User frustrations – what’s not so great in Connections

In my company, Geno, we have used Connections since 2013. We think we ran the adaption process quite good, with a wide grade of involvement. The main goals were to have one platform for collaboration and information sharing, to move internal communication away from emails, and to have a solution with good integration between CRM and information system.
In presentations we usually focus on the good things (sometimes even with a lack of honesty…). Why not take a look on the other side of this – from the user’s perspective? So in this presentation, I will focus on the frustrations and the parts of Connections that haven’t lived up to expectations so far (of course with a wink in the eye 😉

Transcript

1. Cnx User Schmerz
   Tore Søgård, Geno
   @toresogard
   

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2. PLATINUM SPONSOR
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3. Social Connections 15 Munich, September 16-18 2019
   QO
   • About Geno (and myself)
   • Connections in Geno
   • Users feedback about pain points,
   weaknesses and tripwires
   • User requests for improving Connections
   

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4. Social Connections 15 Munich, September 16-18 2019
   Myself
   • Tore Søgård
   • IT Manager in
   Geno since ‘98
   • Trying to keep
   things straight,
   and my head
   above water
   

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5. Social Connections 15 Munich, September 16-18 2019
   About Geno
   

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6. Social Connections 15 Munich, September 16-18 2019
   • Farmer coop and
   breeding organization
   for Norwegian Red
   • Established 1935
   • Owned by 8 500
   Norwegian dairy farmers
   • Geno Global est 2003
   • App 250 employees
   • App NOK 376 mill
   (EUR 37 mill) revenue
   in 2018
   Vision: Breeding for Better Lives
   

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7. Social Connections 15 Munich, September 16-18 2019
   Our products
   DNA
   Semen
   Embryo
   R&D
   Bio IT
   

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8. Social Connections 15 Munich, September 16-18 2019
   Output of product
   Just another
   day at
   office…
   

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9. Social Connections 15 Munich, September 16-18 2019
   And input
   Just another
   day at
   office…
   

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10. Social Connections 15 Munich, September 16-18 2019
    Result: best breed
    

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11. Social Connections 15 Munich, September 16-18 2019
    Result: legendary bulls
    Braut – the legend
    Father of 300 000 world around
    

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12. Social Connections 15 Munich, September 16-18 2019
    Data and Technology is everything
    • Some great idea here
    • And here
    • And also here
    

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13. Social Connections 15 Munich, September 16-18 2019
    Connections in Geno
    

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14. Social Connections 15 Munich, September 16-18 2019
    Adoption process
    • Started in 2012
    • Followed recommended guidelines
    • Leader group – definers and super users
    • Extended with super users from all groups
    • Out of the box - no customization
    

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15. Social Connections 15 Munich, September 16-18 2019
    Adoption process
    • Many were happy with the new collaboration
    plattform
    • Many had problems adopting to the change of
    culture
    • Happy users vs unhappy users
    • Who did we pay most attention to?
    • User guides, -training, FAQ’s
    • What’s the point?
    • Users of today expect UI to be INTUITIVE
    

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16. Social Connections 15 Munich, September 16-18 2019
    User feedbacks
    

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17. Social Connections 15 Munich, September 16-18 2019
    User feedbacks
    • Many users still happy
    • Problems often solved by user help/training
    • Many business processes made better with
    Cnx
    • IBM Docs and Kudos Boards
    • Presentation will focus on what’s not so good
    • I thought it was more when I started to dig into
    this
    

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18. Social Connections 15 Munich, September 16-18 2019
    Less internal email?
    • No more
    

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19. Social Connections 15 Munich, September 16-18 2019
    Less internal email?
    • No!... More!
    • Why?
    • Users don’t trust
    • Email still has main focus
    • One update may create
    3 emails
    • No chat room
    or 7 !!!
    

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20. Social Connections 15 Munich, September 16-18 2019
    User feedbacks
    • Too much information – difficult to find
    • “Like calling into the woods – hoping for an answer”
    • Tripwire: My files vs Community files (and folders)
    • Don’t trust finding files - Keeps saving locally too
    • Can’t share files in public folders (unless pinned)
    • Mac users: sync of My Drive doesn’t always work
    – and you never know when
    

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21. Social Connections 15 Munich, September 16-18 2019
    User feedbacks
    • Completed task (my To Do list) stay unsolved when part of
    several asignees
    • Developers and researchers: Cnx ok for storing data – not for
    dynamic collaboration (prefer Slack)
    • On mobile – clicking a link to
    Cnx data opens web version
    instead of mobile app
    • Cannot add tags if not editor access
    • External users struggle
    in Cnx
    

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22. Social Connections 15 Munich, September 16-18 2019
    Some screen shots
    

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23. Social Connections 15 Munich, September 16-18 2019
    Ex1: Files - editing and publishing
    When I open file
    from desktop
    plugin, I can
    publish direct
    

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24. Social Connections 15 Munich, September 16-18 2019
    Ex1: Files - editing and publishing
    When I open
    file inside
    application,…
    

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25. Social Connections 15 Munich, September 16-18 2019
    Ex2: Files – sharing and linking
    • I have editor access as member of “Ledergruppe Geno”
    

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26. Social Connections 15 Munich, September 16-18 2019
    Ex2: Files – sharing and linking
    • Activity in a community: Want to link the file in a task (to do or entry)
    Community Files
    Files Shared With Community
    could have been useful
    options
    Why can’t I link
    files shared with a
    community in an
    activity when I
    even have editor
    rights?
    

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27. Social Connections 15 Munich, September 16-18 2019
    Ex3: Files – searching
    

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28. Social Connections 15 Munich, September 16-18 2019
    User requests
    

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29. Social Connections 15 Munich, September 16-18 2019
    User requests
    • Better notifications when due date
    (activities)
    • Plugin for PDF-files
    • Better functionality copying/moving emails
    to Cnx
    • @-mentions to groups (too complicated)
    

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30. Social Connections 15 Munich, September 16-18 2019
    User requests
    • Chat room like Slack, MS Teams
    • Integration with Slack, MS Teams…
    • Taking a note anywhere and put anywhere
    • Integration with MS OneNote, Evernote or
    whatever
    • Better integration with CRM
    

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31. That’s it!
    Thank you!
    Any Questions?
    

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32. PLATINUM SPONSOR
    PLATINUM SPONSORS
    GOLD SPONSORS
    SILVER SPONSORS
    BRONZE SPONSORS SPEEDSPONSORING BEER SPONSOR
    

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