report: big idea digital adoption...

REPORT: BIG IDEA

Digital Adoption Platforms A New Breed of Software Helps Improve User Adoption

of New Technologies

Alan LepofskyVice President and Principal AnalystContent Editors: R “Ray” Wang and Courtney SatoCopy Editor: Maria ShaoLayout Editor: Aubrey Coggins

Produced exclusively for Constellation Research clients

May 12, 2017

© 2017 Constellation Research, Inc. All rights reserved. 2

TABLE OF CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

FOUR USER EXPERIENCE ISSUES THAT IMPEDE SOFT WARE ADOPTION . . . . . . . . 4

TRENDS CONTRIBUTING TO THE EMERGENCE OF DIGITAL

ADOPTION PL ATFORMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

DIGITAL ADOPTION PL ATFORMS: MODERNIZING LEGACY

HELP SYSTEMS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

CATEGORIZING THE MATURIT Y OF DIGITAL ADOPTION PL ATFORMS . . . . . . . . . 11

GET TING STARTED: FOCUS ON CORE USE CASES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

CONCLUSION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

ANALYST BIO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

ABOUT CONSTELL ATION RESE ARCH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

E X ECU TIV E SU MM ARY

The portfolio of business software, websites and mobile applications employees use to get their jobs

done is growing rapidly. With each tool having a different look and feel, different features and different

processes, learning how to effectively use all these tools quickly becomes a big challenge. If these

hurdles are not overcome, adoption of the tools suffers, support costs go up, and the value of the tools

goes down. On the external side, prospects and customers face similar challenges when navigating the

wide variety of websites and social media applications required to engage with their favorite brands.

This type of friction reduces customer loyalty, hurts sales and creates a bad reputation for the brand.

To solve these challenges, a new category of software is emerging that can be integrated into

applications and websites to help guide people from right within the context of the task they are trying

to perform. Constellation Research refers to this category as Digital Adoption Platforms (DAPs) and

organizations of all sizes are using this new type of software to coach people toward more successful

adoption of applications and websites.

This report, which is part of Constellation Research’s Future of Work research theme, defines the

business need for Digital Adoption Platforms, discusses their benefits and provides example use cases.


Business Themes

Future of WorkNext-Generation Customer Experience


FOUR US ER E XPERIEN CE

IS S U E S TH AT IMPED E

S O F T WARE A D OP TIO N

Software designers and application developers

often joke that there is nothing wrong with

what they’ve built, but the issue is with the

people trying to use it! Technology adoption

is influenced by a user’s experience with the

technology. Thus, in order to ensure employees

are as effective as possible and that customers

have top notch web experiences, businesses

must recognize and address trends that

negatively affect user experience. Below are

four key factors that can impede a person’s

experience with technology:

Yet Another Tool Syndrome

The portfolio of software that employees use

can quickly become overwhelming. In addition

to the variety of communication tools such as

email, chat and social networks, people use

a growing number of business applications

specific to their roles such as Customer

Relationship Management, Marketing

Automation, Inventory Control or Resource

Planning. There are also industry-specific

applications for professions like healthcare,

finance or law. Each of these applications looks

and behaves differently, with user interfaces

ranging from inboxes to news feeds, forms

to spreadsheets, and user experiences that

incorporate different colors, tool bars and

menus. Overwhelming people with tool after

tool can result in confusion over which tool to

use and when and how to use it.

Similar problems occur when customers try

to engage with brands online. Do you go to a

brand’s website, one of a dozen different social

media services (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram,

YouTube, etc.) or perhaps a dedicated customer

support forum? If it becomes too complex

to know where to go to get answers or buy

products, customers will move on to a different

brand that offers a better experience.

Inconsistency, the Enemy of Efficiency

In addition to having too many tools, people

also use a variety of different devices

throughout the day. You may start off using a

tablet, move to a desktop or laptop computer


while at work and all the while also be using

your smartphone. Each of these devices offers

a different experience based on variables

like screen size and input methods and if the

features are not consistent, customers become

unsure what they can do on each device.

Learning to use multiple applications, each

in a different way on different devices, can

generate frustration in customers and have a

very negative impact on employee productivity

and customer loyalty.

Updates That Confuse

One of the greatest strengths of cloud-based

applications is that new versions are available

instantly, without the need for any downloads

or product rollouts. However, the downside

is that software companies frequently

update applications by adding new features

and changing or removing existing features.

Organizations rarely have the time or money to

train employees on each new release. Similarly,

websites are constantly being updated with

new content, new navigation and new features,

which can confuse and frustrate customers.

Most applications have very poor help systems

and while some tools provide a “What’s New”

page, rarely does a user take the time to read

the help content or new content. Similarly,

employers find it difficult to train their staff

on the steady stream of updates. In the past,

organizations would restrict the rollout of new

applications or updates, but with the rise of

cloud-based applications, updates can occur

quite frequently and often without warning. In

order to avoid problems, people often just stick

to what they know, using the same features

and not taking advantage of new things from

which they might benefit. In other words,

status quo is the greatest barrier to change.

Custom Changes

One of the common attributes of today’s cloud-

based software applications is how easy it is to

customize them. Many tools allow each person

to change the layout, colors and navigation,

resulting in scenarios where different people

experience the same application in different

ways. This can cause frustration as groups of

people try to work together but don’t have a

consistent experience.


TRENDS CO NTRIBU TIN G

TO THE EMERG EN CE

O F DIGITA L A D OP TIO N

PL ATFORMS

Fortunately, new trends are evolving that can

help improve the way people interact with

business applications and brand websites. Here

are some of the trends:

Personal Digital Assistants

In people’s personal lives, what do they do

when they need help? They ask an expert. That

could be a friend, family member, colleague

or teacher that has experience that the

individual doesn’t. It could be a professional

coach, guide or mentor that can explain what

people need to know. Today, digital versions of

these helpers are showing up on devices and

applications, offering help at any time. Some

examples include Apple Siri, Google Assistant,

Microsoft Cortana, and Amazon Alexa. These

assistants (as well as several others) enable

people to look up information, get answers,

schedule tasks, order products and hundreds

of other things. At work and in business, these

assistants can improve the way employees and

customers engage with the applications they

use, guiding them to a better experience and

improving adoption of tools and websites.

Natural Language Processing

The digital assistants mentioned above use

Artificial Intelligence (AI) that allows people

to ask them questions just as you would ask

a human being. That means a person can

submit a query without providing specific

inputs in a specific order - the way traditional

computer programs work. For example, to get

the weather, a person can simply ask “what’s

it like outside today” or “how’s the weather

outside” or “do I need to take an umbrella

today?” Each of these questions will result in

the assistant providing today’s forecast. This

style of interaction is called Natural Language

Processing (NLP), which is making it far easier

for people to interact with applications. Many

of these assistants are “always on”, meaning

they are there waiting to help the user, who

doesn’t have to open a new program in order

to get help. As these digital assistants become

more advanced, they will evolve from being


reactive to proactive, providing information

and advice without the user having to ask.

Mass Personalization

One of the main characteristics of applications

that leverage AI is that they learn and

improve the more they are used. One of the

ways this cycle of improvement manifests

is in personalization. AI can learn a person’s

preferences and habits, then provide

assistance that is specifically tailored to that

individual. AI-powered digital assistants will

soon know things like seating preference, hotel

or airline preference, the most productive

time of a worker’s day and more. Using this

knowledge, digital assistants can reduce

the steps necessary to get things done,

automate some tasks completely and make

recommendations on next steps.

DIGITA L A D OP TIO N

PL ATFORMS: M O D ERNIZIN G

LEG AC Y HELP S YS TEM S

Although people are becoming more

comfortable with personal digital assistants

in their personal lives, digital assistants have

yet to be widely used at work. That is about

to change. A new breed of software seeks

to provide automated, personalized help to

employees and customers within the context

of the actions they are trying to perform.

This new breed of software is called Digital

Adoption Platforms (DAP). Typically, DAPs

are integrated into existing web and mobile

applications by adding just a few simple lines

of JavaScript.

DAPs provide personal digital assistants in

business. Companies can use a DAP to help

new employees learn to use the company

intranet, sales representatives to properly

enter CRM information (see Figure 1),

customers to find the products they are

looking for on a brand’s website and much

more (see Figure 2). DAPs modernize the way

people get assistance when using software


Figure 1. An Example of How a Digital Adoption Platform Can Guide Employees

Through the Steps of Entering a CRM Record.

Figure 2. An Example of How a Digital Adoption Platform Can Help Customers Find

What They Need on a Website.

Source: Constellation Research



by providing popup notifications onscreen,

directly within the context of the task people

are trying to do. That’s instead of requiring

them to go to a help file, training video or

chat window to get assistance. These pop-up

notifications can contain text, images, videos,

and in some cases, even have avatars of virtual

assistants that can visually guide you through

the process.

Key Characteristics of Digital

Adoption Platforms

The following are some of the key traits that

DAPs must have in order to provide the

optimal help experience:

• Seamlessness: Effective DAPs will smoothly

provide people the information they need,

within the application they are using. For

example, if a customer is looking through

a product catalog and is having problems

ordering an item, DAP-powered help should

pop up and easily guide the customer to the

next steps.

• Context Awareness: The problem with

legacy help systems is that they were simply

a collection of tips and answers, but did not

filter content to address specific situations.

Effective DAPs provide guidance tailored

to the current task, from high-level advice to

granular assistance for a specific field

or value.

• Intelligence: By leveraging artificial

intelligence, DAPs learn from errors and

roadblocks and offer guidance that improves

over time.

• Personalization: The most effective DAPs

will make each person feel as catered to as

possible. Different people learn in different

ways. Some people like to be criticized,

some like to be coddled. Some people

learn by detailed theories, others by high-

level demonstrations and visualizations.

Sentiment analysis can be employed to

see how people react to the advice, and

like a world-class coach, the DAP can

learn over time and modify the way it

provides assistance.


For Administrators: Using Insights to

Fix Problems

While it’s the end users that ultimately benefit

from the help that DAPs provide, the novel

power of these platforms is that they ultimately

help businesses identify problems with the

design and business processes associated with

their websites and business applications. By

identifying the main areas where people have

problems, businesses can then fix the issues

to create better user experiences that reduce

frustration, improve support and result in more

effective employees and happier customers.

By collecting data on user behavior in both

web and mobile applications, administrators

of DAPs are able identify the main sources

of problems in their business applications

and websites. For example, if salespeople

frequently have problems filling in the

opportunity score on customer records,

then the DAP can be configured to provide

assistance specifically in that field, offering

examples and recommendations on how to

proceed. Similarly, if visitors to a website are

getting stuck when navigating around the

site or ordering products, then designers

can update the layout of a page to improve

customer engagement. The more data a DAP

can gather, the more insights it can generate.

Collecting data and creating dashboards

represent just the beginning of the benefits

generated by DAPs. Effective DAPs do

more than just display analytics. They

bring out insights that recommend actions

administrators can take to reduce future user

experience problems. Effective DAPs will

also make recommendations by leveraging

artificial intelligence to find patterns and

trends, thereby reducing an organization’s

dependency on data scientists. For example,

imagine a business has a website, with each

webpage representing a different product.

Page One has been accessed 1,000 times and

five percent of the time, people have problems

finding what they need. Page Two has been

accessed 100 times and 20 percent of the time,

people have problems. Which of these pages

should the business first focus on fixing? The

one accessed more often or the one with a

higher error rate but less usage? An effective

DAP should be able to analyze historical data


and help predict the outcome of fixing each

page using not only the company’s own data,

but anonymized data from similar companies,

industries and geographies.

C ATEGORIZIN G THE

M AT URIT Y O F DIGITA L

A D OP TIO N PL ATFORMS

DAPs have different levels of sophistication

and maturity. Constellation Research uses

the following tri-level framework to rate the

maturity of DAPs (see Figure 3):

1. Static: This type of DAP allows

administrators to create various “paths”

for assistance that are only triggered when

specific events or errors occur - for example,

the first time the user visits a website or

when a new version of software is deployed.

These DAPs present people with a series

of steps they can take, like a tour of new

features or the steps of a workflow. They

are the same for every person, regardless

of job role, skill level, or preference in

coaching style.

Figure 3. Digital Adoption Platform Maturity Model



2. Dynamic: Instead of waiting for specific

events, these tools proactively present

people with assistance. For example, if

customers are looking at products on a

website, the system can offer to help guide

them through the purchasing process.

Assistance can be tailored to select

audiences based on factors such as an

employee’s job role, a customer’s lead score,

the geography a person is in and the type of

device the person is using. These assistants

provide assistance that can contain

customized messages, styles and tones

appropriately suited to a group’s needs.

3. Algorithmic: Using artificial intelligence

to find patterns and trends in data, these

DAPs create personalized assistance that

caters to the needs of each individual user.

The messages displayed take into account

the person’s history with the application

or website and can provide a personalized

experience, closely emulating a human to

human interaction. For example, algorithmic

DAPs can guide a salesperson through the

creation of a new customer record by using

examples from an existing customer

the sales representative frequently

engages with.

G E T TIN G S TARTED: FO CUS

O N CORE US E C A S E S

Organizations can gain wide-reaching benefits

by using DAPs. They help organizations

optimize experiences for both their employees

as well as their prospects and customers.

Empowering Employee Experiences

Organizations can dramatically improve the

efficiency, effectiveness and productivity

of their employees by reducing the friction

they have with the tools they use to get their

jobs done. DAPs can speed up education

and training on business processes and

application features, improve the accuracy and

consistency of data in systems of record and

reduce internal help desk call volume.


Here are four department-specific examples:

• Human Resources: When new employees

join, often they are unfamiliar with the tools

and processes they need to get their jobs

done. DAPs provide in-context guidance

that helps reduce onboarding and training

time (and costs), enabling new hires to be

more productive.

• Sales: Entering information into a Customer

Relationship Management (CRM) system

can be complex, time consuming and

inconsistent. DAPs can guide salespeople

through the necessary steps and provide

tips that help ensure consistency in the way

data is entered and reduce the length of the

sales cycle.

• Marketing: DAPs can help marketing

professionals understand their

organizations’ processes in areas such as

campaign generation, lead scoring, and

audience segmentation.

• Engineering: By studying the data DAPs

collect on user behavior, product design/

development teams can get real-world

insights into how their applications and

websites are being used. By discovering

where the hurdles and bottlenecks are,

they can focus on the areas that need

to be improved in the next version,

reducing development type and increasing

user satisfaction.

It’s important to note that DAPs are not

limited to providing assistance just within the

silo of one specific use case at a time. One

of the most powerful use cases is actually in

providing cross-functional or cross-application

support. For example, a DAP could reduce the

challenges salespeople face when transferring

data between CRM, financial and supply chain

software as they win a new account.

Enhancing Customer Engagement

Improving how your organization interacts

with prospects and clients can have a

dramatic impact on brand reputation,

customer satisfaction and ultimately revenue.

Here are some ways DAPs can help in

engaging customers:


• Company website(s): If prospects or

customers cannot easily find the information

they are looking for on a website, they will

leave and go to a similar but simpler site.

DAPs can help people navigate a website,

leading to a better customer experience.

• E-commerce: DAPs can help reduce the

errors that occur filling out forms when

making product purchases. Improving the

successful completion rate leads to the sale

of more products.

• Support: When customers and prospects

can be guided through how-to instructions

and FAQs, it decreases the need to contact

customer support, thus reducing call center

costs, improving customer satisfaction and

boosting brand loyalty.

CO N CLUSIO N

DAPs represent a nascent market and the

timing of their emergence could not be better.

In the hyper-competitive battle for talent,

companies need to do everything they can

to ensure employees have the optimal work

experience. Similarly, on the external side of

business, customers expect simple hassle-

free experiences in finding the information,

products and services they want. If they find

a website complex or frustrating, they will

immediately go elsewhere. Digital Adoption

Platforms use compelling visual coaching to

guide people past problem spots, ensuring

consistent and engaging customer and

employee experiences.

As DAPs mature, they will make more use

of artificial intelligence to find patterns and

make recommendations, gauge sentiment

to create personalized coaching and more

proactively eliminate problems before they

happen. As DAPs mature, they will incorporate

more video, augmented and virtual reality

and one day even holograms as they strive to

provide engaging and personalized coaching

experiences. As new devices such as wearables

become more mainstream, DAPs will expand

to provide support across an ever-growing

portfolio of applications, websites and devices.

DAPs quickly provide return on investment as

they reduce support costs, enhance employees’


consistency, productivity and accuracy, and

improve customer satisfaction. Constellation

Research recommends that organizations

begin with one or two use cases for both

employees and customers, then expand

from there.


ANALYST BIO

Alan LepofskyVice President and Principal Analyst

With almost two decades of experience in the collaboration software industry, Lepofsky helps organizations

improve the way their employees work together to get their jobs done more effectively. His primary research

area, The Future of Work, includes:

• Integrating collaboration and business processes, or Purposeful Collaboration

• Structuring work with Social Task Management

• Leveraging analytics and digital assistants to work more productively

• The strategic impact of mobile computing on business transformation

• Measuring workforce culture based on Digital Proficiency instead of age

Since 1993, he has been designing, marketing and helping customers deploy software solutions that enable

people to connect with their peers and openly share information. Prior to joining Constellation, Lepofsky spent

three years as Director of Marketing at Socialtext and, before that, 14 years in a variety of roles at IBM/Lotus.

He is an active blogger and speaker in the “Social Business” and “Future of Work” communities,

where he shares his thoughts on the business benefits of open communication and collaboration. He

graduated from the University of Toronto with a B.A.Sc. in Engineering. His major was Mechanical

Engineering with a minor in Business and Entrepreneurship.

@alanlepo | www.constellationr.com/users/alan-lepofsky | ca.linkedin.com/in/alanlepo


A BOU T CO NS TELL ATIO N RE S E ARCH

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