Change aversion is a natural response, which
technology often exacerbates. Evolutionary changes
can be subtle and occur over many generations. But
Internet users must sometimes deal with sudden,
significant product changes to applications they rely on
and identify with. Despite the best intentions of
designers and product managers, users often
experience anxiety and confusion when faced with a
new interface or changed functionality. While some
change aversion is often inevitable, it can also be
managed and minimized with the right steps. This case
study describes how our understanding of change
aversion helped minimize negative effects for the
transition of the Google Docs List to Google Drive, a
product for file storage in the cloud. We describe
actions that allowed for a launch with no aversion