From Salesforce Classic to Lightning Experience

Salesforce is the leading Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software and it works to remain so. To achieve this, it must maintain a modern and competitive image to its users. The success of this product is largely due to Salesforce Classic, the user interface (UI) that was created with the software.

Over the years, new customer demands and competition led to a renovation. The Lightning Platform was born, and with it developers began to create attractive applications easily and quickly. Thus came Lightning Experience (LEX), a new UI that has allowed Salesforce to continue to be at the forefront. Lightning represents the future of Salesforce while Classic is being left in the past.

Salesforce Classic

Salesforce Classic was the only Salesforce CRM UI available until 2016, when Lightning Experience was released. Classic is the UI that older users are most comfortable with.

Currently the design of this interface may seem obsolete when compared to other CRMs on the market. Classic contains a lot of text and few icons, text with small letters, and a lot of empty spaces; the latter being very noticeable in large modern monitors. The graphics it displays are not large enough and have low resolution. In general, it is not an interface that can be navigated fluently, nor is it easy to assimilate as most users are used to today. However, those who know about it will prefer to use it as long as all their needs are covered. Although LEX is intuitive and easy to learn, it takes time for all users to migrate to it.

Since 2019, no new functionality has been added to Salesforce Classic, and in January 2020, all organizations automatically switched to using LEX as the default UI, but usually with the option to switch back to Classic. Despite these actions, which have been implemented to guide users towards a new and more modern interface, Classic has not disappeared. There are users who continue to choose it and Salesforce has no plans yet to end its useful life.

What is Lightning Experience?

Lightning Experience is the UI that has been designed to meet the expectations that users currently have regarding how web applications should function. Renovated, attractive, more intuitive, and designed to be functional on all types of devices and increase user productivity, Salesforce has taken steps to make its user experience with software better and better. Despite its rocky start, LEX has not only lived up to Salesforce Classic, but has surpassed it in many respects. All efforts have been aimed at making this UI the preferred one for new users and to which veterans would want to migrate to. Despite the very active support and continuous improvements that Lightning receives, those most faithful to Classic will always find some reason to resist the change.

Why do some resist change and even go back to the past?

There is a popular saying that states “the good does not cover the bad”, and this is an example of what has happened with Lightning Experience. No matter how many powerful new features it has, at many times it would be judged by what it lacks. In the latest released version of Salesforce, Spring ’21, the “Sharing” button was incorporated (a functionality that allows a record to be shared with a user or group of users). Many believed that this change was all that was missing so that users would stop switching to Salesforce Classic seeking to satisfy old needs, as was the case at the time with the use of the “recycle bin.” However, it has not worked out that way. For many users, its performance is below Classic, in addition to other deficiencies pointed out such as:

• A more complex “duplicate management”, less intuitive and with more steps.
• A “merge of accounts” also much less intuitive and complicated.
• Lack of “similar opportunities” functionality.
• Absence of some filters in the “Report generator”.

These are all valid aspects, however, there are many more options that Lightning offers that are not found in Classic. It should be noted that there are many functionalities that users give up on within Lightning simply due to ignorance.

Why stop resisting Lightning Experience?

Because it is the future and it is inevitable. Lightning Experience keeps updating and renewing; it is getting closer to meeting all the expectations of its users.

• It has many more functionalities than Classic, some of which are:
  • “Performance charts” and “campaign member statuses”.
  • An “Assistant” with recommendations for actions that you could take in your organization.
  • “Routes”, “News”, “Activity Timeline”.
  • More varied “forecasts” (of dates, products, territories).
• A more customizable experience, thanks to Lightning App Builder.
• New way of looking at data using the Kanban view.
• Tighter integration with Einstein AI (activity capture, account and opportunity insights, automated contacts).
• The option to use the Einstein Bot Builder.
• The possibility of designing new types of pages (application, home, and registration pages).

LEX has been a milestone for Salesforce. It’s not about Salesforce Classic Vs Lightning, it’s about accepting that Salesforce has evolved and we should too.

If you feel like you cannot find everything you need in Lightning Experience or don’t know where to start to carry out a migration, don’t hesitate to contact us. Email us at hello@theskyplanner.com. Our consultants are in the best position to help you.