5 Debunked Myths About the New Workfront Experience

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By now you’re probably familiar with the new Workfront experience and how it came to be. Workfront’s new user interface will help you focus on the right work, drive results, and contribute to your company’s most important initiatives. The Workfront 21.2 release (planned for May 2021) will be the final release with new features and enhancements in the Workfront classic experience. If you’ve not yet made your plan to transition, there’s no time like today to get started! 

In this article we’ll debunk 5 commonly heard myths associated with the transition to alleviate any concerns you may have about making the switch—and hopefully even get you excited to make the move! 

MYTH #1: Everything in Workfront classic will have to be reconfigured in the new Workfront experience. It will be like having to create a new instance from scratch. 

REALITY: The configurations required to make the shift are minimal.

This is probably the #1 myth surrounding the new Workfront experience, but rest assured, ALL the data you see in your existing Workfront classic environment is readily available in the new Workfront experience. This new Workfront experience simply gives the classic interface an upgrade—in looks and functionality. 

While configuring Layout Templates is strongly recommended to take advantage of the new capabilities and benefits that are available in the new interface, there’s no need to recreate the wheel (or configurations) by configuring things like global settings, project templates, reports, dashboards or your custom forms. Turning on the new interface is easily done with just a few clicks, so you can pick up with your work right where you left off! 

MYTH #2: Updating Layout Template configurations is a time-consuming and heavy lift. 

REALITY: Updating a Layout Template is a quick 5-10 minute configuration.

Updating a layout template shouldn’t take long (after a bit of practice!), and will deliver a number of benefits to help users focus on actionable information to do their work without distraction.

Configurations that help minimize the ‘noise’ individuals may be exposed to include: 

• Selecting the secondary navigation options (and the order they’re listed) in projects, tasks, and issues to surface object-specific information
  • Choosing what is populated in the Main Menu (in order of what is most frequently accessed)
  • Customizing object details to remove unnecessary fields to help your team find what they need, faster
  • Selecting where custom data should be prominently featured, so users can quickly find what they need, when they need it 

The good news? Some elements of Layout Templates such as Views, Groupings and Filter lists that were already configured in the classic interface can be migrated to the new interface. Again, no need to start from scratch! Learn more about migrated Layout Templates in this article, and contact Workfront Support for help with the migration. We also suggest completing this learning path to learn about customizing Layout Templates. 

Because Workfront allows such a high-level of customization by end users, individuals can personalize their own unique workspace to optimize how they work best. 

MYTH #3: Customers will have to create all new training materials, and Workfront doesn’t have resources to help.

REALITY: We would never do that to you! Workfront teams have been working around the clock to simplify the process and create resources that are proven to make the transition as seamless as possible. 

We’ve put ourselves in your shoes and tried to think of everything you might need. The Resources tab on the new Workfront experience page on Workfront One has interface comparison guides, a step-by-step 1-month transition plan, self-guided training videos, PowerPoint training templates. and more. We even have a downloadable guide for updating your own training and support materials. 

We encourage you to download these resources and use them however you need to supplement your own onboarding materials. 

A full list of resources for the new Workfront experience can be found on this page on Workfront One. 

MYTH #4: Functionality in the new Workfront experience is different than in classic, users will have to relearn everything.  

REALITY: Most of the original functionalities in Workfront classic operate similarly in the new interface, they have simply been upgraded or refined with a focus on improving usability and navigation throughout Workfront.

For example, reporting and dashboards have the same robust functionality they always have, but with key upgrades like the option to collapse a grouping by default), as well as a streamlined look. Resource areas (i.e. Users and Teams areas, Resource Planner, Workload Balancer), object details areas (i.e. projects, tasks, issues, etc.), and request queue setup function the same as well, but have some additional upgrades, such as a new summary panel, an elevated view of Workfront fields and custom fields on a combined object details page, and new reporting capabilities with Enhanced Analytics, which is only available in the new Workfront experience. 

To see a full list of interface comparisons, visit the Resource tab on the new Workfront experience page or discover the features available only with the new Workfront experience. 

MYTH #5: Transitioning to a new user interface will cause too much disruption, and make things harder on everyone.

REALITY: The new Workfront experience was built for users, by users with adoption in mind to simplify the user experience. 

The new interface is based on feedback gathered through over 2,000 hours of customer interviews and more than 15,000 comments through various feedback channels. It’s designed to make work execution easier and simply offer a better experience. Because users can customize their own personal space, it’s that much easier for them to find what they’re looking for and take action. 

We hope you are as excited as we are about the new Workfront user interface and are ready to dive in. If you still have questions, we encourage you to visit this migration FAQ page, or reach out to the Workfront Support Team with any technical inquiries.