Increasing a Product’s Adoption Rate
Lets us talk about a question we tend to forget in the first place; will people actually use our product? Did they switch from no-use to use?
As designers, being constantly exposed to words like “achieve usability”, or “create a user-friendly product can mistakenly transmit us into thinking that it is the main and only metric when designing a new product.
The truth is that there is a primary product goal;
The goal of a product is to be used. If it’s not used, then it’s still considered a failure.
Too often we are too focused on finding out whether this product is easy to use, whether it’s simple enough, or whether it helps users do a common task.
In short, we’re only focusing on its usability aspect. Yet, sometimes we fail to see the bigger picture ask the real question — will people use our product?
This bird-eyed view can be called “Managing the Path”.
Managing Path of Use
The term “Managing the Path” is founded by Alan Dix, a Human-Computer Interaction expert, and University Professor. He mentioned this term in his 2008 presentation to the University of Technology in Berlin. He also mentions that it’s easy for us to only focus on the “use” aspect. However, the bigger picture told us that in order to see whether people can easily use the product, we have to shift users from “no use” to “use” in the first place.
Users don’t suddenly realize that they need to use your product.
Considering the adoption strategy of the product
One example from the failure of adoption in a past study case is the hoverboard developed by the company Segway. It became one of tech’s biggest flops during its first release in 2015.
Before it was released, it was seen as a future innovation that is predicted to “change how people mobilize themselves”, it even got a remark from Apple’s Co-Founder Steve Jobs as it was believed as a device that would change the way cities were built.
However, upon the launch of the product, it turns out it was that people did not put interest in using the product. It has a bad adoption rate and fails to draw attention from the public. out it doesn’t consider its large customer base.
Aside from the fact that the product’s usability hurt people (its first version that doesn’t have the handle is a recipe for disaster that causes people to fall). Another reason that became a bottleneck to change paths from “pre-used” to forgetting the consideration of its legal aspect. One day, rapper Wiz Khalifa was arrested for bringing it to LAX airport.
It also didn’t consider how to shift people’s behavior from walking to wanting to use it. Where would they park the hoverboard? If bicycles have limitations in usage, what is the hoverboard’s limitation? I know that I cannot use a bicycle inside of an indoor mall, but can I use the hoverboard?
Or the simple question, do people feel weird to use the product in the first place?
Today the hoverboard is constantly iterated and used in several limited contexts.
But what can we learn from this?
It is our duty as a designer to make sure that from pre-used it's changed into used, and to manage that from used it doesn’t go unused.
Yes, it’s a collaborative effort to do that. But, how do we, as designers can do that?
1. Combining market research and user research
The collaboration between market researcher and user researchers can help answer how to shift from pre-use to use.
Both market research and user research have different focuses. While user research wants to find out what users want, whether the design helps them achieve their goals, market research focuses on the macro-perspective. It finds out whether there is a community of target users that may be commercially potential.
User researchers can then recruit user interviews which participants from the community of people market researchers consider to be a target, so we are not gaining user feedback from people who may not potentially want to use the product in the first place.
So, yes, it’s a Marketing x Design collaboration.
2. Make adoption a primary goal
There is needed, especially if the scope of your project is designing it from a very early stage.
Do not just aim for your product to be usable and easy to use. Instead put in mind the metrics that your product needs to be adopted by users. This way it can influence the decision-making process of targeting users, considering other aspects (e.g law aspect such as hoverboard)
Be aware of the path of use while designing your product.
3. Understand what it is that will drive usage
Do your research.
Discover what are people’s wants, motivations — from life goals, behavior goals, completion goals, pain points. Is it just a nice to have or must have? Are there any implications when using the product? These questions can help us answer the probability of how this product can be adopted.
4. For larger scale companies: Use the power of interconnections between your products.
Unless you are a big company, you can use the power of size to put your product into existing ones.
For instance, some new features google launched would just put it into its existing giant which is Gmail so the users can discover it faster. This will drive faster adoption.
5. Focus on design for (perceived) value that exceeds the cost
As Alan Dix mentions,
People use something ONLY IF it has perceived value AND exceeds cost
Cost does not always necessarily mean money, but it can mean learning effort or time spent on learning or downloading. Value can mean entertaining, helps users get their work done, make their goals easier to accomplish, and more.
What can we do to minimize the cost, and increase the value?
Even though there are also exceptions, such as habits. Where it’s also important to ask what are people’s habits and what does it take to shift that habit into use.
To sum up
While it's still a designer’s job to make sure that the product is usable, important to consider the big picture, to “Manage the Path”. Hopefully, this can be an additional perspective to take into consideration, especially for those who are creating their early-stage product. While I still agree that the only valid way to know your product’s working or not is by releasing it, it won't hurt to minimize your chances of creating a mistake by considering this perspective.
And make people fall in love with your product once they do use it.
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