An adoption learning curve is involved with every new software purchase. It needs to be integrated with current systems & software, & the end users have to be brought up to speed using it. If the software is chunky & too complex, adoption resistance can occur.
Ease of Use
The software should have an intuitive interface, & use of features should be pretty much self evident. The shorter the learning curve training a new user, the better. The software should also have the ability to easily fit into the existing systems with which it will have to communicate. For example, a collaboration software might allow you to use some features from your Outlook itself or even
share Outlook data.
Adoption
To get a measure of 'shelfware', i.e., software that is purchased but never used, some
studies peg the number of shelved content management solutions at 20-25%. At a million dollars per implementation, that's pretty expensive shelfware! According to another study
in the US, 22% of purchased enterprise portal (ERP) licenses are never used. No doubt, 'Shelfware' is a result of ill thought out purchase decisions. These studies clearly underline the importance of making an educated purchase. One possible way to protect against shelfware is the new concept of '
software as a service' (SAAS)
hosted software. The software is hosted by its developer, & buyers have to pay a monthly subscription, which they can opt out of anytime.
Houdini ESQ
Comments
Seth Rowland, Basha Systems LLC (www.bashasys.com) (unauthenticated)
Jul 30, 2010
"Ease of Use" and "Adoption" are actually quite different. In any adoption study, there are the "promoting forces" which motivate the user to adopt a new technology, and the "demoting force" which are barriers or off-putters to adoptions of new technology. "Ease of Use" is general a factor in mitigating the "demoting force". Ease of Use is not a reason to buy a product. However, between 2 product of similar function which are NEEDED by a user, ease of use will be a factor in choosing one over the other.
You are right that "shelf ware" is a very common occurrence; think of how many cans of beans you have in your kitchen cabinet. We buy more than we need; we buy in case we need. I believe your numbers may be an underestimate. I have heard numbers in the corporate space of failed database systems closer to 50%. As a society, we tend to buy and forget; that is until someone sends us a bill for a "renewal" or for "maintenance".
The question is do you want to price a product so low that people will "buy to try"? And then use "ease of use" to keep they involved. Or do you want to price a product at a higher level to filter out those who are committed to using the product. In the first scenario, wizards and ease of use are critical because you lack a commitment to get training on a "trial product". In the latter, the training allows you to have a more complex system which can be appreciated.