Ask HN: How do you get users to use software? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How do you get users to use software?

1 pointandrewtbham5 comments

I develop ERP software for companies internal use. Sometimes the software makes the user's life easier and they quickly start using it and are happy.

Other times the software introduces more process, more accountability, less autonomy. In these cases, the users complain endlessly that the software is too complicated. The clients in turn blame us when the users refuse to use it or find work arounds.

I feel like this is a management problem and not a software problem. But I don't know what to tell these managers to incentivize their workers to use the software.

I need practical recommendations, but it would also be nice to have an authoritative source for recommendations.

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It will vary from manager to manager depending on their level and the individual personality, but just remember the golden rule that generally speaking all middle management is looking to either advance their position in the company or at least better their standing within it. With that in mind it makes life much easier because now you just have to communicate your product to that end.

Find out the goals of the managers' bosses, and prepare a small brief of empirical evidence that explains that you understand what their bosses want and how your product can help meet those needs. If you are skillful enough, you should try to communicate this in a way so that you only provide just enough info and indirect hinting that they arrive at the conclusion on their own rather than you giving them a conclusion. Remember the second golden rule that humans are fundamentally emotional. If you provide all the answers for them and they dont know you or trust you, they're more likely to just dismiss it all regardless.

I have found that users, especially in a business setting, will happily adopt new software as long as the benefits of using that software exceed the pain of adopting it.

> In these cases, the users complain endlessly that the software is too complicated. The clients in turn blame us when the users refuse to use it or find work arounds.

This reaction sounds a lot like the software is incurring more cost on the users than benefit.

Are you sure that the software is not, in fact too complicated? Are you sure that the companies using your software aren't misusing it in a way that increases complexity and cost to the actual users?

> I feel like this is a management problem and not a software problem.

Why do you think this? You haven't gone into enough detail for me to really know, but it sounds to me like the software is either too complicated or foreign to the users, or that the software is being used in an inappropriate way.

The benefits to the low level end users don't exceed the pain. The benefits accrue to the upper level managers. For the low level end users it is

> more process, more accountability, less autonomy

It is complicated. It is foreign to the users.

The question is how do you incentivize workers to adopt software that makes their live more difficult, but helps hold them more accountable and with less autonomy. They often make decisions that make their life easier but lose money for the company.

> users complain endlessly that the software is too complicated.

Try to solve that problem? I realize I'm over simplifying it but have you really done everything you can to simply and streamline the software for the user?

yes i am 100% positive.

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