux organisations de passer à des modèles de travail en continu. Elle permet aussi de résoudre les problèmes dès le début des processus ce qui est essentiel pour éviter de lourdes charges de travail à la fin de la période. Mais également de se conformer aux mandats les plus exigeants que les gouvernements introduisent dans le monde entier. En fait, avec l’introduction de la conformité numérique, la qualité des données fiscales est plus importante que jamais.

SAP Tax Compliance est une solution agnostique qui peut être intégré à SAP S/4HANA ou facilement déployé côte à côte. Elle peut aussi intégrer des données issues d’autres systèmes ERP (SAP ECC ou non SAP) ou spécialisés métiers (MDM, facturation, site de vente en ligne…). Cela offre ainsi la possibilité de capturer simultanément de gros volumes de données à partir de plusieurs systèmes. La solution offre également un apprentissage automatique natif et une intégration avec le workflow SAP. L’intérêt est de permettre l’automatisation et l’orchestration transparente des tâches de correction.

 

SAP Tax Compliance en un coup d'œil
SAP Tax Compliance en un coup d’œil

SAP Tax Compliance est fourni avec des règles de contrôles préconfigurées pour vous aider à démarrer et à améliorer immédiatement la qualité des données fiscales.

Par exemple, cela vous permet d’identifier et de corriger facilement les immatriculations de TVA manquantes sur les transactions intracommunautaires de l’UE ou les factures enregistrées sans code TVA. Vous pouvez également utiliser le moteur de détection pour faciliter l’examen des factures avec un montant de TVA très élevé. Ceci, permet de générer une réserve de travail pour examiner efficacement les exceptions sans avoir à identifier manuellement les éléments sur l’ensemble des transactions commerciales.

Il est également très flexible et permet d’enrichir facilement l’ensemble des règles de contrôles de la TVA aux droits de douane et autres taxes. Il permet également de relever constamment la barre en matière de conformité en développant vous-même des règles de contrôles fiscaux supplémentaires. Ou bien encore en intégrant le contenu prêt à l’emploi de notre partenaire Mazars.

Ces règles peuvent être facilement créées en définissant de nouvelles vues sur les données. Une fois celles-ci en place, le reste de la configuration peut être facilement complété via une assistance numérique fourni en tant qu’application Fiori qui guide l’utilisateur dans ses choix. Il s’agit de limiter l’implication du service informatique au développement réel des vues. Mais aussi de permettre aux utilisateurs métier d’adapter les contrôles, de réorganiser les listes de travail, de configurer le Machine Learning lorsque les données historiques sont suffisamment significatives. Ainsi que d’adapter les plannings en fonction des besoins de l’entreprise. Les utilisateurs métiers peuvent également gérer les tâches et les groupes d’utilisateurs correspondants responsables de l’achèvement. L’objectif est de garantir que la configuration en cours peut être facilement adaptée à mesure que l’entreprise évolue sans avoir recours à des experts informatiques qui sont toujours très demandés.

La solution permet également des simulations de paramétrages des règles de contrôle fiscal pour optimiser les contrôles et réduire les faux positifs.

SAP Tax Compliance fournit un tableau de bord centralisé pour obtenir des informations en temps réel sur l’état de conformité dans le monde entier. Il devient également un référentiel central de problèmes et de solutions qui peuvent être exploités pour conduire des améliorations en continu des processus. De plus, il permet d’empêcher les problèmes de se produire en premier lieu.

SAP Tax Compliance intègre des mécanismes d’apprentissage automatique

SAP Tax Compliance automatise au-delà de la détection, rationalisant l’ensemble du processus de correction. Il intègre des mécanismes d’apprentissage automatique prêt à l’emploi pour augmenter l’efficacité. De plus, il propose des modèles de workflow natifs pour orchestrer efficacement les tâches entre la myriade d’équipes qui doivent être impliquées dans le processus de correction.

Ces fonctionnalités d’apprentissage automatique peuvent être activées et maintenues par les utilisateurs métiers. Le but étant de libérer la puissance des données sans avoir besoin du support du département IT.

Comment réussir son projet de mise en place ?

Bien qu’il s’agisse d’un projet de mise en place d’outil, celui-ci ne doit pas être considéré comme un projet purement technique mais bien un projet global impliquant les acteurs métiers dès les premières phases. Il s’agit d’être sûr de ne pas se tromper d’objectif. Mais également de réellement apporter la valeur attendue pour toutes les parties prenantes.

C’est pour cela que nous préconisons la mise en place d’une équipe projet pluridisciplinaire. Une équipe qui regroupe les compétences financières, fiscales, juridiques, comptables et IT. Celle-ci est capable de cerner les besoins de la façon la plus exhaustive possible. Mais aussi de mettre en place une cartographie des risques et d’identifier les contrôles afférents.

Au-delà du module Tax compliance il peut être intéressant de disposer d’une solution complète pour la gestion fiscale de bout en bout qui couvre :

  • Contrôles fiscaux pour améliorer la qualité des données fiscales et éviter les interruptions d’activité.
  • Rapports électroniques en temps réel avec rapprochement complet pour une mise en conformité efficace.

SAP Tax Compliance offre une intégration transparente avec la nouvelle solution SAP Document and Reporting Compliance. Cette solution regroupe les anciennes solutions SAP pour la facturation numérique en temps réel (SAP Document Compliance) et la gestion des déclarations périodiques (SAP Advance Compliance Reporting ACR). Elle garantit que les problèmes identifiés soient rapidement suivis, que l’origine de ces déficiences soient analysées et résolues afin d’empêcher les interruptions d’activité.

Ces solutions SAP pour la facturation numérique en temps réel et la gestion des déclarations périodiques proposent déjà plus de 300 modèles pré-configurés de déclaration pour plus de 50 pays.

En synthèse, l’automatisation des contrôles et de la fonction fiscale devient de plus en plus nécessaire. L’obligation de bien s’outiller devient incontournable.

Cliquez ici pour plus d’infos

Vincent DOUX – SAP +33 6 03 43 72 95 v.doux@sap.com
Jérôme HUBER – Mazars +33 6 67 51 13 38 jerome.huber@mazars.fr
Vincent THEOT – Mazars +33 6 60 47 46 64 vincent.theot@mazars.fr
Heyfa LIMAM – Mazars +33 6 66 90 10 81 heyfa.limam@mazars.fr
Nicolas RICHARD – Mazars +33 6 66 61 91 35 nicolas.richard@mazars.fr

The post SAP Tax Compliance, un outil de transformation digitale des fonctions fiscales appeared first on SAP France News.

Source de l’article sur sap.com

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Hands-On Presto Tutorial: Presto 102

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This guide was developed using a laptop running Windows OS and docker on it.

Implementation Steps

This guide was developed using a laptop running Windows OS and docker on it.

Source de l’article sur DZONE

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Transferring a Repository from TFVC to Git [Snippets]

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This article should give a step-by-step guide of how to install and use the git-tfs tool to transfer TFVC data to a Git repository correctly.

Instructions

  1. Install the windows package manager « Chocolatey » https://chocolatey.org/install.
    1. Open a CMD window with administrative privileges.
    2. copy/paste the following and execute:
    3. @"%SystemRoot%System32WindowsPowerShellv1.0powershell.exe" -NoProfile -InputFormat None -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command "iex ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://chocolatey.org/install.ps1'))" && SET "PATH=%PATH%;%ALLUSERSPROFILE%chocolateybin"
    4. Close and reopen CMD again with administrative privileges.
  2. Install the git-tfs tool: https://github.com/git-tfs/git-tfs.
    1. In the CMD window, type in the following:
    2. choco install gittfs
    3. Open a git bash on the machine and run the following commands:
    4. git config --global user.name "Some Name"
    5. git config --global user.email "some.em@i.l"
    6. git config --global push.default simple

This gives the git repository your user info for when you push the git repository to the server.

Source de l’article sur DZONE

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