SAP GUI vs. SAP Fiori: A Brief Practical Comparison

Abstract

Many SAP users express frustration with the user interface and the complexity of data entry. Over the years, SAP has
implemented various approaches to enhance user interaction and the overall user experience of its software products. This
raises the question of whether these intentions truly address the users’ concerns. Therefore, this paper compares the SAP
GUI and SAP Fiori, highlighting the respective advantages and disadvantages of both frontends. The analysis shows that
SAP Fiori offers significant benefits, especially for newly developed applications. In particular, SAP Fiori visualizes the
relationships between business process steps – previously represented as separate transactions – by clearly depicting the
underlying business process and its associated document flow, and it offers more effective error handling functionalities.
These features can be especially valuable for first-time users and in university education, as it helps users better understand
complex business processes. However, professional users with years of experience may prefer to continue using the SAP
GUI, as they are accustomed to its function-oriented, transactional concept and familiar design.