Glossary · Change & people
User adoption
The extent to which your team actually uses a new system rather than falling back on Excel.
User adoption is the extent to which your team actually uses a new system. Not just at the start, but for the long term, and in the way it was intended. Without adoption a system remains an empty shell, however well it was chosen.
The sign that adoption is faltering is a familiar one: people fall back on their old Excel files or keep a second set of records alongside the system. Then you have the worst of both worlds, because you pay for the system and still miss out on its benefits.
Adoption has to be earned, with training, with a system that genuinely makes the work easier, and with people who are involved from the start. A system imposed over people's heads rarely gets used.
