Digital transformation has been a key focus for organizations across the last decade, only spurred in importance following the pandemic. With new opportunities for enhanced agility, operational efficiency and customer experience presented through technologies such as AI and automation, only those businesses fully embracing the digital future are set to survive the technological revolution.

Considering that over 70% of digital transformations fail, organizations must seek to empower end-users with the knowledge, skills and support they need to reap the benefits of new technologies. Digital adoption puts the user first in its approach to digital transformation, driving adoption through a focus on skills, experience and context.

PEX All Access: Digital Adoption brought together thought leaders from across industries to discuss ideas, perspectives and experiences in driving digital adoption in large organizations. Here are three key lessons we learned.

Less is more for digital adoption, avoid overloading users

Opening the webinar series we took a look at the current landscape for digital adoption and the challenges faces by organizations and leaders spurring adoption. A prevailing theme across the discussion was our great ability to deliver advanced technologies but failing at communicating the appropriate use and training for the technologies.

For Adrienne Cohen, adoption requires not only a synergy in how we build technology solutions across an organization but also how deliver the adoption strategy. Focusing on the agile mentality over the past ten years has allowed for state-of-the-art solutions to issues but that same principle hasn’t been applied to the training, communication and support. Technology enables the digital transformation and the true work for transformation begins in adoption.

As Adrienne says, “[in digital adoption] we’re ultimately trying to deliver a service. We’re trying to make it easier for people to adopt tools, change behavioral, and the more complex you make it, the more cognitive overload. We’re simply adding frustration to the process.”

Key to successful adoption then is emphasising the simplicity in approach whether than be through guides, DAP tools or user support. Keeping the process and, even the end-goal, simple, you have a better chance of taking people along on that journey to adopt more quickly.

Data is king in enabling personalized adoption

Across the series, the importance of a data-driven approach was emphasized throughout. Through the use of behavioral analytics and adoption insights we can shape the experiences to the user – personalizing the approach to adoption.

Tools are just tools but at the end of the day adoption rests on people. With data analytics and insights we can draw a picture of the user and assist them in the way they would like to be assisted.

Toni Weber, product owner, workplace technology support at Nationwide Insurance, presented a case study on leveraging data-driven insights to aid seamless adoption of varied IT support channels. By utilizing behavioral analytics and adoption insights, she showed how we can paint this picture of users into various personas allowing for a more personalized approach to support channels, whether this be through self-services guides, support suites, chatbots or traditional guided support.

A key part of this process is gathering sentiment from across the organization. Through Voice of the Associate surveys and pulses polls, Nationwide gathers data continuously on how end-users are adopting allowing them to shape their approach to users struggling with differing challenges across the organization.

A holistic approach is key to scalable, sustainable adoption

For the second day of the series, we opened with a discussion on scaling digital adoption across a large organization with Steve Bloodworth, senior director, digital marketing technology adoption at AstraZeneca.

With the pharmaceutical giant operating across 100 different countries with differing cultures and challenges, the scalability of adoption strategy to deliver the best results for patients is a key challenge faced by Steve and his team.

The challenge faced in such a large organization is where to center efforts in the first place. For Steve, the best approach is to avoid distraction and focus on where can bring the most value first. When setting out on the adoption journey, Steve recalls “some people were knocking on the door and wanting us to help… everyone’s are always feels important to them. But you have to take a step back and say, where can we help the business drive the biggest impact?”.

In scaling technology adoption, Steve recommends caution in approach to pilots. The best advice given was to avoid putting “the world class super talent” onto any pilots, which may seem counterintuitive. He recommends instead, involving the most representative team members saying the best people will simply solve the problem themselves and this may come back to bight you further into the journey.

Steve also recommends an approach that allows teams to manage the standards rather than leaders. Taking the ways of working that have the best success and embedding this in the teams is the real way to make it stick.

READ NEXT -> 2023 Digital Adoption Industry Report