UsableMarkets

The FT has a mostly boring article rehashing much of what we know about the usability of enterprise software (vendors say they follow user centered design, and then don’t; workers lose a substantial amount of time per week due to the poor usability of applications, and so on). The interesting bit, though, was this:

Received wisdom suggests that, when an organisation deploys a new application, it should be prepared to invest heavily in training if it is to reap the full return on investment benefits of the purchase.

But Mr Spiller of Experience Dynamics argues that enterprise software vendors and their third-party partners have an interest in perpetuating these training needs. “If you’re spending huge sums on training, you’re footing the bill because of vendors’ failure to adhere to usability standards, and they’re getting away with it,” he says.

This highlights the conflict companies that offer software training have with usable software. If it’s usable, they lose money. Ergo ….

~alex