All you need to know about digital adoption

What is digital adoption?

Digital adoption is a process that refers to the ability of individuals to fully utilize digital tools. This includes adopting the features, software, and processes generated by the use of digital tools.

Adoption is successful when companies optimize the use of their resources, including software and applications, to deliver value, improve user experience, and increase productivity. Adoption is achieved when users discard their old methods and tools. Adoption is considered complete when users master all functionalities, as well as the processes, and use them naturally to perform their tasks.

Facilitating digital adoption with the right platform

A digital adoption platform (DAP) is a user assistance tool that is directly integrated into your company’s software.

By incorporating this type of support into your software, you can communicate with users and train them on processes and data entry directly within the interface, using step-by-step guides and contextual help. This enables users to master their tools simply and quickly, without the need to contact IT support.

With these platforms, you provide real-time, tailored support adjusted to each user profile and offer the opportunity for users to progress independently, 24/7.

Key functions of a digital adoption platform

Digital adoption rests on three fundamental pillars: training, support, and communication.

Training

Training is crucial for facilitating the use of digital tools. To encourage digital adoption, training programs must be adapted for the digital era, employing methods such as microlearning for short, engaging sessions; Learning by Doing for practical learning; and training accessible through digital tools for a better user experience.

The benefits of training for digital adoption are manifold:

• Simplified onboarding
• Improved mastery of tools
• Standardization of business processes
• Increased user engagement

Thanks to the innovative technology of K-STUDIO, it’s possible to create practical exercises screen by screen that include entries, multiple paths, and the use of various applications. This approach allows learners to familiarize themselves with a business process effectively. Moreover, the localization of multi-language training content is greatly simplified, offering quicker results than traditional tools.

Support

Support is vital for digital adoption in businesses, as it directly influences the user experience of digital tools. It should be available in real-time, accessible from the software being used, personalized according to the user’s profile, and easily updated. Forget about level 1 and 2 IT support requests, repetitive calls, or redundant questions. Quality assistance can reduce support costs, improve user satisfaction with tools, and promote their autonomy.

Communication

Communication is also crucial for boosting user engagement with digital solutions. To enhance communication, it is important to provide the right information at the right time when using the software. Digital Adoption Platforms (DAPs) offer features that allow companies to interact in real-time with users and overlay their applications with business or managerial messages. Effective communication provides a better user experience, increased user engagement with software, and improved user retention rates.

What exactly is a DAP?

Digital Adoption Platforms (DAPs) act as an “overlay” on existing software and applications without requiring specific development. Companies can configure them to create customized usage paths that are contextualized and tailored to specific needs, whether those needs are for the company, a department, a team, a particular type of profile, or external partners. The DAP’s help function integrates into the enterprise software, either as a line of code inserted into the tool or by installing an extension in the user’s web browser. The platforms are compatible with all software accessible from a web browser.

How does it work?

Personalized training paths are offered to novice users of a business application, alternating between videos, guided tours, and step-by-step hands-on training. User feedback is collected during the onboarding phase and throughout use to optimize messages and guidance. Regular optimization of help features makes usage easier and increases user satisfaction.

Key features of digital adoption platforms

Smart guidance

Guidance can begin from any point where the user is located, such as in the middle of a process. It can also be initiated from a permalink shared via email, a chatbot, or a forum. The guidance may take different directions based on the values entered or selected by the user and continue in another application. Moreover, guidance can be customized based on the user’s profile.

Alerts & suggestions

Alerts and suggestions are messages pushed to each visitor. They are placed next to the element to highlight, to prompt an action or strong awareness. No action is needed; they automatically appear at the desired location. They can also be accompanied by an illustration to emphasize the message.

Contextual access to your media

Training materials, such as instructions, business rules, and professional gestures, are available in PDF or video formats integrated within the DAP. The application GPS or tutorial highlights them at the most relevant locations. Simple permalinks or contextual search allows users to access them easily at the right time, maximizing their impact.

Multilingual

Notifications, messages, alerts, stickers, and guidance can be translated into any language, regardless of the application’s language. Users can choose the K-NOW help language they prefer.

Content creation

Thanks to K-NOW’s editor mode, it is possible to create specific guidance for user paths on the application of your choice. Additionally, creating multilingual content is greatly simplified, offering agility in the production and availability of content in an international context.

Automation

Automation involves identifying processes that are complex or repetitive through the analysis function. These processes can be automated to reduce their execution time. For example, automating the entry of a form or triggering a step based on the user’s action.

Analysis & statistics

DAP administrators have full autonomy to create and manage help content directly from the application, on all screens. Dashboards and statistics allow them to manage and measure the use of the DAP, such as the most consulted FAQ links, news marked as read, most requested contextual help, and most sought-after step-by-step guides. In this way, they can easily decide which content needs to be maintained or removed, and which topics that have raised the most questions need further documentation. Tracking these KPIs, complemented by the analysis of scores from exercises assessed through your Learning Management System (LMS), enables monitoring of learners’ adoption pace.

The benefits of digital adoption platforms

Digital transformation offers numerous solutions to accelerate digital adoption within organizations, yet not all are suited to specific challenges. To choose the right solution, it is crucial to focus on the three pillars of digital adoption: training, support, and communication. Digital Adoption Platforms (DAPs) are the most suitable solutions because they simultaneously address these three pillars and are compatible with all existing digital solutions. E-learning platforms, on the other hand, specialize in remote training and do not necessarily cover all aspects of digital adoption. Digital Adoption Platforms are broader and part of a more comprehensive change management strategy over time.

• Train your employees effectively remotely while promoting their autonomy in learning, which helps to reduce training costs.
• Respond to user inquiries in real-time and reduce support costs.
• Communicate through digital tools.
• Improve the quality of data entered.

Are Digital Adoption Platforms useful for everyone?

For businesses, digital adoption has become necessary to improve performance, ensure sustainability, and foster innovation. The Covid crisis of 2020 and the organizational changes it triggered have forced companies to adapt and accelerate their shift to digital. If they wish to remain competitive while ensuring the well-being of their employees, supporting digital transformation is indispensable. Digital Adoption Platforms target these organizations because they face numerous challenges in software adoption (user productivity, digitalization of training, standardization of business processes, reduction of support costs, etc.).

Whether you are a large corporation, an intermediate-sized enterprise, an SME, a non-profit organization, or a public entity, DAPs are tailored to your digital transformation needs.

Target audience of Digital Adoption Platforms

Digital Adoption Platforms primarily target decision-makers within these organizations because they have the authority to choose whether or not to implement new digital tools, which can impact the performance of their department. Directors of Digital Transformation and Change Management Consultants, Human Resources Directors (HRDs), Procurement Directors, Business Directors, Application Managers, IT Directors (CIOs), as well as Product Marketing or Training Directors at software companies are the main players in the selection and implementation of DAPs. Indeed, software publishers are increasingly turning to their counterparts in digital adoption platforms to forge partnerships that facilitate the onboarding of their tools for their clients.

Digital adoption: what return on investment can you expect?

A digital adoption platform offers several advantages in terms of ROI. It can notably reduce your support costs by more than 50%!

In addition to simplifying the creation and updating of content, a Digital Adoption Platform (DAP) enhances the user experience and optimizes business processes. The analytics solution for measuring and optimizing digital adoption, K-VALUE, complements the Digital Adoption initiative, facilitating the evaluation of change management results from the users’ perspective.

Understanding your users allows for the improvement of the relevance of the tools implemented to continuously optimize learning processes. A continuous analysis of user behavior can lead to gains of up to 60% in user productivity on your digital tools.

Digital adoption platforms are key tools for businesses looking to integrate digital technologies into their operations. They enable companies to save time and money, optimize performance, and enhance the user experience. The choice of a platform depends on the specific needs of the business and its digital transformation goals. Once this choice is made, it is important to rely on training, support, and communication with users. Keep in mind that improving adoption is a continuous process; it is essential to use data to prioritize areas for improvement and to consider user feedback. Staying connected to business and user needs by regularly adapting the support provided is crucial.