Comments on: In our rush for the new – lets not forget the good stuff we already have http://steves.seasidelife.com/2006/09/13/in-our-rush-for-the-new-lets-not-forget-the-good-stuff-we-already-have/ I'm Steve Richards a strategist and all round tech enthusiast working on enterprise desktop, application delivery and collaboration solutions. I work from home by the coast in the North West of England. All the views expressed in this blog are my own. Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:43:55 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Anonymous http://steves.seasidelife.com/2006/09/13/in-our-rush-for-the-new-lets-not-forget-the-good-stuff-we-already-have/comment-page-1/#comment-300 Anonymous Thu, 14 Sep 2006 13:15:00 +0000 http://steves.seasidelife.com/2006/09/13/in-our-rush-for-the-new-lets-not-forget-the-good-stuff-we-already-have/#comment-300 I guess it depends a little on the update cycle and your target market, in the enterprise infrastructure world where we can go years between updates, we need to keep surfacing incremental value to them, often the capability to do this is already in the products they have, if only they new that they could ask for it. I guess it depends a little on the update cycle and your target market, in the enterprise infrastructure world where we can go years between updates, we need to keep surfacing incremental value to them, often the capability to do this is already in the products they have, if only they new that they could ask for it.

]]> By: Anonymous http://steves.seasidelife.com/2006/09/13/in-our-rush-for-the-new-lets-not-forget-the-good-stuff-we-already-have/comment-page-1/#comment-299 Anonymous Thu, 14 Sep 2006 12:55:00 +0000 http://steves.seasidelife.com/2006/09/13/in-our-rush-for-the-new-lets-not-forget-the-good-stuff-we-already-have/#comment-299 One problem with this approach is that users are easthetically and ergonomically aware. If they think the application looks clunky, or their friends down the road use something that looks much nicer then it doesn't take long for a groundswell of, potentially misinformed opinion, to reach the point that the CEO begins to take notice. I discussed this with legac Domino applications <a href="http://www.sdownes.co.uk/2006/01/19/domino-applications-the-power-the-legacy/" rel="nofollow">here</a>. The same is true for consumer devices, transportation (especially cars) and the everyday brands and products we purchase. Take washing powder ... same look and feel as it was 20 years ago and may work a little better now but you package the box with the same print and logos from the 1980's and I would expect you'd sell less. So although I agree with what you say in that get the most out of the products you have before moving on the I still feel the skin of the application and the way it is presented to the user is more important to them than the functions they don't use. One problem with this approach is that users are easthetically and ergonomically aware. If they think the application looks clunky, or their friends down the road use something that looks much nicer then it doesn’t take long for a groundswell of, potentially misinformed opinion, to reach the point that the CEO begins to take notice. I discussed this with legac Domino applications here.

The same is true for consumer devices, transportation (especially cars) and the everyday brands and products we purchase. Take washing powder … same look and feel as it was 20 years ago and may work a little better now but you package the box with the same print and logos from the 1980′s and I would expect you’d sell less. So although I agree with what you say in that get the most out of the products you have before moving on the I still feel the skin of the application and the way it is presented to the user is more important to them than the functions they don’t use.

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