Background of the project
Our client, a software vendor, had invested a lot of resources into a successor product for their enterprise suite. However, the main admin component was utterly rejected by the power users of their biggest client. The vendor’s development team had spent the last two years working on a new modern admin tool to improve the user experience and streamline workflows. However, they didn’t account for how some users had adapted and optimized their workflows over the past decade.
The Challenge
The tool introduction didn’t go as expected, and the users rejected the tool, demanding support extension. The vendor needed to understand the users’ concerns and issues with the new tool, as well as identify areas for improvement to retain the key client and improve the user experience. While the product was great, the feature prioritization focused on new features and didn’t account for existing users’ acceptance. The damage was already done, the vendor needed to invest in saving the account.
The Process
Our consultants sat down with the power users and broke down their arguments for the previous tool and issues against the new one. We worked with the users to identify low-hanging fruit and the features and changes with the biggest impacts. We then created a road map and involved the client’s power users, creating a knowledge database and offering training sessions to address how they could achieve their workflows using the new tool. We worked with the vendor to focus on the needs and concerns of the client and the power users, ensuring they felt heard and involved in the process.
Results
Our approach helped the users feel heard and involved, resulting in much higher acceptance of the tool, more feedback for the vendor to improve the tool further, and the growth of features for other clients. The client’s power users were able to streamline their workflows and achieve their desired outcomes using the new tool, leading to improved user experience and retention of the key client.
Conclusion
Retaining a key client and improving user experience can be challenging, especially when faced with rejection of a new product. Our approach, which involved understanding the users’ concerns and issues, identifying areas for improvement, and involving the power users in the process, led to improved user experience and retention of the key client. The vendor was able to improve the tool further, leading to growth in features and opportunities for other clients.
