“Why didn’t we do this a long time ago?”

That’s the question my friend Anthony asked me at the end of a cathartic 2-hr coffee chat last week.

Anthony is a co-founder and CEO at Funsize, another Austin-based digital service and product design agency.

We’ve been friends for over a decade, and we’re both parents who run product design firms with our spouses. Still, even though they had moved just a few streets away from me several years ago, we hadn’t made the time to get together in years.

The question is familiar. “Why didn’t I do this a long time ago?” It’s a very human thing that we all ask ourselves often.

Most of the time, the reason is simple: Inertia. Inertia is a tendency to do nothing or to remain unchanged.

Inertia keeps people from making changes.

In the software world, we think a lot about how to get users to change their behaviors. “My product is far superior! Why aren’t they knocking down my door to switch?”

There are many potential contributors, but chief among them is inertia. Marketing refers to this, in part, as “switching costs.”

What can we do to counteract inertia?

First, increase the perceived cost of NOT changing.

Use specific content to drawing your user’s attention to the costs they face in the current scenario. You know how you might not notice something until someone points it out, and then all of a sudden you’re seeing it everywhere? Your content should do that with your user’s problem. Convert their latent pain to an active problem so they begin seeking solutions.

Second, decrease the perceived cost of making a change.

Make it easy to try your solution. Make it easy to move data over into it. Provide the support new users need, whether that’s personal onboarding sessions, handy videos, or contextual learning in the product UI. Make customers look smart to their peers. Build a helpful community where problems get solved. Split data entry across progressive sessions to reduce the number of required fields. Showcase the value your solution adds at every turn. Celebrate the wins and the good choices that user is making as they get started.

We all drag our feet at times. Change seems complicated. But with a user-centered strategy and good business case, you can save users from regretfully asking “Why didn’t I do this a long time ago?”