Look at the HR technology trends predicted for this year: cloud,SaaS, HR master data management, analytics. Hello, What about the actual users?

They say that design has to be functional. Many products that look sensational or aesthetically near perfect but lacking in functionality end up not being used. The gadget technology space has been a witness to may beautiful objects that ended up being bought in big numbers initially but dumped soon after because the product could not get the job done.

Its been widely accepted that most HR technology software solutions were not just  lacking in looks (pre-iPhone era) and that most of the actual users shunned away from using them or only used it when forced to (for compliance reasons).

So has the evolution of design in gizmos, products, apps and software helped the hr technology space in any way? Not really.

When we talk to the users to HR software in the market now including the top names,  we get to know that though in the recent years many software products and solutions have started looking good but they still aren't what the users would be comfortable using.

Dig a little deeper and this is what is revealed- 
1. "I hate using the software but i am supposed to work on it. So I do."
Looks have improved in most cases but 'usability' has not. And these are merely cosmetic changes done to the archaic or legacy systems.
2. "Its a pain to use the software. Can't believe my organization spent thousands of dollars on this product. Yeah, it sits on the cloud and all that, but..."

User experience is way too bad. 

How to get the users to like using the software?
Very Good Functional Design> Excellent Usability >Good User Experience.

Dear HR Software companies,
Please hire some good user experience guys if you really want the users to like your product and use them more effectively. (Some theory says that if more users like your product, the more you sell and thus you make more monies).  Involve user experience and usability feedback in the design stage of your product itself, not after the architecture is done.
Please build applications which users would "love to use" and not be compelled to use.

We are still awaiting for a tool which is functional in design with excellent user experience. And in a couple of years User Experience will be on the top of the HR technology predictions.

I will 'like' you if you can give me such a tool.

PS: I will put it up on my santa's list too, just in case nobody in the bakers dozen and their followers read this.

Regards,

A user of HR technology