May
28
Eliminate the barriers in your software
One of the purposes of continuous software improvement is finding and eliminating the barriers that get in the way of users when they’re working with your software. Let’s name the most typical barriers that make your software less user friendly.
Confirmation message boxes
The most annoying things in software programs are message boxes. The message boxes force users to make decisions which they don’t want to make: delete or save, continue or stop, accept or decline, etc. Revamp your program to ask users less questions. As an alternative, it’s better to provide Undo\Rollback\History function in your software.
Status alerts
If you use message boxes for status notifications like ‘Completed’, ‘Done’, ‘Stopped’ or ‘Error’ then you may consider making a log window or a status bar that will display these messages without forcing a user each time to click message box OK button.
Ambiguity in user interface
If user doesn’t know what to do after he has launched your software then it’s another barrier. Check if in your software there are enough prompts, hints and signs that would help a user to understand what he must do to complete his task in your program. A user must simply follow your logical directions to receive the required results. Don’t make him to think much.
Initial settings
Sometimes the software application asks a user to make some initial settings before he can continue working with the program. This is a barrier also. Again, ask less questions. Try to preconfigure your software for most typical situations. Don’t make user to think about if he needs to check this option or not. Assume this yourself and don’t bother him.
For instance, if your software requires another software or third-party libraries to be installed on user PC then don’t claim from user to specify the locations of those libraries. Make your program to silently find the prerequisites on user PC and silently keep the locations in the program settings.
Software restart or computer reboot
Personally, I hate when a program tells that I must reboot my PC before the changes will take effect. I have a dozen of applications running and I don’t want to close and later to restore them all just to try another utility. I usually choose ‘I will reboot my PC later’ and may then even forget about the new installed software. This is a serious barrier between the program and a user like me.
Well, I’ve briefly mentioned just the most common examples of barriers that must be removed from any software or at least their presence must be minimized. I hope I’ll return to this topic in future and will expand this list. You are welcome to post your examples in the comments.
