One fact of life in software development, is that making people NEED to re-train on a new user interface is unacceptable unless the new interface produces (not promises to, but is actually shown to, on pilot tests) a DRAMATIC increase in productivity.
Agreed. I’ve seen too many products change their interface promising increases in productivity, but it only helps those who are just learning the product. Long time users are frustrated because it isn’t in the same location. Recent MS Office products have been the biggest offenders.
“- - — people NEED to re-train on a new user interface is unacceptable - - - -”
I liken this to perpetually changing how we operate a car, for instance one year the brake pedal is on the floor next to the accelerator, the next year the brake is a lever on the visor, the following year it’s a button in the glove box - with all the other controls being changed in a similar manner. What I said here sounds absurd because no one would stand for it.
Yet it happens frequently with software.