Ask Eric: Questions & Answers

November 30, 2010 – submitted by Tevi Hirschhorn of Chicago, IL

Question: I am involved in a project which is redesigning a very well-established business software tied into very well-established companies. It seems every possible feature and function has been thrown at the previous version of the product ("just in case someone wants to do it this way"), seemingly at the request of customers. I've been told there would be push-back if I attempted to remove the clutter that serves 1% or less of the user base. My attempts to explain the features as being useful to one person can hurt usability for everybody else were shrugged off, "well, certain people are just used to doing things this way." To top it off, there are technical limitations which would make redesigning the simpler options a costly endeavor.

In general, it seems like there will be many problems migrating everybody to a better system - they're just used to using the old one, despite the inefficiencies and complexity, and extremely long timeline for getting new hires up to speed. The business has a high churn rate, but a significant population sticks around for their entire career.

What guidance can you give in making a product for 2 people who have the same job function and business goals, but completely different mental models? I.e. - new hire who is used to the standard ease of use found on the web, and an old-timer used to doing things a certain way?

Eric's response: Hi Tevi,

This is a very common outcome for a function-driven design process. It always makes a mess. There are probably two parts to your solution. First, be aware you need to deal with the culture. Transitioning your organization to a user-centered approach is essential and that is part of the institutionalization of usability (we have LOTS of stuff on this on our site and we spend a big chunk of our consulting time helping with it).

The other side is how to manage the design fix. You will need to rework the high-level structure of the application. If you really optimize this structure acceptance will be certain. As a part of that structural design you can use a 'progressive disclosure' strategy which paces infrequent functions out of the user's way.

April 5, 2010 – submitted by Naveen Phrased Nubian of Bangalore, India

Question: Hi Eric, I am Naveen, UI Designer working for an MNC in India, working mostly on designing the UI for web applications. We don't have a separate design team here, I usually work with the development team in the prototype phase and will be thrown out after that.

"Front-End" is always pushed to the "Back-End" with least priority :(

Right now, we follow a "Developer Centered Design" rather than "User Centered Design". Currently, success of the project is calculated only based on the number/severity of bugs reported after the application went in to production. I don't have any idea about real success of the project.

I don't know how to change this approach and bring-in usability in to SDLC. Please advise..

Eric's response: You will have a hard time for sure. But the good news is that there is a global shift among executives. They are getting it. And as they do, they start working (often with our help) to shift the corporate culture. There is a tipping point happening. And I think this process will only accelerate in the coming few years.