Posted on Tue, May 27, 2008
Recently, we have been looking for new survey software for our firm.
A lot of software has moved to a web-based interface over a desktop solution. However, over the past few months, myself and Stew have been noticing a fundamental flaw with our current web-based solution. It’s slow.
Every time you make a change using the web-based software, it takes a few seconds to update the server. So, when we program a survey, we are making hundreds of changes and all that “wait time” adds up.
We recently tried a demo of a product that runs client-side software and we were amazed. Regardless of the extra functionality that the new software contained, the speed of using the software was unbelievably fast. Since it runs right off our desktops, we have no wait/communication/pull-your-hair-out time. It’s instant (ooh, I just figured out why they named the software, Snap!)
From that point on, we could see what we were missing. What would take a whole day to program in the web-based software will take half a day in the client-side software. So, I’ve just ordered the new software – no more wait time for us.
This experience ties directly to website usability and the importance of giving the user what he or she wants quickly. Poor navigation, slow load times, jumbled information – it all impedes our progress. No matter how brilliantly your website is designed, if users can’t get what they want in a timely manner, then they will ditch you and go somewhere else.
[digg=http://digg.com/design/Web_based_interfaces_take_note]