We Broke Simple

Technology has always been part of my life. Even in my high school years, I did horrible in school subjects, but put me behind a computer and I could tear it down and bring it back, troubleshoot issues, and make quick work of technical issues.

Twenty years later, and my love for technology and innovation is starting to wane.

Not that I don’t like the technology and innovation, but when I joined the tech industry, I was determined to make technology work for people, make their lives easier. Allow people to communicate and be wowed at what they could do with it.

Some of my best memories have been showing off technical gadgets that bring curious looks and questions what it could do, and then stun them when it could produce something they didn’t think possible.

But the industry has lost sight of that goal.

The industry is so focused on the profits from “innovation” its now at the expense at the very thing the industry promised it was solving.

Simplicity.

Things that used to be so simple now take so many steps, people are looking for ways to bypass it all together.

Here are 3 real-life examples I’ve experienced, and why the industry has to do better.

Multi-Factor Authentication

You know, this bothers me the most. I’ve written about this before here, but let me sum it up.

I was working with an individual who was frustrated they weren’t getting the code to their phone. I told them that it was a rolling code, they said they checked their Authenticator app, but it wasn’t there, we checked email, then text, then Authenticator, then Google Authenticator, then their password manager authenticator, it just went on and on.

Long story short, we finally found the correct app it was in but talk about frustrated users, trying to find out where things were.

Things gets worse the longer you look at it. Let me just list a bit of what I’ve experienced.

• Microsoft prefers passwordless login, requiring the Authenticator app, (same with their rolling code generation).

• Adobe wants you to secure your account with their “Account” app.

• Google will spread approval far and wide, across whatever device they deem “available” on whatever app you have installed, sometimes its YouTube, sometimes its Google Authenticator, just depends.

• Apple sends a code to another device, so hope you have all your devices with you if you want to access a new device.

• SendGrid (who owns Authy) will only let you enable MFA using the Authy app.

• 1Password which can store MFA codes requires you to have a separate Authenticator app if you want to enable MFA on their accounts.

• LastPass has their Authenticator app you have to use to enable MFA on their service.

Then you have:

• Text codes

• Email codes

• Phone codes

• Codes after you log into your account you have to find.

• Backup codes after you enable MFA you have to find a way to save.

• Passwordless apps

• Passkeys which have been trying to become a thing for years but still require username & password backup, which inevitably is the usual way I log in.

• Emailed “smart links” which, hope you’re signing onto the device the link is sent to, otherwise you have to find a way around that issue.

• SSO you have to remember which account you signed into otherwise you’ll create a new account.

This is the most disappointing fragmentation I’ve ever experienced. I understand that “security is hard” but security experts, the amount of people I’ve heard just give up and request a text code because its easiest, you’re not doing the world any good by creating “new ways” to secure things without meeting the user where they are.

Sharing Files

I was attempting to share files in SharePoint, which I know, is a widely accepted four letter word in the IT space, but that’s what I have to work with.

I was trying to structure my files the way I structured them when I used Dropbox, and it didn’t work. There are three methods of creating a shared folder:

• internal

• external

• external (partnership)

and you must select that method BEFORE you begin. Once that folder share is created, it creates a Sharepoint site, which you cannot change after you create it.

I went through each method, because external partnership, which makes sense to me, doesn’t allow people that don’t use M365 as their email.

You also can’t easily have shared folders with inviting groups within the company and individual external users either, you have to individually invite people if you want to share at all with external contacts.

Now, I know there are better tools to share information, but for a company that has invested billions in being the go-to small business tool, really leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

AIAIAIAIAIAI

When AI came out, I was excited. I was ready for a true change in the way we interacted with technology. Using natural language to speak to the computer. It gave us this wonderful text box which we could type anything and get exactly what we want back.

I’ve been split though. I have Claude AI, then Notion wants to sell me their version, then I want to try a new model from Google Gemini, but thats a new tool, then ClickUp now has their AI with their $30/mo price tag.

None of which solves the deep problem of “how do I do what I want to do quickly and efficiently”.

Now instead of clicking around and finding the button I want to push to do the thing I want to do, I have to waste 30 minutes trying to explain what I want out of the AI, with each ones capabilities different than the other one depending on what you want to do, and hope I don’t run out of tokens before I find what I want it to do.

It inevitably turns into a glorified spell checker, grammar tool, or Google because either I’m not going to figure out why it isn’t producing the results I want or can’t spend enough time to determine how best to use it because its different than the 4 other AI platforms I’m using and they are all slightly different in their capabilities.

Now, experts, and people who have figured it out would say “well you’re using it wrong”, but then why is it every time I talk to users and introduce AI to them, they take one look see what I can do, then try it and its different and doesn’t produce the outcome they want.

THATS the biggest turn off, when companies are focused on selling their ideas to the technology experts, and expecting users to flock to it like they did social media, rather than investing in teaching users how to use it and deeply integrating it with products each user would want to use, will always turn it into a glorified Google and spell check. Not the AGI you promised.

How do we do better?

Now, I haven’t lost all faith in the capabilities of humanity and the technology we produce, but perhaps it’s time we slow down, and think real hard of the changes we make. We don’t have to move the button to 3 different places because we need to show our shareholders we are “an innovative company doing new things every month”.

Perhaps some technology companies should see innovation as a results driven outcome, rather than change driven outcome.

Truly be part of the solution and not the problem.

Deeply figure out what drives people to technology, and what drives them away.

Customers don’t care that you’ve moved the button 3 times, they care that it produces the outcome they want without becoming the power-user, all encompassed expert you want them to be.

Lets focus on that for a change.