The Cognitive Costs Of Upgrades

Upgrades are a common experience for people who use technology for any length of time. Upgrades may bring clear benefits, and some users look forward to new versions of software. However for others, upgrades may be a burden. Upgrades bring costs, imposing a need to refamiliarize ourselves with a new version after mastering the old one. It is important to understand such costs as failure to upgrade can make users vulnerable to security risks. We first review multiple studies showing users' dislike of upgrades resulting from changes introduced to the interface. Then we propose a framework to analyze the nature of upgrade costs, explaining their origins using well-validated cognitive psychology concepts including: cognitive automation, negative transfer, cognitive maps, procedural memory and locus of control. We use these concepts to explain the psychological costs of frequent interface changes while sketching some approaches to addressing them. Although new versions are necessary for progress, this paper provides software developers with a deeper understanding of the sometimes overlooked costs of frequent interface changes.RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTSUsers dislike and sometimes reject upgrades because upgrades introduce changes to the interface that require relearning.Upgrading can impair cognitive automation by making users think about how to use the new interface instead of their primary task.Prior knowledge of the old version can interfere with current actions.Cognitive maps may need to be perpetually revised as the interface changes.Relearning a familiar action after upgrading can be difficult and frustrating.Possible ways we might address upgrade costs are incorporating legacy methods, mappings and reducing interference.