The adoption of new software or technology may be difficult, especially when end-user expectations surrounding it are high or left unmet. How can those designing and implementing new software and technology best bridge the gap between the reality of what the software can/will do and end-user wants, needs, and expectations?

The road to linking reality to end-user expectations begins with a systematic assessment of needs and the documentation of software requirements. In this blog post, we will discuss three techniques that we have employed to help our clients understand end-user needs and identify requirements:

• Exploration meetings with stakeholders and targeted end-users.
  Focused meetings to observe, ask questions, and listen to your key stakeholders about what they like or dislike about performing a task or process.
• Assessment of the intended deployment environment.
  Asking questions about how the software or technology will be used and where it will be hosted is critical to gaining a clear picture of future limitations and requirements. For example, ask questions like:
  • Who will help the user when they run into a usability issue?
  • What are the corporate standards and guidelines?
  • What is the culture of the target audience?
  • What applications have had successes with the target audience in the past?
  • What features do target users look for and like in other applications?
  • How will the software or application modify the process of executing work?
  • Are there bandwidth limitations?
  • Can custom programs be installed on user computers?
  • Is support for certain software platforms required or prohibited?
• Use Cases, mockups, and prototypes.
  • A Use Case is one of the most helpful methods of exposing functional requirements. But one word of caution: as you build them be sure to exclude technical jargon and the inner workings of the software.
  • A Mockup, or a rough visual layout of the user interface, enables end-users to experience the software or application before it is completely developed. By gathering feedback, it is possible to assess how the software is able to meet, or fail to meet, end-user expectations. Also, end-users can reveal their stylistic preferences that may be difficult to capture otherwise. Below is an example of a mock-up created by one of our developers using Microsoft’s newest tool, Expression Blend™.

• Lastly, Prototypes, either partially or fully functional, can be very helpful in determining usability. A prototype will give you an accurate depiction of how well end-users believe the program will meet their objectives. You can incorporate their feedback into future iterations of the software before the program is fully built.

These three techniques are some of the many that can be employed in order to best bridge the gap between the reality of what the software can/will do and end-user wants, needs, and expectations. By taking the time to listen and educate your stakeholders and end-users, the likelihood of a successful integration of new software or technology will greatly increase.

Tags: End-user Adoption, Five Key Drivers of High Performance, High Performance Organization, New Technology, Optimization, Strategy Execution, Technology Adoption

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 25th, 2009 at 11:40 am and is filed under Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.