Adjusting to Changes

Sometimes when we create a new application and deploy it to our clients it falls down with a resounding thud and we wonder what went wrong.  It did exactly what they asked for and it does it in the same way as their existing application, but something falls flat.  What did we do wrong?

There are so many answers to this question that I could spend the rest of my life describing them, but let me highlight some of the things that are probably big contributors to the problem:

• Lack of Evangelists.  On larger projects what you need to do is really engage the prospective clients and get them really excited about the changes.  One of the ways to do this is to recruit members of the client group to be evangelists".  Apple first made this term popular when they started hiring evangelists (marketing people) for their hardware and software.  While you may not think this has a big impact, believe me, it honestly does.  By the time the application rolls out you have people in the client group who have seen the application, know how to use the application and are enthusiastic about it.  This really goes a long way to making the roll out a success
• Lack of fun.  OK, after you've finished scratching your head, think of this:  what is the worst thing about using a new piece of software?  Finding the bugs.  But what if you made finding bugs fun?  What if you gave out prizes or even balloons, for finding bugs?  A friend of mine, when her project went into production, had some members of her project team wandering the floors of the users.  They answered questions and, more importantly, gave people helium balloons when they found a bug.  It became a fun competition to discover the bugs.  Rather than being dismayed, the users were happy.  (Needless to say it was important for the project team to fix the bugs as soon as possible so that they saw results from their discoveries.)
• Lack of Communication.  Newsletters are so '90s, but they work.  Whether it is a formal newsletter, or a web page or even an email that is sent out periodically, keeping the clients informed of the progress of the project and what is coming down the pipe is so important.  By being involved in the process, even from a passive perspective, the client is much more likely to embrace the changes and accept the new application.

None of these things are new.  Projects around the world have done them for years and have done them successfully.  The biggest problem is knowing when you need to use any of these, or a hundred more methods, for your project.