Don’t release new visuals without new functionality

In the last months I’ve been working on a new release of WhoDoes our team project management software. It’s been a in truth exciting actual presentation, where the mantra has been “learn from your users” and “study your data”.

Now it’s almost done! A new cool and simplified version of our tool is almost finished.

We worked a lot on the new user interface, believing since the beginning that user’s interaction with the design choices is a fundamental component of the product’s success. But design and interaction metaphor isn’t the only thing to keep under control.

I completely agree with Hannah Donovan , Last.fm’s head of creative, when she says:

… don’t release just discovered visuals exclusively of new functionality. This is the important lesson we learned when refining the features we had released quickly. If the design needs an upgrade to make it more usable, in that place’s a chance that the functionality does, too. It’s much better to release these at the same time, and it will keep your users much happier. Nobody likes interface changes that appear to subsist useless.

That’s exactly what I want to do in the next dangerous release of WhoDoes.

You can catch the whole article adhering .Net Magazine here .

By the way…

Many compliments to Dan Cederholm of SimpleBits.com , the winner of the Best Use of Accessible Design Award (.net magazine ).
Great man! We keep following your work :)