stoicio's Journal: Good Technology and the Entrenched User

Habit tends to win out over good technology and positive change. Human beings, in general, don't respond well to change. This makes it difficult to implement technological improvements. This is especially true if the end user has formed entrenched habits around specific technologies.

After spending a number of years developing web 2.0 tools for science it is interesting to note how many times I see this. People will nod and appreciate the value of a new tool but will revert to what they know through experience. Many times the learning curve is used as an explanation for this although this can be a bit of a red herring. In most cases there is an emotional investment in a specific technology.

Operating systems and word processors could be used as examples of this. Most people will never use the majority of features offered by modern word processing software. Yet, often, those very unused software features are used as selling points as to why an individual would not switch to something simpler, less expensive, or better.

Many technologies are selected by people due to emotional attachment rather than reason. Many technologies are also selected to support existing peer groups rather than the fundamentals of good business sense.