New Technology

The world is ever evolving, smartphones are getting bigger, storing things are a click away, and connecting with others has never been easier. But what does this say about bringing this new technology into the workplace? If you want to stay on top of things you need to bring new technology into the playing field and that can be challenging to employees and for clients. So how do you go about doing this? Prendergast says “Getting clients involved in the process is critical, yes. But asking them what they want will send you down the wrong path. It turns out, we are all terrible at knowing what we want if it’s not closely related to what we currently have. Essentially, you’re asking them to predict the future. Not so easy. It’s one of the reasons that the best product companies on the planet (particularly in technology) never ask us “What do you want?” or “Would you use this X product that you haven’t even tried yet?”.”

Taking some time in a UX(User Experience) class I learned that it is indeed critical to get feedback on what you are trying to build or implement. The only problem with this is that the scope of the project can be increased. Due to this, this can create complexity that could have been avoided all along. This thing could avalanche very quickly because if the project gets more complicated for you, you can almost bet that the end user is going to have a rough time with this and that is definitely not what you want in a product. Having recently gone to Edward Jones we learned from the board members there that when they want to implement new things for their investors they do it in waves. Structuring things like this can bring peace of mind with programmers and end users alike because it gives the people a heads up that these changes are coming. Lahrssen says “Your customers are human, too, after all! In fact, keep in mind you may get a backlash or slew of complaints as kinks are sorted out with anything new (which is a natural occurrence no matter how much you may prep ahead of time).” this just goes back to the things that were talked about. Take time to ask your users what you want, but don’t look outside of the scope of what is possible.

Now getting this tech to your clients is important but having you employees trained is even more important. Karbon says “The role of the Change Champion is to make sure everyone is progressing well, be the go-to person for queries and issues from the team, and be the link to external support (if that is applicable).” Having a go to person on this subject matter can make it a lot easier to implement and change systems. Other ways to go about this is working as a team. Sometimes having a team effort and learning together can bring productivity up while building good relationships. So this option is a two in one kind of win! Keep track though of these tests because each failure and success can lead to a better product in the long run. These people are your end users and your testers, and their feedback can be the life your application may have needed.  

Living in this world of technology can be really rough, but as a business you need to stay on your toes to keep up with competitors. Work with your team on creating experiences that you and your clients can enjoy. Because when your employees and staff are happy with what is there, your clients will have a better experience too.