Change aversion is a natural response, which technology often
exacerbates. Evolutionary changes can be subtle and occur over many
generations. But Internet users must sometimes deal with sudden,
significant product changes to applications they rely on and identify
with. Despite the best intentions of designers and product managers,
users often experience anxiety and confusion when faced with a new
interface or changed functionality. While some change aversion is often
inevitable, it can also be managed and minimized with the right steps.
This case study describes how our understanding of change aversion
helped minimize negative effects for the transition of the Google Docs
List to Google Drive, a product for file storage in the cloud. We
describe actions that allowed for a launch with no aversion.
CHI EA '13 CHI '13 Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems
