Lea Remigio

After doing a handful of new user interface installations for various LegalServer case management system clients, I’d like to offer my Trello notes board for people who are trying to tackle it themselves. Go on! Just click the link and you should land on a public Trello board that’s all yours.

Here are a few of my notes for your consideration.

Change of Perspective

The new user interface does not affect the forms or processes you have configured already in the site. It heavily affects the case profile and action menu links. And it can, if you choose, create a lot of configuration work on the Home page, Cases main tab, Outreach main tab, or others. Turning on the new user interface gives people a new lens through which to view the system. In every new interface installation I’ve done, people suddenly notice all sorts of things that are not related to the new interface. Most of them feel like they are getting an entirely new case management system and will find things like fields “which absolutely must be required” but are not or gaps of missing data on the case profile blocks that were never there to begin with. This is a good thing. It re-engages people with the case management system and spurs requests for improvement, which can be especially important if you implemented the system years ago and have not initiated any kind of user focus groups since that time.

It’s like rearranging your living room furniture for the first time in years and suddenly noticing that the milk crates which passed as an end table in college look a little tacky next to that new love seat now and ohmygosh how have I been using them for 20 years?! (or, at least, that’s what I imagine I’d think if I ever actually USED milk crates in my living room…but I haven’t.)

Set a Timeline

Treat the change process like a project and work toward a target “go-live” date for the new user interface. This is the only way to get people to test your Demo site adjustments in an expeditious manner. Give them a window for testing and feedback and plan for the fact that less that 5% of them will volunteer to provide that feedback. And if that happens, you might also want to plan for 95% of them to be completely confused upon go-live of the new UI and schedule some helpdesk resources accordingly for the first two weeks.

so…Distribute Lots of Information

Use emails and face-to-face notifications in staff meetings to let your user group know what to expect. Some of my clients have conducted hands-on classroom style training during the last weeks before the change. Others have simply emailed out a best practices sort of quick-guide. If you allow outside users such as pro bono attorneys to log in to your system, don’t forget to include them in your efforts. And no matter how much information you share, prepare for questions and a touch of panic on new UI go-live day.