There has only been one time in my life (and hopefully the last!) where I have looked into a man’s eyes and seen pure, abject terror.  This didn’t happen in (to me, anyway) a life or death situation, or a horror film, or even after eating bad shellfish. It happened when he was told he could no longer use paper forms and had to use a computer.

The Setup

Working in the IT department of a shipyard was a lot of fun.  Not only did I get to work on and with computers (including some great experience bringing a corporate network down with a single file transfer…), I also got to see the physical thing our company made - ships.  To build them, however, you need a lot of very technically skilled individuals. This includes welders, carpenters, foremen and women, and supply managers. Building ships is really complicated (citation needed), but this was all managed with pen and paper… up until the time IT decided we needed a better system.

My role on the team was to support employees when they ran into problems with our system.  This could be anything from login problems to system errors to training. Many of our users were not computer savvy, so I spent a good deal of time going over basics (for reference many could only peck-type) and developing easy to follow documentation so they could continue to do their job.  Most folks didn’t need to use a computer, or only used it sparingly, so things were mostly OK. Our supply managers, however, were another story.

Historically, when a part or item was needed, you had to fill out a paper form (called a Purchase Requisition, or PR) and give it to their supply manager, who would then update a logbook, and if it fit specific criteria (e.g. under a certain dollar amount, or out of a specific list of things), give you the item.  If it didn’t meet criteria, the supply manager would go talk to whoever controlled the item to see if you could get it.

In the New Work of Tomorrow, however, this all had to be done on a computer.  Instead of filling out a paper form, the Supply Manager suddenly was expected to type the order into a computer, and the PR system would then follow whatever rules were in place for that item.  On a higher level this was great, since management could see in near-real time what was being asked for and by whom. On a highly localized scale, this was the End of Days.

Sheer Terror

Frank was a supply manager who had been working at the shipyard for 20+ years, and he knew his job inside, outside and backwards.  Even better, everyone knew he knew his job, and he was good at it. Then everything changed when the computers came. Frank knew how to type, which was great since it removed one hurdle entirely… the problem was Frank didn’t understand how this computer would impact his job.  If people could put a PR into the computer, was his job still needed? Even if it was still needed, what would he do all day, just watch the screen?

This was the moment I saw true terror in another man’s eyes.  In the moment Frank wasn’t able to process how great it would be overall, he was afraid his job would disappear.

Queue Empathy

This is one of the great tensions technological advances have to offer.  On the one hand, technology allows us to gather lots of data and be more effective at finding patterns and handling information.  On another hand, technology can be incredibly threatening to individuals who feel they may be replaced. We’ve all heard the news stories about this, but until Frank I had never experienced it first hand and it was a powerful experience.

Many of us in tech are in it for the cool stuff it can do.  Analyze millions or rows of data to find specific patterns? Magic.  Build a robot that can navigate novel environments? Witchcraft. What we need to remember, however, is there is also a very human component to it.  Tech does not exist by itself, it impacts people in many ways. As techies we need to keep this forefront in our minds as we roll out new magic and interact with folks who maybe don’t quite understand it all yet.

Back to Frank

In Frank’s case I made a deal with him.  I had to take all his paper requisition forms away, but in return, I’d sit with him until he felt more comfortable with the system.  In addition, I gave him my (work) cell number and told him to call me any time he had a question, or, more importantly, was getting stressed by the computer.

This did result in more hours spent than I had thought, however, I got a lot out of it.  While Frank didn’t entirely lose his anxiety, he did get a LOT more comfortable using a computer which made it easier to help him learn new skills.  I also learned a ton about the supply process from him, which made it significantly easier for me to design better processes in the system (e.g. changing screen setups, routings, etc.).  Even better, while Frank wasn’t exactly an evangelist for the system, he told his coworkers it wasn’t as bad as they had thought and there was help (e.g. me) if they needed it.

Lessons Learned

• Remember there’s people involved - While tech provides us some really cool tools, all of these tools eventually will impact a real live person.  This impact may be felt as part of their job changing (as in Franks case), or in different ways, but regardless something is changing.

• Take time to know users - It’s VERY easy in tech to become distanced from our users.  After all, they’re just the people that break our meticulously built system, right?  Taking some time to meet them offers a number of advantages though. Not only will you help put a face to these folks, you’ll pick up more about what they need from the system which will make your job easier.

• Be open - Those same users you’ve met will give you ideas on how to improve things, which is great!  Don’t shut down their ideas or problems just because they’re “not in tech”. Like any field, getting more perspective and a wide range of people involved only helps build a better end-product.