Measuring success and building foundations: Insights from top digital adoption professionals
Welcome to the second installment in our series featuring insights from the Top 100 DAP Professionals of 2024! In this piece, we dive into the strategic elements that drive digital adoption success – from measuring impact and demonstrating value to laying the groundwork for lasting change.
Through the experiences and perspectives of these industry leaders, you’ll gain an understanding of the factors shaping effective digital adoption initiatives and how top digital adoption professionals evaluate the success of their programs and showcase real business impact.
Additionally, we’ll examine the advice these experts offer to those embarking on their digital adoption journeys, providing a roadmap for building strong foundations that can support growth and innovation. Their insights offer a glimpse into the future, inspiring new ways of approaching user adoption and organizational change.
Measuring digital adoption success
Measuring the success of digital adoption initiatives requires a multi-faceted approach that goes beyond simple usage statistics.
At Aprimo, Becky Lane’s team leverages a data-driven methodology to evaluate digital adoption success. By systematically comparing trial outcomes, they’ve uncovered compelling insights into the impact of their digital adoption platform (DAP) solutions. “We measure the success by comparing the win rate of prospects with trials versus those without. [Our DAP solutions] really make it easier for the end user to get what they need out of the trials in a shorter amount of time and with less resources involved. We also receive feedback via WalkMe surveys not only on features and functionality within our platform, but also on the trial experience and guides themselves,” she explains. This nuanced approach allows Aprimo to map digital adoption to concrete measurements while simultaneously gathering rich qualitative feedback, demonstrating how strategic digital adoption can directly drive tangible business outcomes.
For Stephanie Dybdal at AMN Healthcare, success measurement combines multiple data points. “I measure the success of digital adoption initiatives through a combination of user engagement metrics, feedback, and performance outcomes,” she shares. “Key indicators include adoption rates, user satisfaction surveys and search terms, and the impact of digital adoption content on efficiency. Regularly analyzing this data with stakeholders allows me to refine strategies and ensure that users are not only adopting new tools but also deriving real value from them.”
Gavin Ashpool emphasizes the importance of establishing baseline metrics before implementation. “We measure success by really understanding from the team we are working with: what is the problem they are looking to solve with WalkMe and ensuring we can capture the as-is position so that we can measure the impact,” he explains. “For every initiative we work on, we produce a one-pager documenting the problem, what we did, and the output from the solution.”
Building a strong foundation: Advice for new DAP Professionals
A digital adoption strategy doesn’t have to mean overwhelming change, it can focus on strategic, manageable progress that enables your organization to steadily derive more value from your technology investments. By taking intentional, incremental steps, you can create a framework that grows alongside your business needs. Our DAP leaders have distilled their experiences into practical insights, demonstrating how WalkMe’s solution and ecosystem, including our Community, partner network, and proven best practices can provide the supportive foundation you need to confidently scale your digital adoption initiatives.
Gavin Ashpool cautions against rushing into implementation without proper planning. “When you start working with WalkMe, it could become easy to start building content straight away, as you suddenly have this great tool,” he notes. “However, I would pause and really think about what it is that you’re looking to solve through WalkMe, what are the problem statements, how can you capture the as-is position – and then start to think about how you can solve this through WalkMe.”
Kristy Ruzesky of Federated Co-operatives Limited emphasizes the importance of continuous learning and engagement within the DAP community. “There is not just one way to stay up to date, so engage in all opportunities that you can,” she advises. “You can learn a lot from other DAP professionals, and then tailor what works best for you.” Her multi-channel approach to professional development, which includes participating in webinars, engaging with the WalkMe World Community, and connecting with fellow professionals on LinkedIn, demonstrates how staying current with industry trends and best practices is crucial for success in digital adoption.
For Danielle Conroy at AMN Healthcare, success starts with strong partnerships. “One piece of advice is to build a strong relationship with your Product team,” she advises. “Collaborating closely with them not only makes you aware of upcoming features and bug fixes but also provides insight into user and business priorities. A close partnership ultimately enhances the overall user experience.” This approach is universal across digital adoption platform implementations—whether developing customer-facing or employee-facing systems, understanding and building relationships with key stakeholders is critical to success.
Tonette Ilano from IHG Hotels & Resorts emphasizes the importance of mindset. “One piece of advice I’d give to someone just starting their career in digital adoption is to cultivate a solution-focused mindset,” she shares. “Emphasizing this strength will drive your eagerness to address the pain points users face while adopting new systems. Embracing digital adoption allows you to be creative and innovative in developing solutions that simplify the user experience across digital platforms.”
Innovation in action: Current projects shaping the future
There are several straightforward solutions you can implement right now to improve digital adoption. While many strategies are widely known, the digital adoption landscape continues to evolve. Innovative professionals are constantly developing creative approaches to drive organizational progress. We’re fortunate to have insights from some of these forward-thinking experts who are pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in digital transformation.
At EDF Renewables, Artem Silka is revolutionizing the onboarding experience—and recently crowned the winner of WalkMe’s 2024 DemoJam. “Here at EDFR, having an up-to-date, digital friendly onboarding program was non-negotiable,” he explains. “We have developed a unique to the individual, to their role, and work arrangement (remote, office, field, etc.), experience. It supports employees at the first power-up of their laptops, leading them with best practice onboarding advice and tips.”
Looking ahead
The insights shared by these DAP professionals highlight the evolving nature of digital adoption and the importance of measuring impact, building strong foundations, and continuing to innovate. As organizations increasingly rely on digital tools, the role of DAP professionals in ensuring successful adoption and maximizing return on technology investments becomes ever more critical.
Stay tuned for our next installment, where we’ll explore how these leaders approach change management and continuous improvement in their digital adoption programs.