NextGen - New UI

[MGordon]

As we continue to review the new UI, I find myself looking for the positive/helpful new features that will be a benefit to our associates.  I find that many of the features are just different, not really positive or negative, just different.  I do like the hotel itemization and think that will help.  For those that are previewing the new UI, what will you use to promote the positive aspects of the new UI?

[MGordon]

Seems to me this posting is saying a lot. Personally I see many changes in the new UI, most not positive or negative, just different. I am struggling as to why I want to introduce a whole new product to my employees, go through training and employee dissatisfaction (people hate change) for minimal gain. Looking for someone to "sell" me this product.

[Jody]

(I just finished replying in the SAP Concur Client User Group on LinkedIn!) Here it is again so that others might benefit:

Oh, I plan to sell you all right, @MGordon! (Disclaimer: I am not, nor have I ever been, in Sales or Marketing.)

First, software always will be changing (hopefully improving). More of a journey than a destination however. The good news is, we're in this together! (Yes, that is GOOD news.)

Second, the NextGen Expense UI is in a Preview Period which specifically focuses on new or infrequent end users (I know, some of you already are tired of hearing this). Next up: Approvers, and then Processors.

Please continue to let us know when something isn't working, doesn't work the way you might expect, or you wish it could do this or that. 

There's A LOT going in our products and every company presents its own unique set of challenges. Let me (hopefully not be the first to) say thank you and keep the feedback coming.

[Jhuelsman]

Jody, is there a better way to see comments from our Processors as well as the associate rather than scrolling through the whole report Timeline?  That will take us quite awhile to scroll through.  And before, we were able to tell if there were multiple comments but now that is not quite as evident.  Is there a better way?  Thanks! 

[shellshearer]

When would the approver portion be available in preview? 

Thank you

[Jody]

Hi, @MGordon!

Here are some links to guides, FAQs, release notes, and other resources to help train new users as well as change management:

• Professional Edition
• Standard Edition

The Admin Resource Center will help support end users through the migration to the new UI.

[Romeeta]

@Jody  I'm sure this has already been brought up, but do you have a timeline when there will be improvements to the Receipt Images - I am an expense administrator and if I proxy as employee and attempt to view receipt images by clicking on Manage Receipts, Manage Attachments, I cannot see the image properly. The only way I can see is if I download to my desktop which does not seem very efficient. I've brought this up in the solutions suggestions, in a webinar (said it's being worked on), but there really has been no definitive answer or timeline. Can you or someone provide any update? Thank you for your assistance. 

[mblades]

While I appreciate trying to see the positive of the new UI, I'm worried that SAP Concur isn't taking into consideration, the Administrators who spend all day in the system, supporting our users.

At least 90% of our users are Mobile, so this new UI isn't relevant to them, but our T&E Dept, who works in Concur all day, taking phone calls and emails, helping employees, are the ones who this new UI is affecting and not in a good way.

1. A prime example is reviewing receipts, when in a report.  Right now, when you click Manage Receipts and Manage Attachments, this window opens in the middle of the screen, if i want to review your hotel receipt and help you with your hotel itemization at the same time, i can't.

i know you can view the receipt by clicking the entry, but this means multiple clicks, to view each receipt, rather than opening a window and viewing them all along side the expenses in the report.

1. Itemizing a Hotel: if you have already itemized the hotel, how would i know? and to get to that itemization, again, multiple clicks, where before, you could click the arrow to the left of the charge

And when itemizing the hotel, why am i required to put the check in and check out dates on one screen but then enter the rates, etc on another screen?

Why do i have to choose expense type Hotel again, for the itemization boxes to appear, it already says Hotel in the body of the main report.

When i do itemize a hotel, and click Save itemizations, a window opens up, saying its missing information, but there are no flags, telling me something is missing?

1. Auto Rental: someone calls in and has an auto rental charge, we could hover over the icon to get the details, now we have multiple clicks to get to this data
2. Losing the ability to change the expense type on multiple entries at one time, in the report is also an inconvenience.

I look forward to hearing other's thoughts/ opinions

Thank you,

[Josh]

Hi @mblades,

Welcome to the community!

While I don't have answers to everything you mentioned, I'll answer what I do know. Also keep in mind that the NextGen UI is still in its Preview period, so not all functions are available, but will be with the full release in the fall.

-Yes, the NextGen UI is more focused on making it simpler for the end user, and specifically for first-time users or infrequent users. More on that on this post:

https://community.concur.com/t5/Concur-Expense-Getting-Started/Initial-thoughts-on-the-new-Expense-U...

The experience for approvers / administrators / processors remains largely the same, but they are not forgotten. Concur is currently developing a UI update for those users, and will be a redesign just like the NextGen UI. Their first priority was for the end users (the largest group), and will roll out the other sides of the site when they are complete. Not sure when that'll be, unfortunately.

-For itemizations, I agree that it would be great to be able to tell if an expense has been itemized at a glance. Right now, allocated expenses will show up like this:

I'd imagine that in the full release there would be an 'Itemized' in a similar fashion. I would also say this community is the correct place to make a suggestion like this! Well, outside the Solution Suggestions on Concur's support site.

-Editing multiple expenses at a single time is not available yet, but is planned for the full release. You can see this and other features that are forthcoming in Concur's tracker for the NextGen UI, available here:

http://www.concurtraining.com/customers/tech_pubs/NextGenEXP/UpcomingEnhancements.pdf

As to your other concerns, I do understand your frustration, and it may well be that in the full release, those are resolved in a way that better helps your workflow. If not, it may be included in the admin / approver update that will be coming out later.

Either way, I'd say make a suggestion in the Solution Suggestions section on Concur's support site if you have an idea, and let Concur know what you think! Like I said, the NextGen UI is still in Preview, so things will look slightly different once it's been fully released in the fall.

[rho]

Hello, this initial posting was over a year and a half ago, but feel I need to respond because I'm not seeing the changes as indicated in the NEW UI PREVIEW, specifically for ITEMIZATIONS.

As a business process, we have opted to train users to use ITEMIZE instead of ALLOCATE simply for the ease of reportability both for the approver and for the way we're able to show itemized items on the printed report.  The new UI does not give that at-a-glance review of either ALLOCATIONS nor ITEMIZATIONS.  The hyplerlink for ALLOCATIONS merely replaces the hove-over view, and the window still only shows % versus clear amounts.

I really hope this is fixed (making ITEMIZATIONS available at-a-glance on the report level) as this is a huge sticking point for our users.

[lgarcia]

What about request? when will this be avaialble? we are hoping that by the time the New Expense UI is mandatory that you will also have Request ready to go or at least right behind expense. I know we are going to have a struggle with the change but if it is all at the same time that would make it less of a struggle for our employees. 

[Jody]

Hi, @rho~

Welcome to the Exchange and thank you so much for posting your comments. We all benefit from each other's experience and this is a great place to share tips, ideas, and frustrations!

As one of the employees responsible for gathering feedback about the new user interface (UI) from several avenues, I also get the opportunity to review all of it with the Concur Expense team which includes software engineers and user experience (UX) designers.

If I understand your comment correctly, you're asking for the itemizations to be visible from the expense list within a report --without drilling into the expense details? Like this:

Itemization amounts within a report

This functionality is on the plan to be developed in the new UI. At this time, however, we’re not able to communicate anything regarding timelines for specific features and functionality (beyond what's stated in the Frequently Asked Questions document).

Thanks again for posting and being an early adopter. We're all in this together!

[username]

I'm not sure how this is an improvement.  There is less information on most of the screens, the ability to move between screens is less intuitive and more restrictive, and it takes even longer to submit reports than it did before.  Maybe these 'improvements' made your developers feel good about justifying their employment but for those of us who actually have to use the system this new ui feels like a massive step backward in efficiency and productivity.  

Change for the sake of change is not progress. 

[ANTLEU]

It is disappointing that Concur does not have a solid timeline that can help customer who are using Major and Minor features not currently available under NextGen UI to plan for transition. According to Concur, NextGen UI mandatory cut over date will be no early that June 30th 2019 for all Clients. However, as of now, release timeline on major/minor features that are critical to customer on their UI transition decision are not there. 
Concur has asked client to not focus on the mandatory cut-over date but moving when all the features they need are completed. However, there does not seems to be any official grace period information release by Concur. That make the transition planning for customers who use feature not available become very challenging.

Without a clear understanding of the time line and grace period, it is hard to for customer to justify and organize any transition planning.

SAP Concur should seriously look into this. If Concur does not know when all major and minor features will be available, for the least, Concur should share the grace period  with all clients. So that client can pace the transition planning accordingly the grace period.

[username]

It's clear that the actual users are not the concern, merely the customers (meaning our employers) who pay the bills.  It has taken me over a day and a half to complete a simple, very straightforward expense report because of the massive inefficiencies and duplicitive steps I have had to take to submit.  

Example, I can find no option to bulk assign attendees to meal expenses.  Given that the vasy majority of meal expenditures on reports are going to be for the person filling out the report, how is this not an option?  As far as I'm concerned this is tantamount to Concur impacting the bottom line of the customer.  This is less efficient than the old days when we'd put all the receipts in an envelope and hand off to someone who was paid to do this work.  

Concur not only charges for their service but how many millions are lost in hidden costs to the customers whose employees have to wade through repetitive and poorly designed workflows in order to submit expenses?  The UI is so bad it's offencive.  

[username]

Also, when you detach a receipt from an expense because you inadvertantly selected the wrong one because the display windows are so POORLY designed and size limited (frames within frames, really?  The 90s called...) the receipt is no longer available to attach to the proper expense.  So I have to waste 10minutes rifling through the pile of receipts to find it again.  

Thanks for wasting more of my time and my employer's money, concur.