Salesforce Lightning Considerations to Optimise User Adoption
Background
As Salesforce customers switch to lightning, the biggest fear is the change of the User Interface. Customers may have been using the Salesforce Classic Interface for years and will know all of the shortcuts and quirks to get the job done.
Salesforce is great - why are we changing it? It has been well documented that the new Lightning Platform is the future and that it will enhance the user experience but the end users still may need some convincing.
When Switching to Lightning the Standard Objects such as Accounts, Opportunities and Cases already come preloaded with a standard layout which may work well for most users. The custom object lightning layouts will definitely need some work.
Spend time with the end users
The key is to spend some time with the Salesforce users to understand how they interact with the platform. Whilst it is easy to ask what they would like to improve it is also important to know what they love about classic. This way we can ensure that the Lightning Migration is as smooth as possible. As a rule of thumb, try to ensure every aspect of the transition to lightning is going to bring tangible benefits to the end user by selecting the best Lightning Components for the Job.
For quick wins, think about how your users may benefit from these powerful components
Top 5 Quick Wins for users switching to Lightning
1. The Path
Many salesforce records have a“Stage” or a“Status”. This is typically a Picklist field and will be familiar for users who use the Opportunity or Case Objects. Many custom objects will also have a picklist to define the status or stage of a record.
In Lightning we have the Path Component
The Path to Success!
This clearly highlights where we have got to with each record. We like to position this at the top of the page just below the highlights panel(which you can also customise to bring Key information to the fore).
By clicking on each stage you can also see key fields to be populated and give your users some tips and tricks for completing each stage of the record.
2. List View Power
List views are so much better in Lightning with 3 Quick Wins, You can now search list views, Pin your personal favourites to the Object Tab and also, to follow on from the Path above, choose Kanban view to quickly drag and drop records to update their status values
Kanban View. Simply drag the cards across columns to update the status of each record
3. Enhanced Related Lists AKA Sortable Data Grids
These really do add some secret shizzle to your page. This is a free component to download from the Component section of the App Exchange. Use a Sortable Data Grid(SDG) to display your Key Related list information. It means you can edit, search or filter on child record from the parent field. Also, you can use the filter function to only show relevant related records(eg filter out all of the old or completed child records).
A Sprint record with the ability to edit and filter the Child requirements in the sortable data grid
4. The Chatter Component
There are options within lightning as to how to display the Chatter Component. If chatter is key in an object it can have its own dedicated Component taking up as much real estate as necessary. Alternatively, you may wish to dedicate this space to something of greater priority and have the component nestled in a Tab next to Activities and Emails or even tucked away in the Accordian Component
5. Reports and Dashboard
Your classic reports and dashboards are transformed in Lightning without having to do any development. Better still - head over to Trailhead to see how to fully utilise the power of Lightning Reports and Dashboards.
Simple but effective Lightning Dashboard Layout in“Dark Mode”
Final Thought - Consistency will bring success
We have not even touched on enhancing the User Experience with some of our other favourites such as Lightning Actions, Flows, Lightning Component Visibility filters, Toast Messages, App Pages(which provide a great for Mobile Applications), Lightning for Outlook and GMail and Rich Text Validation Warnings.
Background
Spend time with the end users
Top 5 Quick Wins for users switching to Lightning
1. The Path
2. List View Power
3. Enhanced Related Lists AKA Sortable Data Grids
4. The Chatter Component
5. Reports and Dashboard
Final Thought - Consistency will bring success