4 ms·

How subtle was the update message letting the users know about the new feature?

by DrammBA 5y ago

garmaine 5y ago
Yeah sounds like the lesson here is that nobody reads the update messages.
- Semiapies 5y ago
  Couldn't have anything to do with how app update screens share the exact ergonomics that subscribe-to-the-newsletter nags and other ad popups have.
- csydas 5y ago
  If quantum scientists thought the slit experiment was exciting, they should study IT user preferences and be amazed how depending on the mode of communication/observation, customers will both scrutinize every letter you write while simultaneously not reading it at all, will know every wrong pixel of your UI but not know where the button for "Thing" (labeled "Thing") is, and how anything you make is somehow the best worst average thing they've ever seen. If you're ever user facing it's a harsh but quick lesson that you can't really count on any users to follow any real pattern. Different persons latch onto different things, with adamant proponents and opponents of everything with a huge swatch of grey shades in-between. At a certain point you just need to decide when the "grey" is no longer grey for you on a particular subject and start to optimize for the part that cares while checking why the grey part isn't as interested. A lot of conversations with clients I have are with those in the grey territory, where they don't quite know what they want but they know they want it. Often times, they're more looking for a reference architecture and something to compare their current processes/workflows to, and this usually is pretty simple to work with. Those that are proponents of a feature N are typically vocal and picky, but the feedback tends to be pretty good and the guidance is clear on how they envision it, since there's a clear workflow on their side a lot of times that they want to optimize. Opponents of feature N typically bring out the edge cases and demand a solution, and are equally, if not more vocal than the proponents. It's really a tricky thing, and it's never really clear which is going to be "best" for users/the dev team.
  - beckingz 5y ago
    This comment made my day. Users not knowing what they want but knowing that they want it is a useful phrase.
  - markrages 5y ago
    It is a special case of Morningstar's law, you can't tell people anything. http://habitatchronicles.com/2004/04/you-cant-tell-people-anything/ http://habitatchronicles.com/2004/04/you-cant-tell-people-an...
Aeolun 5y ago
I mean, they stopped demanding the feature every day. Clearly they were aware that something changed.
- megablast 5y ago
  Not at all.
- Spooky23 5y ago
  The PM or whatever nag got the answer he wanted, and was able to check the box. Nobody was yelling at anyone to actually use it.
- pavon 5y ago
  I've had something similar happen to me, and quickly learned not to assume that your customer POC will effectively relay information to the end users in their organization. They were pinging us constantly about a new feature because it was on their list of things to ask about. Once we told them it was done, they crossed it off their list and we never heard about it again until months later discovered by a chance interaction that none of the product users in the organization even knew we had added the feature.

How subtle was the update message letting the users know about the new feature?

garmaine 5y ago

Yeah sounds like the lesson here is that nobody reads the update messages.

Semiapies 5y ago
Couldn't have anything to do with how app update screens share the exact ergonomics that subscribe-to-the-newsletter nags and other ad popups have.
csydas 5y ago
If quantum scientists thought the slit experiment was exciting, they should study IT user preferences and be amazed how depending on the mode of communication/observation, customers will both scrutinize every letter you write while simultaneously not reading it at all, will know every wrong pixel of your UI but not know where the button for "Thing" (labeled "Thing") is, and how anything you make is somehow the best worst average thing they've ever seen. If you're ever user facing it's a harsh but quick lesson that you can't really count on any users to follow any real pattern. Different persons latch onto different things, with adamant proponents and opponents of everything with a huge swatch of grey shades in-between. At a certain point you just need to decide when the "grey" is no longer grey for you on a particular subject and start to optimize for the part that cares while checking why the grey part isn't as interested. A lot of conversations with clients I have are with those in the grey territory, where they don't quite know what they want but they know they want it. Often times, they're more looking for a reference architecture and something to compare their current processes/workflows to, and this usually is pretty simple to work with. Those that are proponents of a feature N are typically vocal and picky, but the feedback tends to be pretty good and the guidance is clear on how they envision it, since there's a clear workflow on their side a lot of times that they want to optimize. Opponents of feature N typically bring out the edge cases and demand a solution, and are equally, if not more vocal than the proponents. It's really a tricky thing, and it's never really clear which is going to be "best" for users/the dev team.
- beckingz 5y ago
  This comment made my day. Users not knowing what they want but knowing that they want it is a useful phrase.
- markrages 5y ago
  It is a special case of Morningstar's law, you can't tell people anything. http://habitatchronicles.com/2004/04/you-cant-tell-people-anything/ http://habitatchronicles.com/2004/04/you-cant-tell-people-an...

Aeolun 5y ago

I mean, they stopped demanding the feature every day. Clearly they were aware that something changed.

megablast 5y ago
Not at all.
Spooky23 5y ago
The PM or whatever nag got the answer he wanted, and was able to check the box. Nobody was yelling at anyone to actually use it.
pavon 5y ago
I've had something similar happen to me, and quickly learned not to assume that your customer POC will effectively relay information to the end users in their organization. They were pinging us constantly about a new feature because it was on their list of things to ask about. Once we told them it was done, they crossed it off their list and we never heard about it again until months later discovered by a chance interaction that none of the product users in the organization even knew we had added the feature.