DO USERS HATE REDESIGN? – A LITERATURE REVIEW ON USER RESISTANCE TO INTERFACE CHANGES

Abstract

Resistance to change is an aspect related to human behaviour, widely studied in organizational change, but equally important in system interface redesign, where the related literature is scarce. Redesigning interfaces that individuals are used to implies unlearning the navigation routine and learning a new one, leading to cognitive load. High cognitive load affects user experience and can negatively impact user perceptions and behaviour. Understanding resistance to redesign helps companies successfully implement changes while avoiding backlash or failure. Therefore, this paper presents a literature review of user resistance to change, and suggests a few strategies and further directions for studying it.