At Web Access we have a very interesting statistic to share. More than 90% of all the software we have designed and developed remains in use ever since they were first developed and deployed for use. Some of these have been in use for 6 years or more. In the last seven years of our being we have not lost a client. 80% of all our business comes from our existing clients or their referrals. We attribute this to the quality, simplicity and effectiveness of the software we developed for our clients. This article attempts to analyze some of the reasons we feel are critical to designing simple and effective software.
Web Access’s theme is “There is always a better way to design simple software”: A simple software solution being simple to use but complex to design. On the contrary complex software is relatively simpler to design but complex to use. The principle of simplicity makes the software more usable and hence more effective.
Apart from the interesting numbers above, how else could you measure simplicity of the software and what is the measure of software’s effectiveness? To answer this question, let us try to understand the basic reason for the complexity of a software package. This has to do with user’s expectation of the software package. Our expectation as a user is that, more complex the operations a software processes, more complex it will be in usage. So the user lets the software developer call the shots. This makes the developer unmindful of the difficulty in software usage. The developer develops the software as a complex phenomenon leading to long learning curve. Before you, as a user come to grips with the software, the developer is ready with a new version, more complex than the previous one. And the learning curve begins again.
So one important measure of the simplicity of the software is that whereas a simple software performs all the complex processes a complex software does at the same time it is simple to use, it requires no or little time to learn and remains in use for a long time.
The essence of solution design at Web Access is: How the solution designers challenge themselves to find better and simpler solutions. We train our developers to think like creative designers, to think about the scenarios in which the software solution is going to be used, bring the user in them in front and then design the solution. The next thing about designing a simple and effective solution, therefore, is the look, the theme and the usability of the software. Does it appeal to you? Does it conform to your organizations’ identity? Is it intuitive? Do you get tempted to use and explore it further?
If your answer to these questions is yes, you have a simple and effective solution at hand. And this is another measure of the simplicity and effectiveness of the software.
Yet another important principle we follow at Web Access is the process of creating software. Mostly, the software development process is considered as a scientific development activity whereas for us at Web Access the process of creating simple and effective software is an art. We use scientific and statistical methods to measure productivity and effectiveness and manage schedules and deadlines but the process of creating a software design, look, theme, usability and how it interacts with humans remains an art.
Ease of the way a software package interacts with human beings is another measure of simplicity and effectiveness of the software.
The above principles along with several others that we at Web Access follow are reflected in the software packages we have developed either for our clients or the product suite we have developed for ourselves. That the software packages we have built are effective and used is reflected from the fact that these products remain in effective use since they were deployed. Some of the applications are worth mentioning here:
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| ScreenPen |
MusicMaker |
EPF |
RHMP |
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| CiviCRM |
WASurvey |
o what do we do in getting our act together to designing simple and effective software?
We invariably design a prototype with the user interface as a proof of concept (PoC) and get the user to check and test it.
Identify, what is visually pleasing for the client and then create a visually pleasing interface. Use analogies.
We observe the way the client uses it. We listen carefully to what he says and doesn’t.
Along with the initial interaction, this helps us identify the client’s purpose.
With the knowledge of the purpose and the way of client’s interaction, we come out with a simple solution design that is simple for the user. Invariably it is not simple to design.
The one design consideration we follow is how we could design the software that requires only minimum essential inputs from the user. While doing so, we ensure that common inputs are required just once.
It is important to identify all different outputs required from the system and then design the system to deliver those outputs. Can these be customized by user and saved for future use? If yes, can these be made available with a single click on the way?
We always remember the fact that there has been no user who hasn’t made mistakes. It is important to ensure that irrespective of the mistakes the user make, he is unable to mess up with the system. The system design should protect the data and allow for rollbacks.
Making the interaction intuitive comes by letting the software be used by first time users and observing them closely. Answer their questions not in words but by creating more intuitive interactive process that answers the questions they raised.
User feedback is essential. The effectiveness of a software package is determined by the user. No matter how powerful your software is, it is ineffective in design if the users don’t use it. So listen to user feedback carefully and implement whatever is feasible. |
