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So we were working on re-developing a site which looks pretty much same like the old site and does pretty much same stuff. But the old site was using procedural programming and now for the new site, we are using latest architecture(MVC) frameworks(zend),tools , html 5, asynchronous etc + CMS system.
Now we are launching the site soon and I have to explain non techy guys about the benefits. Apart from new functionalities am thinking how easily can I make them understand latest technology used . I mean all they see is UI. Which at first will look pretty similar to old one until they go and start using it and discovering it.
So do I even bother explaining them about the technical side or leave it and just give demo of new features ? What do you guys think??
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AndyInUK wrote: So do I even bother explaining them about the technical side
No, except to tell them various lies and half-truths that the new technologies you are using will result in a more responsive website, can handle more users, and is more easily indexed by Google. Oh, and make sure to demo it on localhost so they are blown away by the performance.
AndyInUK wrote: just give demo of new features ?
Yes. See my above comment regarding demo'ing it on localhost.
AndyInUK wrote: What do you guys think??
Oh wait, you wanted thinking? 
Marc
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Is the demo to users or managers?
Users care only about UI and how it effects them, what they have to do different.
Managers only care about cost benefits.
No-one apart from you cares about any technical detail, the more you put in the more they'll assume you're trying to justify yourself.
“I believe that there is an equality to all humanity. We all suck.” Bill Hicks
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Features. Forget the technical stuff - it'll just make their eyes glaze over.
Start with (and stress) that it "works the same as the old site" - this reinforces their existing familiarity and reduces the FUD associated with anything new or different. If you can, demonstrate it beside the old one.
Then move into the new features - trying to push the "to make it easier for you" side, rather than the "aren't we clever" idea (all that does is alienate them, generally).
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If it wasn't broken, why did you fix it? Re-engineering for the sake of it is a great money earner and job justifier, isn't it?
"If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur." Red Adair.
Those who seek perfection will only find imperfection
nils illegitimus carborundum
me, me, me
me, in pictures
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Did you not ask this a couple of months back? If not somebody did and there were some good examples given including an analogy but I can't think on how to search for it. Anyone else remember?
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Move the insertion point to the address bar, and type "www.google.co.uk" and press enter... 
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My experience is that users of software couldn't care less about what is going on behind the scenes. I would stick with just explaining the cool new features you are introducing to make their lives easier.
-NP
Never underestimate the creativity of the end-user.
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Concentrate on stuff they care about - response, consistency, durability, future-proof, oh shiny.
speramus in juniperus
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Nagy Vilmos wrote: future-proof
There is no such thing as future-proof in programming.
When the next shiny new framework comes along, this will be re-written.
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Make an analogy: the web site is a car, and you pretty much "only" changed the engine, which is quite a big change, but not visible at first sight.
Then go into two points:
- the new features
- the benefits in terms of costs (whatever: resources, support costs, dev costs, etc.. as long as it can be converted in money) on mid and long term.
Then you are done.
~RaGE();
I think words like 'destiny' are a way of trying to find order where none exists. - Christian Graus
Do not feed the troll ! - Common proverb
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Rage wrote: the web site is a car, and you pretty much "only" changed the engine,
Automobile companies do better.
They keep the same engine but change the body styling! Every year! 
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AndyInUK wrote: So do I even bother explaining them about the technical side or leave it and just give demo of new features ? What do you guys think??
One aspect that you might want to consider is giving an overview of the security features built into your site.
This could be anything from https to avoiding XSS etc.
This a common concern that is often ignored during initial demos to clients.
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Griff covered what to tell the users pretty well in my opinion.
For the manager class you need to talk even less about technology, only use words from Steve Jobs vocabulary.
Stress that the new site has better maintainability and therefore cost less, it's ok to lie.
Be excellent to each other. And... PARTY ON, DUDES!
Abraham Lincoln
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AndyInUK wrote: I mean all they see is UI. Which at first will look pretty similar to old one until they go and start using it and discovering it.
User Guide
Section 1
Start using it and discovering it.
Section 2
There is no section 2.
If you are producing a text for people who have to use your product (a 'text" does not have to be words on paper; it is anything that communicates information from one person to others), only include information that they want or need.
I don't give a bluddy blue f@rt how MS produced VS, or what technologies are behind it, I only care that it helps me do what I need/want to to, so I only want to know how it provides that help.
Prepare some use cases, show how your thingummy helps to address them, then stop. If people ask questions, find use cases that cover their questions, and document them.
I wanna be a eunuchs developer! Pass me a bread knife!
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Andy, I kid you not - tell them nothing. Any attempt to explain the technical merits of a new approach to an old problem will be met with stares of absolute befuddlement, bellicose attacks for changing what was working fine, and second guessing your solution by the technically semi-literate, who I admit at least mean well. The rest are merely obstructionists who will only make your life miserable. Deploy it, train the users, and say nothing more. Above all, don't attempt to explain or justify your approach. They won't understand, and life is too short to teach them to understand. They aren't experts; you are, and that's why they hired you.
If your solution is as good as you think it is, users will notice, and word will get out. If you're a buffoon who's implemented a solution no better than what they had before, they'll probably notice that, too, and you've wasted their money. But if you're a true genius, and you have truly delivered a product that the users can't tell has changed, but which will never have to be revisited again in the foreseeable future, you'll never hear about that, either. Sadly, succeeding too well - making, in this case, a transition from last century's programming paradigm to this century's model so seamless and painless as to cause no user protest - is rarely rewarded until long after the job is done, if ever.
Don't waste your time or strain the mental capacity of your users by attempting to explain the technical advances, just demonstrate the new features and cash your check. Congratulations, by the way, on a job well done! You probably won't hear that from your users, but all of us here know what you've done for them, and understand it's import. Good job! 
Will Rogers never met me.
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Thanks for your suggestion. I think it makes sense to just speak features and not go technical during the demo. 
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Thanks everyone for all your suggestions. I have decided not to speak anything technical during the demo. I will just demo few cool features and rest I will leave it on them to play around and find.
Thanks again.
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Got the newsletter and read "Round 1 has ended in the Intel AppInnovation Contest". as "Round 1 has ended in the Intel Inappropriate App Contest". 
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Probably you got it the right way round.
speramus in juniperus
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Looks like somebody let auto-correct write that email 
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If you have seen some of positively brilliant ideas that have crossed the moderation queue... 
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I'm sure the brilliant ideas have been weeded out.
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They were still coming through yesterday. 
This message is manufactured from fully recyclable noughts and ones. To recycle this message, please separate into two tidy piles, and take them to your nearest local recycling centre.
Please note that in some areas noughts are always replaced with zeros by law, and many facilities cannot recycle zeroes - in this case, please bury them in your back garden and water frequently.
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