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SAP User Experience Q1/2025 Update – Part 4: SAP Ariba, SAP Fieldglass

ThomasReiss
Product and Topic Expert
Product and Topic Expert
‎2025 Feb 20 1:08 PM
2,477

This fourth post in my series gives an overview of latest UX innovations in SAP Ariba and SAP Fieldglass, products for managing your spend (procurement) and external workforce. For SAP Ariba: the new Intake Management application and news for Category Management. For SAP Fieldglass, the highlight is the new Home Page, but we’ll also look at further UX improvements.

 

SAP Ariba

The recent UX innovations I’d like to present here are:

  • The new SAP Ariba Intake Management application, with its great UX.
  • UX enhancements in Category Management: Initiatives Overview and allowing category managers to store attachments.

SAP Ariba Intake Management

Rather than having to go to many different systems to manage small and large procurement needs, from simple purchase requests to onboarding new service providers, SAP Ariba Intake Management gives you your “one stop shop” for all of a purchasers procurement requests. It provides a fast, simple, and intuitive single front door for all procurement requests, streamlining processes and shielding users from system complexity. This saves time, and avoids the frustration of dealing with multiple systems for ordering and tracking status.

Joule is also at hand to guide users, making it even easier.

Figure 1: SAP Ariba Intake Management. ALT Text: The image shows a screenshot of the “My Requests” overview, with a “Recently Requested” section at the top, with flat cards for “Request Software”, “Request Supplier”, “Request Sourcing Event”, “Return Items”, “Request Unlisted Software” and “…”. Below that an “Overview” section with subsections for “In Progress” with cards for Software Requests, showing status “In Progress” and IT Service with status “Pending” and “Completed”. Then a further subsection “Completed” with two rows of cards, the first four are “Purchase Requisition”, “Facility Service”, “Carfleet Service”.Figure 1: SAP Ariba Intake Management. ALT Text: The image shows a screenshot of the “My Requests” overview, with a “Recently Requested” section at the top, with flat cards for “Request Software”, “Request Supplier”, “Request Sourcing Event”, “Return Items”, “Request Unlisted Software” and “…”. Below that an “Overview” section with subsections for “In Progress” with cards for Software Requests, showing status “In Progress” and IT Service with status “Pending” and “Completed”. Then a further subsection “Completed” with two rows of cards, the first four are “Purchase Requisition”, “Facility Service”, “Carfleet Service”.

There is much more to it than shown above in Figure X, so do have a look at it in action:

SAP Ariba Category Management

Initiatives Overview

Management reporting of category management initiatives got easier with the Initiatives Overview application (Figure 2). Users managing or analyzing multiple categories can have a bird’s eye view of all initiatives in a single place. The customizable interface with multiple filters, interactive charts, and a Gantt chart view, can help users to gain insights for their tasks, whether they are strategic, like monitoring the benefits towards their procurement goals, or tactical, like planning initiatives execution order due to dependencies or balancing the team workload.

Figure 2: Initiatives Overview in SAP Ariba Category Management, with different visualization options. ALT Text: The image shows two screenshots of the Initiatives Overview. On the left a visualization with four vertical bar charts for the last four quarters showing planned, active, completed and obsolete in different colors. Below that a list of Initiatives, with category, region, assignee (including a photo), start and end date and status with coloured badges. On the right a Gantt chart visualization of the same initiatives, with a visual filter bar at the top, and below that the Gantt chart showing the time period from May to September.Figure 2: Initiatives Overview in SAP Ariba Category Management, with different visualization options. ALT Text: The image shows two screenshots of the Initiatives Overview. On the left a visualization with four vertical bar charts for the last four quarters showing planned, active, completed and obsolete in different colors. Below that a list of Initiatives, with category, region, assignee (including a photo), start and end date and status with coloured badges. On the right a Gantt chart visualization of the same initiatives, with a visual filter bar at the top, and below that the Gantt chart showing the time period from May to September.

Attachments

With attachments, category managers can upload files of different formats and add links to their category strategy and plan documents. The benefits of being able to do that are many, including: referencing an important source of information that drove some of their strategic decisions, ease the access to documents like policies, laws, and regulations, and even extend the SAP Ariba Category Management capabilities by adding their own analysis tools as slides, spreadsheets, or PDFs.

Figure 3: Attachments in SAP Ariba Category Management. ALT Text: The image shows two screenshots from the application “Develop Strategy and Plan”: on the left the mai page, with four steps shown as horizontal flow at the top (1. Category Analysis, 2. Market Analysis, 3. Strategy and Plan, 4. Attachments and Approval). Section 4 is selected, showing a card on the left with the Approval Flow, showing that the item is approved. On the right a card listing four attachments (Vendor List, a contract PDF,…). The screenshot on the right shows a popover with a preview of the contract PDF file, with buttons for “Download” and “Close”.Figure 3: Attachments in SAP Ariba Category Management. ALT Text: The image shows two screenshots from the application “Develop Strategy and Plan”: on the left the mai page, with four steps shown as horizontal flow at the top (1. Category Analysis, 2. Market Analysis, 3. Strategy and Plan, 4. Attachments and Approval). Section 4 is selected, showing a card on the left with the Approval Flow, showing that the item is approved. On the right a card listing four attachments (Vendor List, a contract PDF,…). The screenshot on the right shows a popover with a preview of the contract PDF file, with buttons for “Download” and “Close”.

Get an overview of SAP Ariba Category Management, as well as What’s New:

 

SAP Fieldglass

I’m happy to introduce the new Home Page, along with the layout manager to ensure that each user sees what is relevant to them. Another recent innovation is the new characteristics tab for Statements of Work. Finally, we’ll look at some improvements for administrators.

New Home Page

The highlight here is the new home page. It uses UI5 integration cards which are designed to focus on what’s most important for the user, guided by insights from recent user research. Figure 4 shows what it looks like.

Figure 4: New SAP Fieldglass home page. ALT Text: A screenshot with a banner at the top saying “Hi, Jennifer! Welcome to SAP Fieldglass”, containing a “What’s New” button on the right and a settings button. Below that a section with tab “Pinned Links” selected, along with tabs for “Recently Viewed Items” and “Starred Items”. Below that the page is filled with cards relevant for the user, such as “My Work Items”, showing the type and number of items of that type, “Let’s help you get started”, “Announcement” with some internal information about important actions that need your attention, a card “My Workers” listing five workers with image, name, ID, end date and health indicator, and a card “My Job Posting” listing two postings (Senior Developer and Junior Developer), each with status “Submitted”, and showing the next steps (“Supplier needs to respond” and “Review Responses” respectively).Figure 4: New SAP Fieldglass home page. ALT Text: A screenshot with a banner at the top saying “Hi, Jennifer! Welcome to SAP Fieldglass”, containing a “What’s New” button on the right and a settings button. Below that a section with tab “Pinned Links” selected, along with tabs for “Recently Viewed Items” and “Starred Items”. Below that the page is filled with cards relevant for the user, such as “My Work Items”, showing the type and number of items of that type, “Let’s help you get started”, “Announcement” with some internal information about important actions that need your attention, a card “My Workers” listing five workers with image, name, ID, end date and health indicator, and a card “My Job Posting” listing two postings (Senior Developer and Junior Developer), each with status “Submitted”, and showing the next steps (“Supplier needs to respond” and “Review Responses” respectively).

Layout Manager

The new layout manager allows administrators to customize the content visibility based on user roles, allowing for a tailored experience that aligns with each role’s specific needs and responsibilities. We provide default layouts, and customers can create their own ones, as you can see in Figure 5.

Figure 5: New Layout Manager in SAP Fieldglass. ALT Text: Two screenshots: top left the Layout List, showing four default layouts name and description (Administrator Layout; Finance and Reporting Layout; Hiring Manager Layout; PMO Layout). Bottom right the Hiring Manager Layout page configuration is shown, with a list of cards showing name and description (My Workers; My Interviews; My Job Postings; In Progress Items).Figure 5: New Layout Manager in SAP Fieldglass. ALT Text: Two screenshots: top left the Layout List, showing four default layouts name and description (Administrator Layout; Finance and Reporting Layout; Hiring Manager Layout; PMO Layout). Bottom right the Hiring Manager Layout page configuration is shown, with a list of cards showing name and description (My Workers; My Interviews; My Job Postings; In Progress Items).

Characteristics Tab in SOW (Statement of Work)

By highlighting the status and payment details of line items, users can quickly assess project progress and spending. This makes it easier to track which items are completed, in progress, or pending, helping users make informed decisions, avoid overspending, and prioritize tasks effectively.

It also improves communication with stakeholders by providing clear financial and status insights.

Figure 6: The SAP Fieldglass characteristics tab for SOW (Statement of Work). ALT Text: A screenshot of the SOW Dashboard, for an item “Building #45 Renovation – Holdbacks”. The header shows the progress graphically (three of five steps are green), the status (Approved), ID, Period and Vendor. Below that the page has numerous tabs, the “Payment Line Items2 tab is selected, showing two cards at the top: “Committed Amount” and “Payment Line Items Status”, showing that there are 6 items in total, with one pending approval, two invoiced and three created. Below that a table is shown, displaying four items, one in each row, with columns for status, sequence number, name, owner, PO number, requested and final amount.Figure 6: The SAP Fieldglass characteristics tab for SOW (Statement of Work). ALT Text: A screenshot of the SOW Dashboard, for an item “Building #45 Renovation – Holdbacks”. The header shows the progress graphically (three of five steps are green), the status (Approved), ID, Period and Vendor. Below that the page has numerous tabs, the “Payment Line Items2 tab is selected, showing two cards at the top: “Committed Amount” and “Payment Line Items Status”, showing that there are 6 items in total, with one pending approval, two invoiced and three created. Below that a table is shown, displaying four items, one in each row, with columns for status, sequence number, name, owner, PO number, requested and final amount.

Improvements for Administrators

In addition to the new home page, we have introduced a pinned links section on the administrator pages. This new feature enables users to quickly access their “favorite” items, such as frequently used or particularly important items, streamlining their workflow and enhancing overall efficiency.

Figure 7: Pinned Admin Links in SAP Fieldglass. ALT Text: A screenshot of the “Admin Configuration” with a section at the to for “Pinned Admin Links”, containing three links (icon plus text): “Create Cost Center”; “View: Business Units”; “View: Cost Centers”. Below that the page shows a number of cards in four columns, each containing links. The cards shown are “User”, “Financial Data”, “Services”, “Report”, “Supplier”, “Integration” – each containing between three and more than ten links.Figure 7: Pinned Admin Links in SAP Fieldglass. ALT Text: A screenshot of the “Admin Configuration” with a section at the to for “Pinned Admin Links”, containing three links (icon plus text): “Create Cost Center”; “View: Business Units”; “View: Cost Centers”. Below that the page shows a number of cards in four columns, each containing links. The cards shown are “User”, “Financial Data”, “Services”, “Report”, “Supplier”, “Integration” – each containing between three and more than ten links.

Administrators also benefit from the new self-service dashboard for company configuration changes (not visualized here). With this, buyers gain autonomy with expanded configuration options within their company setup, eliminating the necessity of reaching out to support for updates. This enhancement offers clients greater flexibility and control over their settings.

 

Continue Reading

I hope you enjoyed this fourth part, covering SAP Ariba and SAP Fieldglass.

Part 5 is now available, covering latest UX innovations for selling with SAP Customer Experience and SAP Industry Cloud – Retail:

Part 1 of the series lists all the parts, and links to those parts that have already been published:

Do keep posting your experiences and recommendations yourself in the SAP Community, with the SAP Fiori and/or the User Experience tag! In case you are wondering how to get a list of the most recent blog posts on SAP Fiori and User Experience in our new SAP Community, use these links:

For general information on design at SAP and SAP Fiori, check out: