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Aaron Siedler: 'Change Aversion': Why Users Dislike Your New Products and Features (and How to Address It)

· One min read

What is "Change Aversion"?​

In general, "change aversion" refers to the unrest and opposition that arise among users whenever you alter something they frequently use in your product. This unrest is almost always present in every version of products like Gmail, YouTube, and the iPhone.

How to Mitigate or Even Avoid "Change Aversion"?​

  1. Inform users in advance and provide understanding afterward. Notify users of significant changes in the new version beforehand and explain the reasons for these changes, then offer guidance on how to transition afterward.
  2. Allow users to switch freely. Do not cut off users' ability to revert to the original version; do not leave them feeling isolated and helpless.
  3. Continuously follow up on user feedback.

Don't Let "Change Aversion" Be an Excuse for Poor Execution​

Over time, whether changes to the product are good or bad will ultimately be revealed.

change aversion patterns

Aaron Sedley: Change aversion: why users hate what you launched (and what to do about it)

· One min read

What is change aversion?​

By and large, anytime you change what people regularly use in a product, they will always throw an uproar. This happens to almost every release of products like Gmail, YouTube, iPhone, etc.

How to avoid or mitigate change aversion?​

  1. Let users understand, in advance and afterward. Warn them about the significant changes early and communicate why those places changed. Provide transition instructions afterward.
  2. Let users switch. Don’t shut the door and leave them alone in the helplessness.
  3. Let users give feedbacks and follow through.

Change Aversion isn’t an Excuse​

The product changes may turn out to be good or bad ones.

change aversion patterns

About Tian Pan

Solutions architect and tech entrepreneur specializing in enterprise SaaS and Web3 platforms. Led development of high-throughput distributed systems handling millions of transactions. Full-stack expertise with a track record of architecting cloud-native solutions that scale seamlessly from startup to enterprise scale.

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