IBM OpenPages Has the Most User-Friendly Interface—Here’s Why

IBM OpenPages Wins Best User Interface Innovation at Risk Market Technology Awards

At iTech, we’re thrilled to share that IBM OpenPages with Watson has been recognized once again as a leader in the GRC space. In the February edition of the prestigious Risk Market Technology Awards, OpenPages was named the winner in the Best User Interface Innovation category.

These awards, a key part of the globally respected Risk Awards, celebrate excellence across technology vendors, trading platforms, legal firms, clearinghouses, and more. As the longest-running and most distinguished honours in the risk management and derivatives markets, this recognition highlights IBM OpenPages’ continued innovation and leadership in delivering powerful, user-friendly GRC solutions.

Simplifying Risk Management: The OpenPages Approach

When you take a closer look at how risk and compliance processes are carried out in most organizations, it becomes clear that many of the people involved are not risk or compliance experts. Yet, these responsibilities still affect their day-to-day work. That’s why governance, risk, and compliance (GRC)—also known as Integrated Risk Management (IRM)—should involve every employee, not just the specialists.

Through extensive research, the IBM OpenPages team found that non-expert users often see GRC tasks as overly time-consuming. Worse, the systems used to manage these tasks typically require training that can interrupt their regular responsibilities. In many cases, employees abandon training altogether due to how infrequently they use the GRC platform.

To solve this challenge, the OpenPages team went back to the drawing board. Their mission: redesign the user experience to make it faster, simpler, and more intuitive for everyone—from beginners to advanced users.

The result? A zero-training approach. The design team reimagined the platform with a user-centric interface that makes onboarding almost effortless and significantly boosts productivity. They also streamlined a large portion of the training materials by integrating natural language processing (NLP) and Watson Assistant, allowing users to get help in plain language, when and where they need it.

With this update, OpenPages proves that effective GRC doesn’t have to be complex—it just has to be accessible.

OpenPages’ Game-Changing “Watson Moment”

To enhance the user experience even further, the OpenPages design team integrated what IBM calls a “Watson Moment.” This feature—already used across IBM Cloud and Data Platform products—appears as cards, modals, drawers, or highlighted content to deliver smart, contextual assistance.

In OpenPages, the Watson Moment analyzes a user’s written description of the risks they want to assess. It then intelligently recommends the most relevant information.