Non-functional command in Quicken Classic 9.3

dmenning

Quicken’s support for Classic customers now seems to include adding new features in the latest update that don’t work, but instead try to get you to upgrade to versions where they do work. A truly unfortunate example in version 9.3 is the new option allowing users to customize the sidebar organization of accounts to suit their needs better than the app’s preset categories. It’s a change that would seem to be in accord with Classic’s advertised promise to provide “easy-to-use desktop budgeting with real clarity.” And in fact, the “Create Account Group” command for the option is actually included in the Classic sidebar options menu, looking as real and as functional as it can be. But click on it, and you get an “Upgrade to Premier” notice if you want not only a functional version of the new command, but a host of other features that you probably decided you didn’t need when you signed up for Classic. It would have been far better to have the menu command clearly marked as an upgrade option — or better yet, just not included at all, like all other upgrade features. That would have been real clarity.

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jacobs

@dmenning. There are some places in Quicken Mac where features are hidden completely if you do not have the level of subscription required to use the feature. And there are other places where the feature isn't hidden, but trying to access it reveals that you need a higher-level subscription.

I can't speak for the developers' thinking, but I think there are pros and cons to hiding a feature. On one hand, a hidden feature doesn't annoy a user who can't use it at their subscription level, as this one has annoyed you. On the other hand, it's a way to show users that there is additional functionality available which they might otherwise be unaware of, with an upgrade. If they didn't have the "Create Account Group "in the pop-up menu, most users would likely be unaware they had added this often-requested feature.

Here's an example of the flip side, where a feature which requires Premier is completely invisible to users of Deluxe…

The Investing Watchlist feature was added a while back for Premier users:

But if you're a Deluxe user, you have no clue that feature exists in the program but isn't available to you, because it's simply invisible:

Is that better? How will users discover the higher-level subscription might have features they'd find useful?

Now, I can partly answer my rhetorical question about user self-discovery: if the Quicken Marketing folks would create a truly useful and accurate page on the Quicken.com website that compared the features in Quicken Classic Mac Deluxe, Premier, and Business & Personal, users could potentially discover what would be available to them in a higher subscription level. And even though such a comparison chart might convince a user to upgrade and this generates some additional revenue for the company, they rather stupidly have no such comparison tool. 🤦‍♂️

– – – – –

One thing I suggest paying attention to, which many users gloss over when a new release comes out, is the "What's New in Quicken x.0" slides which pop up immediately after the first update to a major new release, and can be viewed any time on the Help menu (Help > What's New in Quicken) in Quicken. In this case, with version 9.3, the custom account groups feature is pretty clearly labeled as a feature in Premier and Business & Personal:

Additionally, the subscription requirement for this feature is clearly identified when you open the Release Notes:

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