Efecte Blog

There should also be sign posts in software to tell users where they are.

The other day I was discussing with a friend of mine who complained that her car navigation system had taken her 100 km detour to a location that was just 50 km away. More than an hour of extra time spent on a journey that should have taken only half an hour.

This made me think that I have taken numerous similar kinds of detours in the depths of different software and sometimes have been so lost that the only way out has been to go back home. This provided that the option to go home has been available. Other options have been to close browser tab or software altogether – similar to abandoning your car next to an emergency phone and calling for a taxi home.

If you compare for example Microsoft CRM to Google’s search page, you probably know what I’m talking about. Of course Microsoft CRM system is way more complex piece of software than Google search, but it’s the ideology that differs.

When following the usage of different software, it is clear that the users take 100 km detours all the time. Some software may even seem like a maze that the users cannot find out.

This should not be the case: we should demand the same kind of simple navigation help from the software as we demand from car navigation systems. User of a software typically has quite clear understanding were she wants to be, but only a vague idea how to get there. Software should state loud and clear: “From the next exit take a right turn and in 50 meters you have reached your goal”.

This is especially important for software that is used rarely. With ICT WebShop we created a software navigation that guides the end-user to the right direction. As Riitta Kohvakka from Tieto-Tapiola puts it:

 The look of the product and its browser-based interface are up-to-the-minute. It is a modern tool that guides end users through the operation they wish to complete.

As there are no junctions that have hundred different roads leading to it, in ideal world there should not be software screens that have hundred different options to choose from. As there are street names in the navigation systems and a red dot showing where you are, there should also be sign posts in software to tell users where they are.

Just as navigation systems are nowadays more and more frequently built into cars, so do software need to have built-in navigation systems that tell users where they are and where to turn next to reach the goal they are aiming for.