[Sigia-l] Avoiding alienating existing users upon redesign

[Arthur Fink]

I agree with just about everything already said on this topic ... the need 
for usability testing particularly with the seasoned users of the old 
system, efforts to keep certain continuity, etc.

But the bottom line is that any change brings some organizational and 
personal stress.  I find this picture a helpful one for my own 
understanding, and to show to management and users.

The dotted line shows productivity.  Of course, it will drop when the new 
system is put in place -- no matter how well designed that system is.  I 
call the amount of that drop the "PAIN'.  It takes a certain amount of time 
for productivity to get back even to the old level.  I call that the 
'PERSEVERANCE'.  And then productivity should keep rising, until it levels 
off.  The amount of increase over the initial value I call the 'GAIN'.

Now our challenge might be stated as minimizing pain and the need for 
perseverance, while maximizing gain.  Or ... more carefully, we might talk 
about balancing these factors.

		|
   Productivity |	            .  .  +
		|	         .        |
		|              .          | GAIN
		|             .           |
	      +	|...         .            +
	 PAIN |	|    .     .
	      +	|     ....
		|
		|__________________________________

                   +---------+                 Time
                   PERSEVERANCE

                                     (please credit me if
                                      you reproduce this chart)

I worked on the total redesign of a hospital messaging system (gong from 
ChUI to GUI), where the perseverance was measured in hours.  By the end of 
their first shift, operators were working effectively with most parts of 
the radically new interface (which included a phone integrated into their 
PC, so there were no phone buttons anymore), and handling more calls per 
hour than they could have managed the day before.  I've also been called in 
as a consultant on projects where the perseverance was measured in weeks or 
months, and was totally unacceptable for the organization.

    Arthur Fink Consulting  ·  arthur at ArthurFink.com
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