Users hate that. And they're right to hate it. Broken habits aren't just an inconvenience. Habits are part of a user's work process. And a smoothly running process means productivity. Break users' habits, and you've broken the process, spiked productivity and forced users to develop new habits. That takes weeks at best, and months if the old habits are deeply embedded.

That's the price of small-scale innovation. It's a price that can be measured in lower productivity and higher training and support costs, user dissatisfaction and damage to IT's reputation.

Look, IT people like little innovations. They're easy and cheap -- for us. But for users, those small, cosmetic "improvements" can be pure misery. And too often we ignore just how much they really cost.

Is there a benefit to your innovation so big that it's worth that price? Then go for it. Never underestimate how disruptive small changes can be, but never let that prevent changes that are really necessary.

But if there's no real benefit to a small change, don't do it. In fact, work hard to keep those small-scale, user-level details the same. You'll have happier, more productive users and an easier time supporting them.