New and Improved Isn’t Always Better
Can you spot the problem with the title of this post? “New and Improved” is just “Improved” as the “New” is redundant. So “Improved Isn’t Always Better” is the real statement. But the definition of improved is “better.” So improved is, in fact, always better.
But nonetheless this exact statement was one made by a player of my jigsaw puzzle game, which I just converted from Flash to HTML5. In doing the conversion, I made sure that it as, in fact, improved. Included every feature of the old game, added new features and options, improved the quality of the images, and by simply converting to HTML5 I made the game playable to millions more people who do no have Flash installed.
What this person really meant to say, was “I do not like change.” The new game is different than the old one. There’s a subtle difference in the shape of the pieces, for instance. They have been playing the same game for years and now suddenly it seems unfamiliar to them.
It is a valid feeling. And very human. I have dealt with as a developer all of my professional life. Make a change to software, and even if it is clearly an improvement in every measurable way, there are people who will complain because they don’t want change.
But things need to change. It is very obvious here, with Flash being more and more hated and approaching its official retirement, that I need to move the game to HTML5. As a mind experiment I think of this person in 4 years suddenly finding that the game doesn’t work for them anyway. “Well, you didn’t want me to change it, so I didn’t. And now Flash is gone and you can’t play the game.” Or, maybe they read a blogger who spews hate for Flash and decide to uninstall it to find themselves in the same situation, but sooner.
So as a developer, I’m the one who has to bend. I can’t ask the user to do that. So I explain the changes, explain why they are necessary, and leave it at that. If I can’t convince the user that the new situation is better, then I have to let them go. It know it will be better for a majority of the current users, and all of the future users. So I press on.