Viewpoint · usability
Usability in IAM: built for users, approvers, owners and admins
Usability barely features in tenders, questionnaires or compliance frameworks. In day-to-day operation, it helps decide whether requests, approvals and recertifications are handled with care.
A requirements list shows what a tool can do. It does not show whether the department head understands the request.
Why usability matters
IAM controls only work when people understand them
An IAM tool is a collection of controls operated by people: requests, approvals, recertifications, troubleshooting. How effective these controls are depends on whether the people involved understand what they are working on.
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Approving blind
If managers cannot see what they are approving, they approve anyway.
When in doubt, they approve everything.
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Blanket confirmation
If business owners cannot read the recertification, they click “confirm all”.
Sooner or later, blanket confirmations like these become an audit finding.
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Shadow process
If users cannot find the request path, a shadow process emerges:
Email to ITSpreadsheetQuick word in the corridor
Access granted this way bypasses the IAM tool, with no request and no audit log entry.
Tenders rarely weigh usability; they mainly score feature lists. We weigh this differently.
Four users · one tool
How Nova is built for four roles
Each of the four roles has a moment that shows whether an IAM tool works.
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The user
“I need access like my colleague.”
The request starts in the user’s own words, not in a role-catalog puzzle.
- The assistant finds the matching roles and shows business description and risk class before the request goes out.
- Those who prefer searching to asking get a searchable catalog with approval stages per role.
Previous UI (July 2026) -
The manager
“What exactly am I approving here?”
The answer is in the request itself.
- SoD conflicts are checked before approval and shown with severity, reasoning and a question channel on one screen.
- During absences, deputy approvals take over, fully audited.
Demo tenant (October 2026) -
The business owner
“Why does someone outside my area hold my role?”
Recertification with risk flags per row: unused access, critical roles, anomalies.
- Entries can be grouped by person or role.
- Every decision stays individual and is recorded in the audit log.
- This makes the individual decision easier than the blanket confirmation.
Demo tenant (October 2026) -
The admin
“Are my users in sync?”
Three-way reconciliation shows target, actual and drift per system.
- The admin chat answers analysis questions in plain language.
- It works with more than 50 tools directly on the system: users, roles, jobs, health checks, audit.
Previous UI (July 2026)
The screenshots are from Nova: approval and recertification from the demo tenant of a fictitious insurer (October 2026), the two chat views from an earlier demo system with the previous UI (July 2026).
The field test
A 90-day pilot with your own team
The pilot shows how usable Nova is.
How the pilot works
- Parallel operation90 days alongside your existing tool.
- With your teamWith your own approvers, owners and admins.
- DecisionAfterwards, your team decides whether Nova works in day-to-day use.