Successful Redesign is seldom dramatic or revolutionary

September 3, 1967 was the day every Swedish driver had to relearn how to drive. Here is how the streets looked on the day when Sweden switched from driving on the left side of the road to the right side of the road:

This is what radical redesign looks like in practice. This confusion is inherent to how humans process change.

The big redesign ruins functional layer in customer eyes in case it is done all at once.

But not every redesign should be revolutionary, nor dramatic. For example, recent Wikipedia’s redesign is barely noticeable, and that’s the point.

Most redesigns nowadays are trying to be "innovative", "different" - just because they are called "re-design". But this misses the point: successful redesign is supposed not to be substantial. It should lean toward the functional aspect of the product, toward "tweaks" and fixes, rather than "complete overhaul".

When you redesign, you force users to change their habits. And people hate changing habits, because it is hard. If you force people to change their habits, it results in a mess.

Don't redesign for the redesign sake - solve business and user's problems instead.

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