Adoption/Consumption/Usage - So what's the difference?

Matt Myszkowski
Matt Myszkowski Member Posts: 143 Expert
100 Comments Second Anniversary Photogenic
edited January 2021 in Metrics & Analytics
Hey All,

So I have an opinion but keen to get some more (unsure if I am even right!) opinions.

How do you differentiate between:
  • Adoption
  • Consumption
  • Usage
  • Anything else?!
Is there a difference? Is it even important?

Let's start the debate!

Cheers, Matt
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Comments

  • Morgan Pottruff
    Morgan Pottruff Member Posts: 8 Contributor
    First Anniversary
    edited January 2021
    Hi Matt,

    Here's my take:

    Consumption - most simplistic - the user is "consuming" the product

    Usage - specifies a manner in which the user is consuming the product.

    Adoption - The amount of skill and expertise the user has developed, the extent to which the user has integrated the product into their workflow, and is able to leverage your technology to achieve tangible results.

    Usage does not equal adoption.

    Usage can in some cases "imply" or predict adoption, especially if the nature of the usage implies an advanced understanding or workflow.



    Morgan Pottruff

    Making technology easy for people 
    Education | E-Learning | Live and Virtual Events

    Online E-Learning Portfolio and CV

    www.morganpottruff.com

    • Adoption
    • Consumption
    • Usage
    • Anything else?!
    Is there a difference? Is it even important?

    Let's start the debate!

    Cheers, Matt
  • Ed Powers
    Ed Powers Member Posts: 190 Expert
    Fourth Anniversary 100 Comments 25 Insightfuls 25 Likes
    edited January 2021
    Hey @Matt Myszkowski--

    I think @Morgan Pottruff nailed it. I would only add that adoption results from successful change management, a fact commonly overlooked in Customer Success.

    It's been said that the definition of insanity is doing things the same old way and expecting a different result. This describes what our teams do most of the time, namely, helping customers change what they do every day by using new technology, thereby delivering better results.

    The problem is that people naturally resist change because they perceive loss (of control, status, certainty, even relationships) in giving up the 'old way.' Their brains must also suppress their old, entrenched habits and learn new ones, a process that requires a great deal of attention, effort, and time, none of which people have in abundance. According to Prosci, this human process is predictable and manageable: Awareness, Desire, Knowledge, Ability, and Reinforcement (ADKAR). They also say that companies that manage the 'people' side of change are 6x more likely to achieve project goals. 

    So in my view adoption leads to usage, which leads to process improvement, which leads to financial improvement.
  • Heather Leventry
    Heather Leventry Member Posts: 5 Seeker
    Third Anniversary Photogenic
    edited January 2021
    A former colleague created an implementation kick-off session to assess organizational readiness. This included reading and discussing business fables such as Our Iceberg is Melting and That's Not How We Do it Here. The sessions had a dual purpose. 1) Helping the leadership prepare for the change 2) Helping professional services assess the change readiness of the organization and prepare accordingly. Completely agree that managing change is key to success. 

    Heather Leventry
    https://www.linkedin.com/in/heatherleventry/

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