To measure digital adoption, compare how employees actually use a new tool with the goals it was deployed for. Set a baseline before go-live, track a handful of metrics (adoption rate, depth of use, task success, time on task, support requests, satisfaction), break them down by team, and review them at fixed intervals so that every gap triggers a corrective action.
Key takeaways
- Digital adoption is measured against goals defined before deployment, starting from a baseline taken with the old tool or process.
- Useful digital adoption metrics cover breadth (who uses the tool), depth (which features), proficiency (task success, time) and experience (satisfaction, support requests).
- Combine usage data with qualitative feedback from surveys and focus groups to understand why users struggle.
- Review adoption metrics at fixed checkpoints after go-live and link each gap to an action: training, in-app guidance, settings or process changes.
Why measure digital adoption?
Boosting productivity, increasing revenue or dramatically raising employee engagement… When you roll out new software in your company, you naturally expect positive results — and the right digital adoption metrics are what tell you whether you are getting them.
Depending on the type of software, return on investment is measured in light of the various benefits achieved (or not), including:
- Simpler data management and updating;
- Lower support or training costs;
- Better user experience and business processes.
But to measure a software's performance, it first has to be properly adopted. Despite your best intentions, results may fall short, or your team may not be receptive to the new digital solution. Employees who resist change or simply feel overwhelmed, a non-intuitive interface or poorly optimized user journeys are all factors that can hinder uptake of and engagement with the new software. To get the most out of your investment, it is essential to make it easier for your employees to adopt new practices and tools. Here is how to measure digital adoption and improve it.
1. Communicate the software's objectives clearly
Successful digital adoption depends not only on software usage, but on your employees' engagement, their "belief" in these new tools and a genuine digital culture. For your employees to fully embrace a new digital tool, they need to understand its added value and the benefits they will gain from it. Explain the objectives of the new initiative clearly, highlighting how using the tool will help increase productivity and save time. Make sure the link between the tool and the objectives is clear in order to encourage digital adoption. Securing your employees' buy-in will significantly increase their engagement, as well as their commitment to making your software a success.
2. Understand usage in order to put solutions in place
Once communication is established, you need to understand how your employees actually use the tools. They are the ones who will make digital transformation last, so stay attentive to their usage and their business challenges. You can monitor your team's performance based on precise usage indicators and qualitative data.
Let's say you have implemented a new CRM tool to manage customer relationships. You can then, among other things:
- Assess the average response time, i.e. the time your company needs to respond to a customer;
- Determine the number of steps employees need to find the right information, an essential step in understanding and optimizing the user journey;
- Estimate the number of customers an employee can handle within a given time;
- Gauge the first-contact resolution rate. You can even calculate the average length of a phone call that resolved the customer's issue.
These observations will help you identify sticking points and adjust support accordingly.
Which digital adoption metrics should you track?
The CRM example applies to any business application. Google researchers grouped user-centered metrics into five categories in their HEART framework (Happiness, Engagement, Adoption, Retention, Task success), starting from goals, then signals, then metrics. Adapted to an internal tool, digital adoption metrics fall into a few families:
| Family | Question it answers | Typical metrics |
|---|---|---|
| Breadth of adoption | Who uses the tool among the people who should? | Adoption rate, active users over the period |
| Depth of use | Do users go beyond logging in? | Use of key features, processes completed in the tool |
| Proficiency | Can users complete their tasks efficiently? | Task success rate, time to complete a process, error rate |
| Experience | How do users feel about the tool? | Short satisfaction surveys, "how do I" support tickets |
Break each metric down by team, site or seniority: a healthy overall average often hides struggling groups. For the exact formulas and how to set targets, see our 7 software adoption KPIs; for the wider picture of employees' digital experience, see our guide to DEX metrics.
3. Evaluate your digital adoption metrics
These qualitative observations are complemented by quantitative measurements, which are important to refer to in order to see which priority issues need addressing. This data allows you to track progress towards your clearly defined productivity objectives. For example, sticking with the CRM software, you can compare the average number of customer requests handled over a given period, or the time spent processing a customer request, against the objectives you want to achieve with your new software. Don't hesitate to set up surveys, focus groups or even suggestion boxes to gather more in-depth feedback on the user experience and help identify potential challenges and problems. Involving users can only encourage digital adoption!
In 2022, 85% of French companies with more than 20 employees surveyed said they needed to make it easier for employees to adopt digital tools
Source: "Baromètre Croissance & Digital 2022" (Growth & Digital Barometer 2022), Acsel / Ipsos
Measuring digital adoption can be complex, but solutions exist!
Our solution K-VALUE maps usage and gives business teams the keys to take the appropriate corrective action to improve your software's user experience. These actions include training, enriched guidance, improved application settings, revised business processes and more.
Don't leave your software's digital adoption to chance. Take a strategic approach and use K-Value to measure, improve and maximize digital adoption in your company.
How do you track digital adoption over time?
A single figure says little. Digital adoption is read in its trend, against a starting point and a target.
- Take a baseline before deployment: time to process a request, ticket volume and error rate with the old tool or process.
- Set a target for each population: daily and occasional users do not have the same needs.
- Watch the weeks after go-live closely: this is when blockers appear and bad habits set in.
- Schedule regular checkpoints, for example at one, three and six months, then after each major update.
- Link every gap to an action: targeted training, new in-app guidance, a settings change or a revised process, then check its effect at the next checkpoint.
This measure, act, measure again loop turns adoption tracking into a steering tool and gives you the data to justify the investment to leadership. It also closes the last step of a software implementation plan. Many organizations now give this responsibility to a digital adoption manager.
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate the adoption rate of software?
To calculate the adoption rate of software, divide the number of active users over a given period by the number of targeted users, then multiply by 100. Define "active" precisely: a simple login is not enough. A better rule is that the user completed at least one key action of the business process during the period.
What is the difference between adoption rate and usage rate?
The adoption rate shows how many people in the target population actually use the software. The usage rate, or depth of use, shows how they use it: frequency, features used and processes completed. Software can show a high adoption rate but low use of its key features, which limits the value it delivers to the business.
When should you start measuring digital adoption?
Measuring digital adoption starts before deployment, with a baseline. Follow the first metrics from the first weeks after go-live, when blockers appear. A review at three and then six months shows whether adoption is lasting, once the novelty effect and the initial support period are over.
Who is responsible for measuring digital adoption?
Measuring digital adoption is a joint effort: the IT department provides usage data, business teams set the goals, and change management or training teams act on the results. More and more companies appoint a digital adoption manager to track the metrics and coordinate corrective actions across these teams.
What is a digital adoption solution?
A digital adoption solution, or digital adoption platform, is software that sits on top of business applications to guide users step by step, display contextual help and measure usage. It helps employees master their tools faster and provides the data needed to measure digital adoption. See our criteria for choosing a digital adoption solution.
Sources
- Kerry Rodden, Hilary Hutchinson, Xin Fu (Google), "Measuring the User Experience on a Large Scale: User-Centered Metrics for Web Applications", CHI 2010
- Blog du Modérateur (in French), "L'impact du digital sur les entreprises françaises: les chiffres clés en 2022", June 15, 2022 (6th Acsel Croissance & Digital barometer, Ipsos survey of 700 French companies)
