Change For Change’s Sake

When I woke up this morning I felt a chill in the air.? I asked the closest Amazon Alexa device what the temperature outside was.? It didn’t know.? Now, Alexa always knows what the temperature is as reported by my local weather organizations, but years ago I installed a Govee Thermometer / Hygrometer on my home’s back deck to really know what the temperature was directly outside my house.? All I had to do was say “Alexa, ask Govee what the temperature is Outside” (with “outside” being the name of that device.)? Suddenly, what worked for years and years just stopped working.

As an engineer by training, I of course began troubleshooting everything, batteries, WiFi, Alexa app and skills, etc.? What I discovered is that my Govee app now needed me to create a password, and the Alexa skill I had painstakingly installed and set-up was gone.? I had to figure it out from scratch all over again.? After shooting off a note to Govee . support (‘WHY IN HECK WOULD YOU TAKE SOMETHING WORKING PERFECTLY AND DESTROY IT’) which they promised a twenty-four hour response to (four days ago and still nothing) I discovered the new changes meant I no longer had to say “ask Govee” to get the readings, but at the same time I could no longer get the humidity from the device through Alexa, and my “Outside” naming convention would no longer work (as it now conflicted with other Alexa commands.)? Today I changed the name of that device to “The Deck” and I can get temperature readings through Alexa again, but humidity readings still don’t work.? Everything about it is worse than it was before. (UPDATE: The Govee team never directly answered my customer service message but the humidity reading is now available on Alexa via the new process.)

I relate this true story to you because it is illustrative of one of my pet-peeves, change-for-change’s-sake.? This change to one system I used (with no notice or warning) cascaded into affecting other systems I use and derailed my plans and schedule.? All too often application developers make changes they think will be better, but in reality, just cause trouble for some or all end users.? I can recall dozens if not hundreds of examples of this in my personal and professional life.? Sometimes it’s opening up my desktop collaboration application and finding important buttons missing or relocated.? Sometimes it’s forced upgrades that make things far worse for the user – usually pushed out with some sort of FUD (‘UPDATE YOUR PHONE NOW OR THE BAD GUYS WILL EXPLOIT A NEWLY DISCOVERED SECURITY FLAW.’)? The FUD usually doesn’t mention that the new system will make many of the functions of the old system worse or different.?

A blog I wrote years ago about this phenomenon pointed out that we are all now essentially unpaid paid beta testers for far too many unannounced, untested changes for change’s sake.

Organizations that care about what their customers’ think and experience don’t simply push out these changes when they feel like it.? They engage user advisory groups to vet the changes past.? Often, they find the users’ priorities are not the same as the developers.? This is information that – if heeded – would turn those complaining about the unplanned, unneeded changes into evangelists…raving fans.? But it takes a commitment on the part of the organization to not only facilitate and pay for such meetings, but also care about and commit to act upon the results.? This is unfortunately rarer than it has ever been, but clearly separates the excellent firms that care about their customers from the ones focused solely on profit despite the customers.? Taking the temperature of your actual users (and not just their company’s executives) should be something every good manufacturer and service provider wants to do.? It should be more common and easy – certainly far easier than it ultimately was for me to find-out what the temperature of my home’s deck turned out to be.

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This article was written by David Danto and contains solely his own, personal opinions. David has over four decades of experience providing problem solving leadership and innovation in media and unified communications technologies for various firms in the corporate, broadcasting and academic worlds including AT&T, Bloomberg LP, FNN, Morgan Stanley, NYU, Lehman Brothers and JP Morgan Chase. He is also the IMCCA’s Director of Emerging Technology. David can be reached at [email protected] or [email protected] and his full bio and other blogs and articles can be seen at Danto.info. Please reach-out to David if you would like to discuss how he can help your organization solve problems, develop a future-proof collaboration strategy, or if you would like his help developing solid, user-focused go-to-market strategies for your product or service. Visit the website TechPerspectives.info for more information.