The only constant in life in change. Oh, and users’ hatred of said change.

posted in: users | 0

Title: Users don’t hate change. They hate you.
Context: Redesign all you want. Just know that people are probably going to hate you for it.
Synopsis: All redesign is done with nothing but the best of intentions. Old designs get outdated very quickly. New methods and patterns emerge that when added to a legacy system make it immeasurably better. Of course these changes will benefit users! They are going to love this latest redesign! Except they rarely do. People are creatures of habit even more than they are adopters of new and exciting paradigms. Even when change IS demonstrably better, many reject it. “It has worked for me this far” they say before resuming play on the Betamax hooked up to their black and white CRT TV. The point is, as always, you are not users and your shiny new thing is their WTF! WHY’D THEY MOVE THE DAMN BUTTON?!?! So take it easy on your users when updating your application, odds are they won’t hate your guts if you do.
Best Bit: “You’ve basically snuck into their house and rearranged their living room furniture to a more pleasing (to you) configuration.”

via medium.com

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