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
"Trauma-informed approaches are like seat belts and airbags for tech products."
Carol Scott Melissa EgglestonAvoid Harming Your Team and Users: Promoting Care and Brand Reputation with Trauma-Informed UX Practices
February 5, 2025
"Future UX includes designing for user discovery in conversational and augmented interfaces, not just clicks."
Lija Hogan Milan Mijatovic Sam Proulx Louis RosenfeldThree Years Out: Perspectives on the Near-Term Future of User Research
March 15, 2024
"There’s just far fewer variables to deal with on mobile because it’s basically one browser and one screen reader per platform."
Sam ProulxMobile Accessibility and You
June 9, 2022
"We do not have online indicators in our communication software, so people know they shouldn’t wait for an immediate response."
Ana FerreiraDesigning Distributed: Leading Doist’s Fully Remote Design Team in Six Countries
January 8, 2024
"The best way to understand these technologies is to learn them hands-on, especially if your work involves language or taxonomies."
Jorge ArangoScale Smart: AI-Powered Content Organization Strategies
September 24, 2024
"We’re exploring if design ops should host a cross-product scrum team focused on visionary redesigns to have bigger impact."
Chris MosesStretching the Definition of DesignOps with Product Development
November 7, 2018
"The confident tone built into these tools may be one of the more problematic features of Gen AI."
Trisha Causley[Demo] Complexity in disguise: Crafting experiences for generative AI features
June 5, 2024
"It’s critical to measure perceived value and ask: Are you really solving the right problem with AI?"
Clara Kliman-SilverUX Futures: The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Design
June 7, 2023
"Design is frequently misunderstood; sometimes it’s just about explaining why it’s important to get others involved."
Michael PolivkaScaling Design through Relationship Maps
November 7, 2017
