My mom taught herself how to use computers. She bought the Dummies and Idiots books, took a class or two, and wrote lots of step-by-step instructions on how to use software like Microsoft Word. I’d try to show her something, and she’d write down the steps. When she’d try it, her eyes would get that glassy look you get when you don’t quite know what you’re expected to do next. Frustrating.
Software like Microsoft Word can be very useful, but the way tasks are organized is difficult for a lot of people. Products like Word and Act contact management software are stuffed with menus stuffed with features, and as a result the classes for them are stuffed with people seeking understanding and the bookshelves in the computer self-help section are stuffed with Dummies books. But customers aren’t dummies.
We’ve been led down a path by Microsoft and other software companies from the 80’s and 90’s that established the convention of burying functionality in a series of drop-down menus. And instead of offering just what people need, these companies would build customer functionality for a few customers, then include that for every customer, regardless of the relevance of the features. It’s not wonder that numerous studies show that most computer users use less than 10% of the functionality offered in Word, Excel, and Act.
And then everything is available all the time through crowded and redundant menu-based toolbars, packed with so many icons you need a separate guide to learn what the icons mean.
So most software follows this convention. CRMbrella doesn’t. We chose to design around what’s relevant, rather than what’s possible. If software offers everything all at once on every screen, it’s very hard to understand just what is expected of you. So we make things much more focused, contextual, and relevant to your intended actions. Instructions are usually clear (let us know when they aren’t), and help is always available for the current screen–it’s context-sensitive so you don’t have to go searching for it.
We’re close to the goal of giving our customers deep, relevant functionality in the easiest way possible. You’ll notice we’re very careful about navigation and presenting relevant tasks only when, well, relevant. We’re still including two top-level dropdown menus–File and Help–in which a number of functions are, well, buried. And we’re considering how best to remove them. It’s not easy designing software this way, but we’ve found that most customers understand it right away: Sections are on the top, relevant tasks are on the left, help is on the right and follows you where you go.
If you find yourself stuck, if something in the software isn’t obvious and easy for you–please tell us. Your honest, open, and frequent feedback is so important to building better software. By the way–Mom uses GiftWorks fundraising software, available over on the Mission Research site.
