User roles and permissions are the foundation of operational security, administrative efficiency, and scalability in SaaS platforms. A well-structured roles and permissions system not only protects sensitive data but also ensures that every user sees exactly what they need to get their job done—no more, no less. In this post, we break down how to approach roles and permissions management in enterprise SaaS from a User Experience perspective.

Why Roles and Permissions Matter

In large organizations, personnel and platform users have diverse job functions, departmental structures, and varying levels of trust. A thoughtful roles and permissions model helps to:

• Streamline onboarding and user provisioning
• Align user access with organizational structure
• Reduce cognitive load for personnel with tailored experiences
• Improve the auditability and compliance posture of platform usage

We provide some guidelines around designing a roles and permissions experience that is both robust and user-friendly, as follows.

1. Start with a Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) Model

Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) is the foundation of most scalable permission systems in enterprise SaaS. Rather than assigning individual permissions to each user, RBAC introduces an intermediary layer—roles—which group-related permissions and are then assigned to users.

• Users: Individuals who interact with the platform
• Roles: Collections of permissions that represent job functions (e.g., Admin, Manager, Contributor)
• Permissions: Specific actions users are allowed to perform (e.g., Read, Edit, Delete, Invite)

For example, in a recent project, we designed a workplace culture evaluation portal where consultants manage and deliver reports to client organizations. The system defines two client user roles:

1. Organizational Admin: Granted write access, such as the ability to comment on reports and manage other users within their organization

2. View-Only User: Limited to read-only access to reports

Each role is a structured bundle of permissions, assigned during user creation. This structure not only ensures consistent access control but also streamlines onboarding and reduces administrative complexity.

In larger systems, RBAC can be extended with user groups, allowing admins to assign roles at the group level—reducing manual setup when onboarding departments or external clients.

2. Understand Types of Permissions

Effective permissions in enterprise SaaS operate across three layers:

1. Page-Level: Controls access to entire sections or modules (e.g., “User Management” or “Reports”).
2. Operation-Level: Defines what users can do on those pages (e.g., invite users, edit content).
3. Data-Level: Limits access to specific records (e.g., view only tasks in your department or region).

These layers build on each other—if a user can’t access a page, they can’t perform actions or view its data.

In the user permission assignment of this global supplier sourcing tool we built, supplier organization users have Page-Level access to different Supplier Pools (Countries they are seeking procurement opportunities in) and Operation-Level permissions on the Supplier Profile and Messaging Buyer features. There are no Data-Level permissions in this case.

3. User Roles and Permissions System Design

Step 1: Understand Your Users and Access Needs

• Interview stakeholders and map out user responsibilities and required access levels.
• Review any existing products and end-to-end workflows.
• Identify the main types of users (e.g., Admins, Contributors, Viewers).

Step 2: List and Categorize System Resources

• Inventory all system components that require access control: pages, features, data entities, and workflows.
• Group them into logical categories (e.g., User Management, Reporting, Content Editing).

Step 3: Establish Default Roles & Design for Customization

• Create common roles based on job functions.
• Bundle permissions into each role based on the minimum necessary access to perform tasks.
• In this example of an intercultural IQ assessment administration portal, we have a set of permissions grouped into three default roles, and we made the distinctions clear with plain language in the description. (QA is a platform-specific term referring to Qualified Administrators who have been certified to order and manage assessments for organizations.)

• Allow admins to create custom roles and modify default ones.

Step 4: Define Permission Precedence Rules

• Define how the system resolves conflicts: Which takes priority: user-level, group-level, or inherited permissions?
• For example, in the supplier sourcing portal, admins can deactivate an organization, in which case none of its users should be able to log in, even though their own status is active.
• Document these rules and reflect them clearly in the UI.

Conclusion

By leveraging RBAC, layering permissions across pages, actions, and data, and ensuring an intuitive admin UX, your platform can support complex organizational structures without sacrificing usability. A strong roles and permissions system doesn’t just protect your product—it enables it to grow.

If you're interested in learning more about best practices when it comes to designing enterprise SaaS products, check out our other blog posts like How to Design SaaS Onboarding Flows that Boost Adoption and Pragmatic UX at Enterprise Speed. Curious how this could apply to your product? Let’s talk.‍