{"id":2633,"date":"2020-08-12T08:00:20","date_gmt":"2020-08-12T12:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog3.canny.io\/wordpress\/?p=2633"},"modified":"2024-03-13T15:33:39","modified_gmt":"2024-03-13T19:33:39","slug":"how-to-decide-if-you-need-a-new-tool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/how-to-decide-if-you-need-a-new-tool\/","title":{"rendered":"Too much tech? How to decide if you need a new tool"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I\u2019ll come out and say it:<\/p>\n<p>A lot of companies\u2014specifically tech companies\u2014over-engineer their processes.<\/p>\n<p>It makes sense: There is a tool to automate, track, and facilitate just about everything you can possibly imagine. If you\u2019re in an industry where adopting new tools is standard, it\u2019s natural to want to try something that might help your workflow.<\/p>\n<p>Plus, there\u2019s always the appeal of a shiny new toy.<\/p>\n<p>But, the result is often a \u201ctech stack\u201d that\u2019s unnecessary at best, and a waste of time, money, and energy at worst.<\/p>\n<h2>Do we really <em>need<\/em> this tool?<\/h2>\n<p>The reality is that a lot of incredibly useful SaaS tools aren\u2019t <em>essential.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>That is to say, you can get by and cobble together a process without them.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The challenge is figuring out if something genuinely makes processes easier and better, versus complicating things unnecessarily.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Take Canny, for example. (Yeah, I\u2019m asking if our own tool is necessary. We\u2019re feeling bold today.)<\/p>\n<p>Will you still get customer feedback without a tool like Canny in place? Of course. <a href=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/encouraging-dissent-negative-feedback\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Your customers will tell you what they think<\/a>, whether you <a href=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/ask-for-feedback-saas\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ask them for feedback or not<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>But, a tool like Canny makes the feedback process easier, faster, and smoother for both you and your customers. It takes a cumbersome, blind-leading-the-blind approach, and makes it simple and organized.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2046\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2046\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2046\" src=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/spreadsheet-2.avif\" alt=\"Using a spreadsheet to track user feedback is a hassle\" width=\"600\" height=\"408\" srcset=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/spreadsheet-2.avif 2771w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/spreadsheet-2-300x204.avif 300w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/spreadsheet-2-768x522.avif 768w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/spreadsheet-2-1507x1024.avif 1507w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/spreadsheet-2-177x120.avif 177w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2046\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Spreadsheets work, but they&#8217;re a messy and inconvenient way to manage feedback and feature requests.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Now, if you don\u2019t have enough customers yet, Canny might be overkill. A tool for managing feedback might not be necessary (yet!) when you aren\u2019t dealing with a high volume of feedback.<\/p>\n<p>That said, I\u2019d argue that you do <em>need<\/em> a tool like Canny if you\u2019re getting enough feedback and feature requests that you&#8217;re ending up with something like the spreadsheet above. In that case, you need to make the process of collecting and managing customer feedback easier.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s an example of a tool that makes a process better, rather than simply adding another layer of complexity.<\/p>\n<p><!--HubSpot Call-to-Action Code --><span id=\"hs-cta-wrapper-e1d55d08-a2cf-44a3-a9a0-f3ca5ff21dfa\" class=\"hs-cta-wrapper\"><span id=\"hs-cta-e1d55d08-a2cf-44a3-a9a0-f3ca5ff21dfa\" class=\"hs-cta-node hs-cta-e1d55d08-a2cf-44a3-a9a0-f3ca5ff21dfa\"><!-- [if lte IE 8]>\n\n\n<div id=\"hs-cta-ie-element\"><\/div>\n\n\n<![endif]--><a href=\"https:\/\/cta-redirect.hubspot.com\/cta\/redirect\/5705808\/e1d55d08-a2cf-44a3-a9a0-f3ca5ff21dfa\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"hs-cta-img-e1d55d08-a2cf-44a3-a9a0-f3ca5ff21dfa\" class=\"hs-cta-img aligncenter\" style=\"border-width: 0px;\" src=\"https:\/\/no-cache.hubspot.com\/cta\/default\/5705808\/e1d55d08-a2cf-44a3-a9a0-f3ca5ff21dfa.png\" alt=\"Canny free trial\" width=\"1300\" height=\"642\" \/><\/a><\/span><script charset=\"utf-8\" src=\"https:\/\/js.hscta.net\/cta\/current.js\"><\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> hbspt.cta.load(5705808, 'e1d55d08-a2cf-44a3-a9a0-f3ca5ff21dfa', {\"region\":\"na1\"}); <\/script><\/span><!-- end HubSpot Call-to-Action Code --><\/p>\n<h2>What\u2019s the problem with too much tech?<\/h2>\n<p>Too much tech becomes a problem when:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>You\u2019re collecting information for the sake of it.<\/strong> This muddies the waters and makes it harder to home in on what actually matters.<\/li>\n<li><strong>A tool is used just because it exists.<\/strong> This complicates processes and adds unnecessary steps. It\u2019s a waste of time.<\/li>\n<li><strong>You\u2019re spending money on something you don\u2019t need.<\/strong> If you\u2019re <a href=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/year-three-lessons-bootstrapped-startup\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">bootstrapped and trying to stay relatively lean<\/a> (or just don\u2019t want to waste money), this is an obvious issue.<\/li>\n<li><strong>It creates unnecessary silos.<\/strong> If each org uses different tools, this can make things <em>more<\/em> confusing rather than easier.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Not everything needs to be automated. Not every data point adds value or informs decisions. You really don\u2019t need a piece of technology for every aspect of your process.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s dig into this more, and talk about some ways to identify if something is actually a valuable addition to your tech stack.<\/p>\n<h2>Do we need a tool for this? A step-by-step evaluation process<\/h2>\n<p>Ask yourself the following questions to determine if your process needs improvement and if a new tool would help.<\/p>\n<p>If not\u2014I hate to break it to you, but you might just be addicted to shiny new tech. (It\u2019s okay. We understand. We\u2019re forming a support group.)<\/p>\n<h3>1. Would a tool allow me to access information I couldn\u2019t otherwise?<\/h3>\n<p>We use <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hotjar.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hotjar<\/a> at Canny. Without it, we simply wouldn\u2019t have access to specific, valuable information.<\/p>\n<p>Things like how users move through the site, and where they spend the most time\u2014these are insights we literally couldn\u2019t get without using a tool. It\u2019s information that will help us make calls about how to structure our website, pages we need to build, and so on.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2652\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2652\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2652\" src=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Hotjar-landing-page-heatmap-screenshot.avif\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"325\" srcset=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Hotjar-landing-page-heatmap-screenshot.avif 2552w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Hotjar-landing-page-heatmap-screenshot-300x162.avif 300w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Hotjar-landing-page-heatmap-screenshot-768x416.avif 768w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Hotjar-landing-page-heatmap-screenshot-1891x1024.avif 1891w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Hotjar-landing-page-heatmap-screenshot-210x114.avif 210w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2652\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">One of our heat maps in Hotjar.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>We can\u2019t manually gather this info. It isn\u2019t<em> available<\/em> without a specialized piece of tech.<\/p>\n<p>So, Hotjar falls into the \u201cnecessary\u201d category because it gives us info we couldn\u2019t get otherwise. It\u2019s a tech solution to a problem you can\u2019t solve without specialized tech.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Start by asking:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Are we actually <em>doing something<\/em> with the data we\u2019re collecting? If not, why are we collecting it?<\/li>\n<li>Is there another way to get this data point or piece of information?<\/li>\n<li>Why or why not?<\/li>\n<li>What would it look like to gather that info in a different way?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Don\u2019t focus on questions around time investment or difficulty now\u2014we\u2019ll get to those later.<\/p>\n<h3>2. Could I share this information or data point manually, without a tool?<\/h3>\n<p>Take, for instance, a really nice marketing dashboard.<\/p>\n<p>You pipe in info from your analytics tools, and it populates for you, complete with graphs and visuals.<\/p>\n<p>Great. Fancy.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2635\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2635\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2635\" src=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/PPC_Dashboard.avif\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"351\" srcset=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/PPC_Dashboard.avif 1429w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/PPC_Dashboard-300x176.avif 300w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/PPC_Dashboard-768x449.avif 768w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/PPC_Dashboard-205x120.avif 205w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2635\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">This dashboard from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sisense.com\/dashboard-examples\/marketing\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sisense<\/a> <em>looks<\/em> great\u2014but is it essential to have this info in a dashboard?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>But could you convey this info in a more lightweight way, without a dashboard?<\/p>\n<p>You probably could.<\/p>\n<p>Now, doing so might be a ton of work, a waste of time, and it might not match the audience you\u2019re presenting the info to (we\u2019ll get into all those considerations later).<\/p>\n<p>But, if you just need one or two data points (and a fancy presentation isn\u2019t hugely important), manually grabbing them from your analytics tool might be fine.<\/p>\n<p>You might ultimately decide that automating this process is still the way to go\u2014but it\u2019s smart to evaluate if it\u2019s truly worth it, or if you can do the thing manually.<\/p>\n<h3>3. Is doing this manually\/without a tool a significant drain on my time, brainpower, and overall will to live?<\/h3>\n<p>So, you can get by without a tool\u2014but it might suck.<\/p>\n<p>At this point, it\u2019s important to get a sense of the relative effort you\u2019re expending by not using a tech solution to solve the problem.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Going back to my marketing dashboard example:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t need a dashboard solution if all I need to do is go into Google Analytics once a month and pull, say, our total pageviews for the Canny blog. That\u2019s maybe five clicks, two minutes, and one metric.<\/p>\n<p>But, if I need to pull several different metrics, cross-compare them over periods of time, and flip between settings, it becomes a lot more time-consuming.<\/p>\n<p>Effort expended is relative. But, if you\u2019re considering a new tool, it\u2019s a good idea to log the amount of time you\u2019re taking to do the task without one and see if it feels reasonable.<\/p>\n<p>If it\u2019s becoming a significant time-suck (or just mentally exhausting you), a tool might be a good idea.<\/p>\n<h3>4. Will other team members be working on this\/need access to this information?<\/h3>\n<p>Is this something that you\u2019ll be working on with other members of your team? Will a tool help you organize things so that everyone can work collaboratively, document information so that you all have access to it later, and so on?<\/p>\n<p>If so, a piece of tech to help you manage this process might be a good idea.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_2653\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2653\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2653\" src=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/ClickUp-board-screenshot.avif\" alt=\"Canny ClickUp board\" width=\"600\" height=\"319\" srcset=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/ClickUp-board-screenshot.avif 2584w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/ClickUp-board-screenshot-300x160.avif 300w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/ClickUp-board-screenshot-768x408.avif 768w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/ClickUp-board-screenshot-1926x1024.avif 1926w, https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/ClickUp-board-screenshot-210x112.avif 210w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-2653\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A look at one of our ClickUp boards.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>We like to use <a href=\"https:\/\/app.clickup.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ClickUp<\/a> for collaborative work. Everyone can work within the tool together, and it\u2019s easy to keep track of where a project is at certain stages, and who is responsible for what.<\/p>\n<p>It makes it easier to work together, especially as a remote team:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>If multiple people are involved in the same project, it\u2019s nice to have a shared tool to keep everyone on the same page.<\/p>\n<p>-Sarah<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>But, on the flip side, if you\u2019re the only person involved, it\u2019s worth asking if a new, specific tool is necessary.<\/p>\n<h3>5. Does the presentation (and level of effort) match the audience?<\/h3>\n<p>A pretty presentation is a perfectly valid reason to invest in a piece of tech\u2014if someone else is going to see it.<\/p>\n<p>I love a pretty thing. But, my personal to-do list? Doesn\u2019t necessarily need to be pretty. No one sees it but me. I\u2019ve tried apps like <a href=\"https:\/\/todoist.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Todoist<\/a>, and for me, they\u2019re form over function. It takes too long, and the upside just isn\u2019t there.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Questions to ask:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Do customers, external stakeholders, or similar \u201coutsiders\u201d need to access this info?<\/li>\n<li>Will it reflect better on your business if you use a tool that presents info in an attractive, cohesive way?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If so, it might be smart to invest in a tool that is aesthetically-pleasing and offers a nice presentation.<\/p>\n<p>If it\u2019s a quick update you\u2019re giving in a monthly meeting, you probably don\u2019t need a flashy tool just to impress your team.<\/p>\n<h2>Choose your tech stack deliberately<\/h2>\n<p>Specialized tools are great and can help you do things faster and more clearly.<\/p>\n<p>But, sometimes you don\u2019t need a tool and it actually complicates the process.<\/p>\n<p>Evaluate the need and benefit that a new piece of technology will bring before investing time and effort into it. What\u2019s the tradeoff? What do you lose by not bringing on a tool? What do you gain?<\/p>\n<p>If implementing something will save you 10 minutes a day, and incur a high cost, it might not be worth it. But, if it\u2019ll save significant time, effort, and make it easier to document processes and stay organized as a team? It might be a worthwhile investment.<\/p>\n<p>For more on choosing and implementing tools on your team, check out our recent article on <a href=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/product-adoption-how-to-get-team-to-use-new-tools\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">how to get your team on board with new tech<\/a>. And, while you&#8217;re here, check out Canny if you haven&#8217;t already\u2014you can <a href=\"https:\/\/canny.io\/register\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">try it free for 14 days<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We love a good tech stack\u2014but too much tech can weigh down your workflow. Here&#8217;s how to figure out if you actually need a new piece of software or tool in your toolkit. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":5830,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-building-saas"],"aioseo_notices":[],"modified_by":"Maria Vasserman","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2633"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2633\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5833,"href":"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2633\/revisions\/5833"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canny.io\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}