Factors affecting user experience

A good user experience is not only related to the construction of user views and templates. Thoughtful use of features such as background processing can impact the user experience and overall performance of the application. Consider these areas of application functionality that directly impact the user experience and use the following guidelines to ensure the application provides the best possible experience for your end users:

• Background Processing
• SOR Pattern
• External Integration
• Network Latency
• Large Data Sets
• User Feedback
• Responsiveness

Background processing benefits user experience and productivity. When possible run required processing in the background so the end user does not have to wait for it to complete. This is also referred to as asynchronous processing. While the user is busy reading a screen or completing another task, the application performs required tasks in another requestor session, apart from the user’s requestor session.

Scenarios where background processing can be leveraged include:

• SOR Pattern
• External Integration
• Network latency

When leveraging the SOR pattern, required data is not kept with the case itself. Instead the data is retrieved when needed at run time from an external SOR. In these scenarios, you can defer the load of the external data after the initial screen is loaded.

External integration with an SOR is almost always a requirement. When integrating with external systems, establish realistic expectations on the amount of time needed to load data retrieved from the external systems. By leveraging background processing and asynchronous processing, you can quickly render an initial user interface. This technique allows the end user to start working while the application gathers additional data. The application then displays the data as soon as it becomes available.

Never underestimate the impact that network latency can have on the amount of time required to retrieve data from external systems. Whenever possible, colocate the Pega Database repository on the same high-speed network as the application servers running the Pega Platform or engine. Keep systems you are integrating with as close as possible to your data center. If the system you are integrating with is located very far away, consider using replicated data from a nearby data warehouse or proxy system. You can also use Edge Servers for web content that is referenced frequently.

When it comes to data, less is always better. Avoid retrieving large data sets. Keep your result sets as small as possible. Only retrieve the data that is immediately required for the task at hand. Consider aggregating data sets ahead of time by introducing data warehouses and multidimensional databases where quick response times are critical.

If it will take longer than a couple of seconds to load a screen, provide the end user meaningful feedback of how much time is needed to complete the processing. Give the end user something else to do while the processing is taking place. Also, you could design the interaction so the user can opt to perform it in the background or cancel out if it is taking too long. Always keep the end user in control.

As the form factor changes, leverage Pega's Responsive UI support and only show the user what is absolutely necessary to complete the task at hand. Avoid creating the "Everything View" that tries to show every piece of information all at once. Move unnecessary or optional information away from the screen as the screen size is reduced. Keep your User Interfaces highly specialized and focused on individual and specific tasks.

Many application performance issues affect the user experience directly or indirectly. Because the application shares resources across users and background processes, an issue in another part of the application can affect the individual end user in some way.

Sometimes, performance issues show up only after the application has been in production for several weeks and users over a period of days start to experience a performance degradation. Use performance tools and troubleshooting techniques to identify causes of poor performance. For more information, see the following Pega Community article: Support Play: A methodology for troubleshooting performance.