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Is your software ergonomic?Posted by Ben on 1st July 2008

Many people ask me, as I fly around this big brown country of ours why they should purchase StorMan and what can it do for them? Advising people of this is really the crux of what I do in many ways whether it is training or sales or just talking to people in general about the self storage industry.

As a consequence, I have come up with a term that I think best describes what StorMan and the products we make can do for the self storage industry. That term is Software Ergonomics. We are all familiar with what ergonomics is but for those aren't here is a quick definition:

"Ergonomics is the scientific discipline concerned with designing according to the human needs, and the profession that applies theory, principles, data and methods to design in order to optimize human well-being and overall system performance".

 

How does this relate to software? And in particular to StorMan? Well, let's take a look. Firstly, there are the features of StorMan to consider and these are varied so therefore I will only look at the major ones here. Easily the most desired feature, from the majority of people that I deal with, is that of "Automating" most of the day to day grind.

This automation comes in the form of automatic invoicing, including late fees and gate lockouts. StorMan also automates things such as Inventory totals, rental accrued, calculation of occupancy, generation of arrears and reminders of things that need doing or people that need following up.

This is a classic example of ergonomics at work because StorMan is providing a streamlined and efficient way of conducting these chores everyday. So what else? Well, the second ergonomic feature that StorMan has in its arsenal is that of visual simplicity. In other words tasks and features are easily used because they are easily identifiable either by the icon located on the button or are self evident because the item or feature is clearly identifiable as exactly what it is or does.

It is very often commented on the feedback forms that we give out in training that most people only really need to be guided in the right direction and most of them can work StorMan out from then on. The phrase "... easy to use and understand." is probably the most frequently given reason for people to buy the software after using a demo or going into trial. Again this "ergonomics" plays a vital role in ensuring that the software is easy to use and understand and therefore fast to learn especially using new features and wizards for the first time.

 

The third feature that provides for "ergonomic" software is its ability to be made uniform over many sites. Many people underrate the concept of "cookie stamping" or "cloning" to give it a real terminology. Many people who buy storage software are looking to roll that software out over many sites and in some of the larger companies that can be as many as 60- 130 sites and not necessarily all within the same country. Therefore the ability to quickly setup and copy or clone a model that is working elsewhere to the new site again provides for not only ergonomics but also for economies of scale.

Economies of scale allow for the efficiencies within a business such as the ability to clone settings, letters and general ledger account codes for example between sites to become viable and very cost effective as these do not have to be manually input at each site. This saves time and money and also eliminates human error. This in turn has the advantage of getting the site up and running within the shortest space of time.

The fourth and last ergonomic feature of a StorMan software package may not be immediately apparent but can be counted as just as important as the rest in the overall scheme of things. The fourth ergonomic component is human. One of the most overlooked things is a dedicated and industry focused development team that continues to develop industry leading software. I was recently at a meeting between the StorMan development team and one of our larger customers and one of the self storage industry bodies and I was amazed at the efficiencies that were apparent.

 

It was awesome to hear a group of people who where all on the same page and dedicated to helping this industry grow but importantly this discussion was underpinned by people who had a good grasp of where the industry was headed, what it needed to get there and of course a team of people to take it there. I am sure that the "ergonomics" of this meeting will be felt throughout not only our industry but throughout our software as well.

Therefore it seems that the "ergonomics" of a software package are more important than the "economics" of the purchase. It means that there are other things that some people consider important when looking at the purchase of new software for their business because it has flow on effects to all aspects of the industry not just the particular site or company involved in the actual purchase of the software.

Remember if something is easy and natural to use your staff will want to use it over other software and it also allows you the owner or manager to train your staff with minimal outlay and fuss but while still achieving excellent retention and results for the effort put in. This is the ergonomic power of StorMan!

 

Regards,
Ben (General Manager, StorMan Australia).