“Any fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction.” (Albert Einstein) The manner in which a software package is designed is probably the biggest contributing factor to ease of use. In general, the more mouse clicks, the more menu items and the more screens that need to be utilized to accomplish a certain task make the software more difficult to use. Well designed software will have fewer screens and will be able to perform complex functions with just a single mouse click. Count the clicks and the screens required to do your most common tasks and if it becomes excessive, you will know that there is a problem. The other way to evaluate ease of use is to get a full working demo of the software and try to figure it out yourself. If you can’t understand the basics of how it works after playing around with it for a couple of hours, there may be a problem. The effects of purchasing poorly designed, hard to use software will be the following: 1) Frustration. 2) Only the easy-to-use sections and features of the software will be used. 3) Only the most skilled employees will use the software. 4) Implementation – getting the software up and going will take more time and money. 5) Training – Initial and ongoing training costs are going to be high. Remember, some companies will claim that their software will do everything under the sun plus shine your shoes. However, if the promised features are too complex and are difficult to use, it is the same as not having the features at all.
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