Does Your Application Already Do What You Want?
A recent article by the 37signals folks discuss the results of a recent survey they did concerning their Backpack program. One of the things that they noticed was that a good many people were requesting or suggesting features that already existed.
I actually run across this all the time in my private practice as people express their “I wish I could…” goals. In a lot of instances it is because features are hidden or poorly documented, other times it is users not taking the time to read the documentation or help that is provided.
Either way, these “hidden” features are a drain of productivity on both sides of the coin. Development time on them is wasted if the end users who want them are not utilizing them.
So how do you resolve this?
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Take the time to read the online help for your application. If it isn’t provided, find a new service.
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See if your application provider has a blog and subscribe to it. Often times this is where they will announce new features as they are released.
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Look for screencasts and how-to clips. Sometimes they will be produced by your provider, other times they are fan or affiliate sponsored. Either way, they can point you to interesting features or new processes.
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Find a user group or forum. If your provider doesn’t have one, start one on your own and people will come. Your fellow users are probably your best resource as they are working with the same app and likely doing comparable work.
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File a support ticket and ask. Let them help you get the most of the application. If they don’t want to help you, find a new service.
Taking some time to research the “how do I…?” and the “I wish I…?” features can lead to big productivity gains and is a great investment that can pay off in spades.
What do you wish your favorite apps could do? Are you sure they don’t?
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This is a great article, but I’d also love to see one from another point of view – namely, what can developers do to ensure that users are easily able to learn about the different features of the application? i.e. Most people don’t bother reading the user manual, so what can we do as developers to ensure we maximise the usage of the features in the system, thereby also making sure the client knows how fantastic our product is?
I have tried to assess which is the best companies out there for help -from those that answer emails almost immediately to those that provide no response whatsoever. The list did little to resolve my immediate problems but it made me feel a whole lot better!
Rubbish, 37 signals just does not respond to continual customer requests.
Read the comments to the BP article and you can read the MANY detailed rebuttals. BP does not repeat does not provide many of these features.
Many technnical people who run the service on behalf of others are continually frustrated by the snails pace with which 37 Signals adresses issues. We are also frustrated with the smoke and mirrors they use to avoid getting down to some simple work on integration and usability.
Most of the requested features are easily accomplished in drupal, WP and joomla. This is the most viable alternative for a flexible and responsive intranet.
If 37 signals won’t do the work they are paid for then we just have to do it ourselves. Elsewhere.
Most of the users won’t bother with reading manuals. Period. So designers should look for ways to overcome this problem. Your article reminded me about this funny error message by Alan Cooper:
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/webservices/library/ws-oo-design2/error.gif
I’m not implying anything about particular software products with this comment though :-)
While there’s some learning to be expected with a given application, if many people say that they’re missing a feature because they’re not seeing it, then it’s bad design. Interfaces have to disclose their features as much as they need to hide complexity and provide a clear sense of what’s going on. If anything, the survey shows that 37Signals might want to look at how the Backpack interface is letting people know what’s possible, and when.