user productivity

Can applications be too Automated?

As a custom application developer working mostly with small businesses, users often look at “Why can’t the program do this?”, or “How about having the program add this, subtract this - when it’s this, then add a percentage…” yada, yada, yada.  Perhaps you recognize the pattern.  There can be arguments for doing much in the way of accommodating the requests, but in my opinion there can become a time when an application is too automated. Continued »

Changes, Users and Resistance

Let’s face it, software development and design is complex - even when it’s simple

There are some areas where it seems that no matter what is done there will be unhappy users - at least for a while.  I found myself in that category last week when it was announced by Data Access Corp that their beloved newsgroup forums were going to be moving away from the “old fashioned” newsgroup format to a new web-based format for their Dataflex and VDF (Visual Dataflex) groups.  Almost immediately the resistance began showing - and I was surprised to see myself as one of those initially disappointed to see the move.  I had a lot of company!

Once I realized my resistance I immediately recognized my behavior as like that I’ve experienced from users of my custom applications.  “If it ain’t broke…” - you know the rest!  I realized that I had become very comfortable with the status quo - after all, it had been in place for many years, was reliable, and known.  I have become proficient working with it, using it in the way I most needed to - it has been serving my purposes just fine.

However, as with the rest of life, change is inevitable.  While we welcome some changes, it is our nature to be disturbed by others - we get to make the choice of how we make the most of it.  The reasons for change may vary greatly, but through my rose colored glasses I find that most are made for good reasons (…though not always reasoning that I agree with ). 

I suspect that once the changes are made to the Dataflex newsgroups I will become comfortable with those changes, but until then I’ll be one of those grumbling.  Hopefully it will help me to tolerate better those resistant to the changes in applications which I make.