Product adoption: The missing piece in your digital strategy

An organization’s internal tools are the backbone of its operations. A thoughtfully designed digital product is essential for driving employee efficiency, productivity, and ultimately, overall business success. 

When in-house tools are intuitive, streamlined, and tailored to employees’ needs, they reduce frustration, minimize errors, and save time—allowing teams to focus on higher-value tasks rather than struggling with clunky systems. This directly translates to better service for customers, as employees can access information more easily, address customer needs more quickly, and collaborate seamlessly. 

Investing in user experience (UX) for internal tools isn’t just about improving employee satisfaction—it’s about strengthening the entire customer journey by enabling employees to perform at their best.

However, simply building a well-designed digital product isn’t enough—its success hinges on whether employees embrace and use it in their daily operations. Without an adoption strategy in place, the tool you invested time and money into creating will have untapped potential. 

What is product adoption and why is it important? 

Internal product adoption refers to the process by which employees integrate and consistently use a new digital tool or system within their daily workflows. 

UX projects place immense value on user testing and research, but oftentimes the creation of a product adoption strategy is neglected. Even a product that is technically sound and user-friendly can still fail if employees don’t adopt it because they don’t see its value or aren’t equipped to use it. 

Organizations developing a digital transformation strategy should pay special attention to product adoption, as transformation isn’t just about integrating new technologies—it’s also about the people and empowering them to modernize how they operate. 

Best practices for successful product adoption

It can be hard to know where to start when building out a product adoption plan. Following these key ways to incorporate adoption into your overall digital strategy will help secure long-term success and maximize your product’s ROI. 

Listen to the users

Every successful UX initiative begins with understanding user needs and behaviors. Engaging users in the design and development phases can make product adoption smoother down the line. By gathering feedback from employees through surveys, interviews, or user testing, you can ensure that the product addresses their real pain points. When users feel they have a say in the process, they’re more likely to support the final product. 

Get stakeholder buy-in

During your project, key stakeholders need to be involved early and often. Their support is crucial as they typically control budgets, make key decisions, and influence the company culture. Ideally, buy-in should be secured before the project even kicks off to ensure awareness, alignment, and support throughout the process. Keeping stakeholders in the loop with regular updates also makes it easier to secure their advocacy when the product launches.

We recently worked with our client, a biopharmaceutical company, to design a video that showcased the benefits of a new digital product to key stakeholders. By clearly articulating the product’s value, we helped leadership recognize the project’s importance, ultimately leading to their investment in designing the tool. 

Develop a clear roll-out plan

Internal messaging plays a critical role in a successful product adoption strategy by shaping how employees perceive, understand, and engage with a new tool. Clear, consistent, and engaging communication helps build awareness and addresses potential resistance before it becomes a barrier. 

The most pressing question that employees usually voice is, “what’s in it for me?” Communications should emphasize the tool’s benefits through the eyes of an employee. Highlighting how the product will reduce their pain points and increase productivity is a good starting point. Messaging should also be tailored to different employee groups, ensuring relevance to their specific needs and concerns. 

Beyond initial announcements, internal messaging should be ongoing—reinforcing key value points, sharing success stories, and providing guidance through various channels like emails, team meetings, training sessions, and leadership endorsements. When done well, internal messaging transforms product adoption from a mandatory change into a welcomed improvement, driving long-term engagement and success.

Continue to socialize the product internally 

Beyond just initial announcements, internal messaging should be ongoing, ensuring that employees are supported during every phase of the roll-out. Here are a few ideas for product socialization: 

• Offer interactive demonstrations. Live presentations of the tool can help employees understand how the product will improve their daily workflows. These sessions also provide an opportunity for employees to ask questions in real-time, clarify doubts, and see the product in action, which can increase their confidence and excitement about using the new tool.
• Share success stories. Highlighting early adopters within the organization can create a sense of excitement and social proof. When employees hear about their peers benefiting from the tool, it reduces skepticism and encourages others to give it a try. Sharing these stories through internal newsletters, meetings, or emails can demonstrate the tool’s tangible value in real-life situations.

• Provide on-demand training. Offering training resources that employees can access at their convenience helps them feel more in control of their learning process. These could include video tutorials or step-by-step guides. On-demand training ensures that all employees, regardless of their schedules, can get up to speed at their own pace and revisit the material whenever they need a refresher.

• Highlight leadership endorsements. When company leaders actively endorse a new product, it helps signal its importance and legitimacy. Try featuring leadership in internal communications and have them discuss how the tool aligns with the company’s goals and vision. Their endorsement not only helps drive adoption but also reinforces the tool’s role as a strategic priority, encouraging employees to follow suit and use it effectively.

The role of AI in product adoption

Launching a new digital product can feel daunting, but AI can help make the adoption process smoother, more engaging, and more personalized. In order to leverage an AI-driven product adoption strategy, it’s important that your organization has the right tools, integrations, and internal expertise. Understanding where your company stands in terms of AI readiness can help determine the best approach to incorporating AI into your adoption strategy. 

Chatbots and virtual assistants offer immediate support, reducing frustration and lowering the barrier to entry. Adaptive learning modules powered by AI can analyze employee progress and deliver bite-sized training sessions tailored to their specific needs, ensuring a smoother transition without overwhelming them. Beyond onboarding, AI can help sustain adoption by providing ongoing support. AI-powered assistants can send timely reminders about key features, suggest best practices based on usage patterns, and introduce new capabilities as employees become more comfortable with the tool. These automated nudges help keep employees engaged, ensuring they continue to use and benefit from the product long after the initial rollout. 

By embedding AI into the adoption strategy, organizations can create a seamless, user-friendly experience that fosters long-term engagement and maximizes the value of their investment.

Set your product up for success

No organization wants to invest time and resources into creating a digital product that ultimately goes unused. However, even the most thoughtfully designed tool will struggle to deliver value if employees don’t adopt it. A detailed product adoption strategy is critical to the long-term success of any digital initiative. 

At Think Company, we don’t just design stellar products—we ensure they are embraced by the people who will use them. Want to chat more about how integrating a product adoption strategy into your next project can maximize impact and long-term value? Let’s connect.