Top 10 Complaints that New Users to Lotus Notes have especially when coming from an MS Outlook environment.
I am looking for a “Top 10” for new users’ complaints of Lotus Notes. We are setting up a training session and one section will be “How can it be done?.” We are focusing on new users that come from Outlook and/or Groupwise and do not know how to do that one thing they did. Lotus Notes has so many features but users do not know where that option is located.
All comments, suggestions, and thoughts are welcome.
Subject: Top 10 Complaints that New Users to Lotus Notes have especially when coming from an MS Outlook environment.
The biggest problem I always saw from users coming from anything into Notes was getting used to how folders worked. Had I a nickel for every time I heard “I deleted the message in [some folder], but now I can’t find any of the other copies,” I’d have a lot of nickels. Be sure to teach your users that “deleted” means “gone from the database.” I always use a card catalog metaphor (views and folders are like card catalog drawers; you can find separate cards in the author, subject, and title drawers, but they’re all just pointers to the single copy of the book the library owns) and they’ve got to distinguish between getting the card out of the drawer vs. getting the book out of the library, but I don’t know how many more years that’ll make sense.
Subject: RE: Top 10 Complaints that New Users to Lotus Notes have especially when coming from an MS Outlook environment.
Great point. I have had that question many of times. I am glad the soft delete option is available.
Subject: Top 10 Complaints that New Users to Lotus Notes have especially when coming from an MS Outlook environment.
Here is a list I got from one of our high end users:
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When I copy and paste from an old email message, I get the whole message instead of just the part I selected. I have to edit the message before I can copy /paste only a part. The same is true for file attachments (though I can drag and drop).
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When I receive email from the Internet its format is sometimes a mess. Outlook seems to format the message much better.
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When a series of email is forwarded and replied to in a chain that involves internet addressees, the Notes headers are a mix of tables and text with odd spacing choices and order.
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When I select text near the bottom of an email and get near a twistie, I suddenly grab the entire section. There’s no way to ungrab the section without starting all over again. It’s almost better to perform the selection backwards and start at the bottom.
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Making compound numbered lists is harder. I wish it was as easy to start and stop a numbered list as it is in outlook. Particularly annoying is how when I delete the last line of a list and carriage return I get another list item, the same one as I just deleted. I have to go back up to the toolbar and unselect the list button. I find myself inputting a bunch of blank lines and starting a list in the middle to avoid the annoyance.
Subject: Top 10 Complaints that New Users to Lotus Notes have especially when coming from an MS Outlook environment.
Why not make a “Top 100” complaints when users move from Notes to Outlook instead? It would be much easier to make!
Subject: RE: Top 10 Complaints that New Users to Lotus Notes have especially when coming from an MS Outlook environment.
Give me your top 10 and we can see if it goes any further.
I am really trying to make a good list to present to users and I am sure many Domino admins and developers have run into many.
Keep them coming.
Subject: RE: Top 10 Complaints that New Users to Lotus Notes have especially when coming from an MS Outlook environment.
I wrote my Top 10 complaints about Outlook:http://siipi.com/public/mika.nsf/blogs/C92142434B154A5DC2257298006FE340
Subject: RE: Top 10 Complaints that New Users to Lotus Notes have especially when coming from an MS Outlook environment.
Mika,
I hope that I do not have to go down that road.
Great list to have if a Notes admin needs to determine what problems he/she will run into when migrating to Outlook.
Subject: Top 10 Complaints that New Users to Lotus Notes have especially when coming from an MS Outlook environment.
My users mostly complaint about how they can recall their email after they sent, because they can do it in outlook/exchange.That the different beetwen notes and outlook.
In notes, you think than you sent.
In outlook, you sent than you think.
I heard that in lotus domino 8 they will put this feature, I think this will make my users lazy.
Subject: RE: Top 10 Complaints that New Users to Lotus Notes have especially when coming from an MS Outlook environment.
Budi,
I have not gotten many calls of recall requests, but excellent point. Definetly a great item to present when proposing Lotus Notes/Domino 8.
I hope we keep getting more questions and complaints.
Subject: Top 10 Complaints that New Users to Lotus Notes have especially when coming from an MS Outlook environment.
Your post is a great idea but although you’ve generated a few responses, very few seem to be answering the questions you’ve asked. BTW: If you create a training manual, could you consider putting it online as I’d be interested in what you’re teaching your users.
I can’t help a great deal having ditched outlook so long ago - and only having spent about 6 months in it before realising what it was…
But…
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Obviously the Deleting from Folders problem (this is my most frequent complaint)
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Out of office - it’s too infrequent, hard to configure (I’d agree with that - still a pain on v7.0.2).
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Calendaring - Particularly booking a room and then getting an email to say that the people are available but the room isn’t.
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The sort order (people complain about the reverse date order until you teach them to click-sort).
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Searching - new users can’t understand how to use AND in full text searches.
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Replication - I can’t get people to understand this - it seems simple to me (arrgh!)
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Forwarding/Reply to all etc… Doesn’t outlook have those commands? A lot of people don’t seem to understand them.
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Links - the main link question I get is how to link to a file on the file server for internal use only.
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The Workspace and other databases - people often don’t understand that Notes is more than just mail.
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Refresh - People try F5, get locked out and don’t know about F9. Most people I’ve seen press DEL on a mail then escape out of their mail (and come back in) to send it to a bin. (sigh!).
Oh, and one last recommendation…
Include a link to Alan Lepofsky’s amazing tips site in your documentation. Some of your users may be converted by his articles.
http://www.alanlepofsky.net/alepofsky/alanblog.nsf/
Subject: RE: Top 10 Complaints that New Users to Lotus Notes have especially when coming from an MS Outlook environment.
Gavin,
Great top 10. I am hoping this discussion get a lot more interest. I will make a total list and post it to the discussion. Hey, this could be a great Lotusphere session. “What users need to know from Lotus Notes that they do not know already”
As Domino Admins, we are given the responsibility to make sure users do their job in the most efficient way. And some users just do not know that Notes can do it.
Thank you for your post and I hope we get more results.
Subject: RE: Top 10 Complaints that New Users to Lotus Notes have especially when coming from an MS Outlook environment.
Good list but if there is only 10 items I would replace 7 by the “first/lastname or last/firstname” difficulty. I would also move the F5 issue in #1 because it should really be solved by user preferences.
Subject: RE: Top 10 Complaints that New Users to Lotus Notes have especially when coming from an MS Outlook environment.
Hi Gavin
- Out of office - it’s too infrequent, hard to configure (I’d agree with that - still a pain on v7.0.2).
Well, i don’t think so 
ANyway, new features of Notes 8
The new IBM Lotus Notes 8 Out of Office functionality
- Calendaring - Particularly booking a room and then getting an email to say that the people are available but the room isn’t.
Why not use the scheduler?
- Searching - new users can’t understand how to use AND in full text searches.
From another forum, it is not suppose to be needed in R8
- Links - the main link question I get is how to link to a file on the file server for internal use only.
By default, i don’t think it’s possible but you could use a littlescript to do that easily
- The Workspace and other databases - people often don’t understand that Notes is more than just mail.
:-))))
- Refresh - People try F5, get locked out and don’t know about F9.
http://edbrill.com/ebrill/edbrill.nsf/dx/04062004103713AMEBRK6B.htm
Oh, and one last recommendation…
Include a link to Alan Lepofsky’s amazing tips site in your documentation. Some of your users may be converted by his articles.
http://www.alanlepofsky.net/alepofsky/alanblog.nsf/
+1
JYR
Subject: Top 10 Complaints that New Users to Lotus Notes have especially when coming from an MS Outlook environment.
I’m currently migrating more than 1000 users from outlook to Notes and/or DWA. Main complain so far :- I want to sort my mails by LASTNAME and not by Firsname and it’s not possible…
Subject: RE: Top 10 Complaints that New Users to Lotus Notes have especially when coming from an MS Outlook environment.
Olivier,
That is a good point. I could really see many people having that request.
Subject: RE: Top 10 Complaints that New Users to Lotus Notes have especially when coming from an MS Outlook environment.
http://lotusnotessucks.4t.com/
P.S:
It doesn’t mean I don’t like Lotus Notes.
I am using Notes and just found this web and would like you to know.
Cheers,
Ivan
Subject: RE: Top 10 Complaints that New Users to Lotus Notes have especially when coming from an MS Outlook environment.
Ivan,
I will take a look at the site. Do you have any user complaints that are common from your users?
Subject: Most common user complaint is
“Where is the recall email feature in Lotus??? I can do that easily in Outlook”
Well, I found this article submitted by JYR long time ago. Don’t know if current version of Outlook still have this feature or not.
http://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/nd6forum.nsf/55c38d716d632d9b8525689b005ba1c0/fe965941197a4fd28525723d0049cdab?OpenDocument
Then I told my user, Domino has better feature from 3rd party software, called Total Recall.
http://www.ivesco.com/home.nsf/totalrecall?OpenPage
Subject: RE: Most common user complaint is
Hi,
Built-in In R8. didn’t have time to test it but it’S there
Or
Recall Lotus Notes messages easily and completely
JYR