Improving Legacy Software: How Much Better Does it Have to Be?
Summary
Feature improvements to software that has been around for while often results in frustration for the users because of resistance to change. Even if the new experiences are proven to be better, old habits and biases interrupt adoption speed. In this talk, Paula will explore strategies for proving out where legacy software needs improvement and where research can guide and debunk myths about legacy software and legacy users.
Key Insights
-
•
Legacy habit paths form over years and become deeply ingrained through frequent and complex workflows.
-
•
Breaking established habit paths in software can cause cognitive overload and reduce productivity.
-
•
Windows settings navigation evolved through nine different habit paths over 27 years, with some changes improving and others worsening user experience.
-
•
Measuring before-and-after effects on habit paths is crucial to determine if a change is better, worse, or the same for users.
-
•
Multiple methods exist to evaluate habit disruption, including time on task, cognitive load, emotion tracking, and telemetry.
-
•
Telemetry is often missing or insufficient for tracking habit paths, requiring manual analysis or enhanced tooling.
-
•
Smaller user bases, such as enterprise teams with fewer than 20 users, have an advantage in deeply understanding and managing habit formation.
-
•
Different user populations may face varying levels of pain when habit paths change, making user segmentation critical in design decisions.
-
•
Consistency must be balanced between respecting legacy habits and aligning with newer interaction patterns from other platforms.
-
•
There is an opportunity for the industry to collaboratively track common habit paths to unify user experiences across products.
Notable Quotes
"People form habits on software that become efficient, so they naturally resist changes that force new habits."
"Breaking a habit path can cause users to repeatedly retry workflows, leading to frustration and cognitive overload."
"From 1995 to 2012, Windows users had a consistent start button habit path to reach settings; Windows 8 broke that 15-year habit."
"If we don’t respect legacy habits, we risk interrupting workflows and causing users to have a bad day."
"Measuring changes before and after is key because you can’t know the impact without a baseline."
"Collecting habit path data in every study over time builds a data set that informs product decisions."
"In the small enterprise user base scenario, you can get down and dirty to know exactly how people use the software and how habit changes will affect them."
"Consistency with legacy habits versus new platforms depends on knowing your audience and the likelihood of pain from breaking habits."
"Breaking habits for new users, such as Mac users switching to Windows, requires mapping mental models carefully to reduce pain."
"Habit changes sometimes must happen, but measuring and designing to respect them avoids mortifying changes."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"There’s still folks who are entering saying I’m a team of one, no one knows what I do."
Bud Caddell Kristin Skinner Alana WashingtonDesignOps Community Sensing Session
May 13, 2021
"Most leaders measure team happiness by how much people are smiling or laughing, but that’s really a poor metric."
Shipra Kayan Tess DixonHow Tess Dixon Facilitates Team Engagement and Collaboration at Condé Nast Using Miro
October 1, 2021
"Our first day’s theme is around establishing and growing design operations."
Bria AlexanderOpening Remarks
September 29, 2021
"Design tooling has stayed old too long, with many designers still clinging to Photoshop from 10 years ago."
John Maeda Alison RandAbout Design Organizations
May 13, 2019
"There always has to be a human option if you’re not getting what you need from the AI."
Kate KalcevichDesigning inclusively with AI
June 5, 2024
"The three in the box model is business, design, and technical representation, plus legal and compliance in regulated environments."
Frank DuranPartnership Playbook: Lessons Learned in Effective Partnership
January 8, 2024
"The alert Julie received didn’t apply to her and didn’t affect her morning commute."
Kristin TaylorBuilding Bridges Across Organizational Silos
November 18, 2022
"This is the Oh s**t moment for the tech industry—designers became highly valued assets."
Maria GiudiceEmpowering change: Reigniting purpose, passion and impact in research
March 13, 2025
"It’s okay to be goofy and have fun—creating space for awkwardness and playfulness helps engagement."
Shelby SwitzerMaking Space for Community Knowledge-sharing in a Distributed World
December 10, 2021
Latest Books All books
Dig deeper with the Rosenbot
What are best practices for onboarding and operationalizing UX research tools post-procurement to ensure adoption?
How does Rosenfeld Media ensure high quality and relevance across its Rosenverse offerings?
What strategies help UX researchers gain access to healthcare workflows in overwhelmed systems?