Written by It’s no secret that people don’t like change… I was reminded of this a while ago, when on facebook, someone wondered out loud, “Who likes this new timeline thing??” Personally, I rather like the new timeline layout, but the responses were mostly negative… and summed up by one comment at the end: “People don’t like change”.
And I agree. People don’t like change; especially not change just for the sake of change. We don’t like re-learning things all the time, so if you’re going to change things on us, you’d better make a good case for why the new way is better. Fast. And if you do make a major change – say, re-doing the layout of a site – expect resistance. Even if the new layout is significantly better, you’ll probably have a few hold-outs complaining that they liked the old way better, that they “can’t find anything on the new site!!”. It’s normal. It comes with the territory.
Don’t let the hold-outs deter you, because despite this resistance to change, there is also an unwritten expectation that things online will change often. It shows progress – or at least gives is that illusion… so it was long overdue for us to revamp not one, but both of our major websites – http://www.ewb.ca and http://my.ewb.ca (neither had received any major layout/concept changes in over five years… astonishing! I’m hoping that these updates will give our online presence a jolt of much-needed energy!)
Online trends move so fast that nothing online stays the same for very long. The trick, of course, is identifying & following the important trends, while not getting caught up in a “ohhh – shiney!!” mentality. You can’t chase every trend, but you can’t ignore them all either.
And when it does come time for change, manage expectations. Know your audience and be in tune with them; recognize (but don’t be held back) by the handful of change-adverse hold-outs, and ensure the changes you make serve the needs of your audience.
