“…new software is usually better if you see it as an opportunity to improve the way you do business…”

I’ll admit I’m just as guilty on this topic as most people – every time Microsoft launches a new version of Office my first reaction is to reject it. If you just spent the last two years getting comfortable with Microsoft Word and recently switched over to Office 2007, you know what I’m talking about – new menus, new look and feel, different shortcuts, etc. Why couldn’t they just leave well enough alone? Before you reject your new technology, let me offer a software designer’s perspective.

Software is designed to achieve two goals at the same time: deliver features that customers want while minimizing the requirements to provide end-user support, primarily through intelligent design. It’s not always easy achieving both of these goals at the same time and software often ends up going to market with less-than-perfect features. There are even times when software upgrades make it harder to perform certain tasks within the software. Although the new features may appear to you that they were designed to frustrate you there is almost always a good reason for the new design.

Take, for example, the new menu structure of Office 2007. I don’t like it. But is that because it’s less useful, less robust and less intelligent than the last menu? Of course not, the new menus are much better. I don’t like them because they’re different and I don’t want to spend my time learning new ways of doing tasks I already know how to do.

Since I began using personal computers in 1985 I have seen a lot of changes, and have been initially frustrated with many of them. But over a few months of adjusting I have always come to prefer the new version. Although I could write a book debating why users should spend time ‘adjusting’ to new software, the point is that new software is usually better if you see it as an opportunity to improve the way you do business instead of a hindrance.

If technology is an integral part of a process then new technology must be viewed in terms of the process where you use it. If your only use for Microsoft Word is to write an occasional letter or memo, then you probably don’t care that the menus changed because you hardly use them. But if you use Word to create proposals, track changes on documents, perform mail merges, even automate tasks, then you should be very interested in knowing how the new version can make your life better.

Looking back on my own history of initially rejecting new software, I have learned that what I initially hate, I end up loving and not knowing how I lived without. I have also learned that I wasted more time resenting the software than the time it would have taken me to learn the new features. I now set aside half an hour or more to look over new versions and explore features, especially the ones I use most, and end up liking the new version much sooner. Ultimately new software can be the difference in whether your company evolves or stagnates.

Thanks for reading,

Richard Walker

(Blog: www.EfficientCEO.com)

(Website: www.Quikforms.com)