Xero’s new navigation: harnessing the power of change

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You might be aware that we’re making some improvements to Xero’s navigation. The most obvious changes for users will be at face value – you’ll notice a few tools have moved around or have been renamed.

We’re also really excited about the hidden benefits that this update will provide us. We’re excited about the power these changes give us and the flow-on effect this will have on Xero users.

With these improvements, we’re planning for the future. We’ll be able to implement future updates more easily, place new tools and features more logically, and learn about and respond to customer and market needs more quickly.

It’ll be easier to find the tools you need

The current navigation has grown organically from its original form, created for the very first iteration of Xero over 10 years ago.

As we’ve added more features and products over the years, we’ve had to fit them into a navigation which wasn’t really originally built with accommodating them in mind.

We’ve done our best to make them fit in logically, but the navigation was long overdue for a complete overhaul to continue to provide the best experience for our users.

We’ve carefully designed the new navigation, ensuring that we’ve laid solid foundations so it can scale for the products we house currently in Xero, and the products, features and tools that we will continue to add in the future.

Perhaps the most obvious change – splitting the navigation into ‘Business’ (containing tools that most small businesses use), and ‘Accounting’ (containing advanced and compliance items) gives us a logical framework that we can keep adding to as the Xero platform continues to evolve.

We’ll be able to deliver changes and updates faster

It’s difficult and time-consuming to make updates to the Xero platform in its current form. Currently, it takes the coordination of up to 12 product teams, and all the checks and balances that go hand-in-hand with that, to make an update to the platform.

This inevitably means updates are slow to reach the market, which can be frustrating for users (it has definitely been frustrating for us!)

The improvements we’ve made to the backend technology of the new navigation means updates can be a single release, run by one team. So, it will be quicker and easier for us to make future updates – a single day, rather than several days of coordination.

We’ll also be able to tailor the Xero platform experience to different subscription types and user roles. We’ll be able to learn more about what features you’re using and how you’re using them, to inform future experiences and make the platform even more valuable in the future.

Updates will cost less

The complexity of the update process and all the resources it requires means there’s a high cost to us every time we add new features or tools – the cost of dedicating huge resources to one project.

This is time that a lot of our product teams could be spending on other product development, building more of the products and features that we know our users want.

The long term gain of making these improvements now is we’re freeing up resources. In the future, we’ll be able to evolve the platform more easily with fewer resources, meaning our product teams can keep working on other products and continue to deliver the innovation that our users love about Xero.

Change is not always easy – we appreciate that it will take some time to get used to the new navigation. Hopefully the information we’ve provided in this blog has given more insight and understanding about what’s behind the change, and will help make the adjustment period a bit easier.

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