Report: User Experience and Usability in Complex Systems

User Experience and Usability in Complex Systems
Final Report 1/2015
FIMECC (Finnish Metals and Engineering Competence Cluster)
November 2015, 225 pages

Five years ago, some of Finland’s metals and engineering industry companies were looking for new ways to tackle challenges and concerns. With the shared vision, that industrial design and end users are key to reinventing a business, to coming up with innovative new products and services, and to enabling radical changes, a group of business people and researchers embarked together on a quest for new knowledge. How could the user experience, or “UX”, be utilized to make Finland’s metals and engineering industry more competitive? What does UX mean in the context of complex systems? What does it mean in the business-to-business context? The overall target of the programme was to radically renew practices of Finnish metals and engineering industry by developing and implementing new design and collaboration methods that produce personalized user and customer experiences.

The final report aims to summarize the most valuable learning achieved during the programme as well as many examples that hopefully will support others in applying newly created knowledge in their business. The material is based on insights furnished by company representatives and academics working at FIMECC UXUS programme. The final report consists of six differently themed sections describing the actions taken and the lessons learned. The report focuses particularly on companies’ perspectives, their learning journeys on UX during the programme.

Related publications

A new FIMECC UXUS booklet series compiled by Finnish academic researchers and experts on the Finnish metal industry’s corporate R&D function aim to provide a glimpse of user experience (UX) for B2B companies, with a special focus on the metals and engineering industry.

Issue 1: UX Why? What? – A Glimpse of UX for B2B industry
The first booklet offers a significant step towards better understanding of the role user experience (UX) plays in business-to-business industry. Positive user experience as a philosophy is a powerful way to re-think product business.

Issue 2: UX How? – A Glimpse of UX for B2B industry
The second booklet discloses the principles with which B2B industry can make a difference with user experience (UX) in strategy, management, and operations.

Issue 3: Industry Expedition to the UX world – A Glimpse of UX for B2B industry
In this booklet companies that participated in FIMECC UXUS program share their experiences and the lessons learned from their UX journey.