[culley]

actual work conversation from last week...

me: "Yes, but will this new software reduce the time it takes folks to do their jobs."

them: "I don't know."

me: "Do you know how long it takes them to do it now?"

them: "umm... no."

you hit the nail on the head in that the people making the buy decisions don't consider usability.

[akd]

You can reduce the time it takes someone to do something, without knowing how long it takes them to do. That's what I'm working on right now.

If you make everyone's computer 100% faster, you know that you're delivering a net benefit, even if you're unable to quantify it (it's certainly not 100%).