Three Questions You Should Ask About Board Portal Usability

The iPad has become an indispensable productivity tool for executives and board members alike, changing our expectations of how mobile and Web applications should work. Govenda is designed to meet those new user expectations, with a clear focus on delivering the best possible user experience for board members, executives and administrators. But we also think that a better board portal experience starts before board members log in. Here are three key questions to ask to be sure you get the easiest and best possible board portal experience, from the moment you buy to ensure board portal usability.

1. How easy is it to sign up and buy?

Is the pricing easy to understand, or do you need a spreadsheet to figure out how much it is going to cost to buy, install, and own?

Some board portals charge different types of license fees, and offer optional modules at a cost. In addition to upfront licenses, they may require an annual maintenance fee to receive enhancements and ongoing support beyond your first year. They may also suggest you buy installation and training services that delay your start up and add to your costs.Complex pricing, optional features, and costly add-on services should be a thing of the past.

You should pay one price for everything, including support, installation, training and upgrades. That’s why we have annual flat-rate pricing for nonprofits and businesses. You can sign up for Govenda and get working within minutes, with predictable costs today and into the future.

2. How easy is it to set up?

Do you need to buy services from your vendor, and involve a team of your own IT people to set up, install, and administer the solution?

We believe true board portal usability also means easy to set up. If you need to involve your IT team in installation, integration and configuration, then you are adding a layer of complexity to board governance. A Govenda portal is typically set up within minutes of signing up for a free trial. And any configuration to your processes (notifications, user permissions, committee structures and memberships, etc.) can be handled within the easy-to-use Administration Controls.

There’s no need for expensive custom development or IT configuration that will add to your costs and potentially lock you in to an inflexible solution.

3. How easy is it to learn to use the board portal?

Are you going to have to retrain executives, administrators and board members, or is the portal going to make their lives easier and better, without a difficult learning curve?

Govenda was designed with the principle that a board portal usability should be so easy to use that anyone who has shopped on Amazon, paid bills online, or used an iPad can figure it out without extensive training. Most administrators, corporate secretaries, executives, and board members are able to log on the first time to Govenda and navigate and use the application without any expert guidance.

If your board portal vendor recommends that you spend thousands of dollars to have their experts train users and get board members up-to-speed, chances are the technology is complicating rather than simplifying board tasks.

To learn more about how Govenda is Different By Design, download our whitepaper or  sign up for a demo with one of our specialists.