But my users only use 10% .. .. .. ..
I hear this quite a bit, specifically when it comes to Microsoft Office - and I think there's a few assumptions that go with this.
- Everyone only uses 10% of every product.
- Everyone uses the same 10%.
- Nobody wants to use more than this 10%.
- Everyone is happy using only 10%.
- That all the functions in that 10% are weighted equally (ie all functionality was created equal)
- That every Office derivative has the same functionality and therefore the same 10% is going to be available in all of them.
- And that the 10% of one Office derivative/version = the same amount of functionality in any derivative/version.
- That the functions the users don't use they'll never need.
I can't think of any more off the top of my head .. .. I'm sure you can help me out. :)
Based on these assumptions it would make sense to give the users an Office Suite that only has 10% of the functionality, right?
But lets say that these assumptions aren't right. Lets say that :-
- users don't use 10% of every product - some they use more, some less. Everyone works in a different way. I probably use more PowerPoint and Word than my financial friends who use a lot more Excel.
- everyone uses a different 10%.
- people do actually want to use the other 90% (in fact what we hear from customers backs this up. A lot of functionality we get asked for is already in the product. They just struggle to find it - hence the new User Interface)
- people aren't happy only using 10% - they want to get more from the product and discover better, easier and faster ways are doing things.
- all that 10% is weighted differently, depending on product and who you are. A million rows in Excel isn't a big thing for me. Some people rave about it.
- as Office versions have come along their functionality has increased. So 10% of say Office 2000 does not equal the same as 10% of Office 2007.
- as Office 2003 has more functionality than Derivative X, that included in that 10% may not be included in Derivative X.
- there's some functions in Office (like the ones in my PowerPoint tips) that I would never have thought of asking for. Now I have them (and more importantly know about them) I don't want to give them up.
But lets say the 10% figure was right - you may still have some users who do need more than 10%. Which means giving them what they need. Which means supporting at least 2 Office Suites. Which means a potential support headache.
I've found that the best companies want the best people. And the best people want the best tools. And in my humble opinion the best tool is Microsoft Office.So maybe instead of reassessing our Office Suite, maybe we need to reassess our training requirements.
People + Process + Technology + Training = Business Benefit