[Sigia-l] Avoiding alienating existing users upon redesign

[David Wertheimer]

At 7:54 PM -0600 2/2/04, Jeff Lash wrote:
>How can a site implement a significant redesign without alienating existing
>users?
>
>A large subscription-based site has a significant number of users, many of
>whom have been paying customers for several years without any major design
>changes. Though the site is successful, there are several significant
>usability issues that need to be addressed, as well as changes from the
>business perspective. How can we successfully improve the site and expand
>our user base while keeping our current users (who are notoriously fickle
>about even the smallest of changes)?

Having been through the "major redesign" more than once, I can offer 
some colloquial advice.

- For starters, don't be afraid to embrace change.  If your site is 
four years old, you may be surprised to discover (as I once did) that 
your users are downright glad to see you get with the present day. 
They may not foresee everything you do, so stay true to your goals, 
and adapt them for efficiency as your audience learns the new system.

- Engage your userbase early.  Ask questions before starting the 
redesign: even if you think you know the answers, you may learn and 
adapt your plans to match.  Telling your users that a redesign is 
coming should, if positioned properly, encourage rather than 
discourage them.  "It's high time we modernized, and we want you to 
look forward to it" will prep your long-time customers for a positive 
change.

- Interactively pre-launch your site, as you note, with a sneak peek 
at the new design.  The single best thing you could do, in my mind, 
is run the new and old sites in parallel and encourage your users to 
immerse themselves for a spell.  You will see what works and what 
doesn't, and they get a chance to provide valuable metrics and 
suggestions for you.  Which leads to:

- Solicit feedback.  A survey is a great way to gauge customer 
response; when I redesigned Economist.com, our traditional 
focus-group-y survey showed us we were running 10:1 toward positive 
reaction, which green-lighted the relaunch.  Had we heard lots of 
shock and fear, we would have reconsidered things.

- Maintain some consistencies.  In the case of Economist.com, we 
didn't touch the color scheme, logo placement, or basic article 
presentation (one page, one column, with a related-items box).  Such 
moves breed familiarity, so it's not a wholesale change.  You could 
also maintain fonts or page placements to any extent that works.  And 
server-side redirects of URLs are a must.

- Don't change the way the site functions.  If you have underlined 
links now, for heaven's sake, don't insert {text-decoration:none} in 
your stylesheet.  Spawn new browser windows and pop-ups only in the 
same cases as the old site did.  Keep a healthy search functionality 
on your site, too, so disoriented users can leapfrog the new layout 
while they get accustomed to it.

Hope this helps.  Feel free to email with follow-up questions.
-David

-- 
David Wertheimer
ia at netwert.com
www.netwert.com
Strategy : usability : branding : design : www.usersavvy.com