A software product could be the most useful application ever developed.
A software product could be the most useful application ever developed. It could have the ability to automate every aspect of your life and still have the processing power to make you a cup of coffee, all while never making a dent in your processor speeds. This innovation would allow you to catch up on those oh so important “business strategy blogs.”
Hey, if you’re watching cat videos and the cat is wearing a little tie, it’s work-appropriate, right?
But no matter how much a product can be used for, it is useless if it’s not easy to use.
Investing in a software’s usability is paramount in moving a product from “helpful” to “necessary.”So many major advances in personal technology, plus the fact that it is easier than ever for hobbyists to pick up some coding skills and develop their own applications, have saturated the market with understandable and easy to maneuver user interfaces. Customers are accustomed to using applications with little to no effort. Misplaced buttons, too many steps to set up an application or use a basic function, or even off-putting colors can turn a customer away. At the very least, it’ll be the loudest negative feedback, drowning out any positive functional aspects of the software. There is a reason UX engineering has exploded as a field in recent years.
So what? Do you need to throw your flagship software out the window and start over? Well, it might depend how well your software was put together in the first place. I enjoy separating spaghetti code, but my wife yells at me for playing with my food. Sometimes, a bathroom remodel requires tearing out walls and reinstalling the plumbing. Sometimes it requires a fresh coat of paint and a new sink. Usually, it’ll take a little bit of both. But if you don’t stub your toe on that misplaced vanity every morning on your sleepy-eyed walk to the toilet, it’ll all pay off in the end.
Here at ARC Technology Solutions, we are making product usability (read “Customer Satisfaction”) a priority. We often have developed our hardware to be as simple to use as possible, given any project’s specific requirements. Now that manner of thinking is being applied to our new and our long-standing software products as well. We are moving sinks, repairing some plumbing and giving the walls a new colorful look. We are targeting early 2020 to roll out some new releases of our longer standing products. ARC PVS for example, as well as a new suite of products are designed to help improve factory oversight and speed up assembly line throughput. All of these implements, while making it easier than ever to use the products in a more straightforward and easy to navigate layout, and a more intuitive interface to setup and manage your factory floor.
