{"id":724513,"date":"2021-02-16T09:32:09","date_gmt":"2021-02-16T17:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/?post_type=msr-blog-post&p=724513"},"modified":"2021-02-16T09:32:09","modified_gmt":"2021-02-16T17:32:09","slug":"end-user-focus-is-not-enough-whats-really-needed-for-enterprise-adoption","status":"publish","type":"msr-blog-post","link":"https:\/\/newed.any0.dpdns.org\/en-us\/research\/articles\/end-user-focus-is-not-enough-whats-really-needed-for-enterprise-adoption\/","title":{"rendered":"End user focus is not enough: What’s really needed for enterprise adoption"},"content":{"rendered":"

By John Westworth (opens in new tab)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

\"businesspeople Photo credit: iStock<\/p>\n

Imagine this: Your<\/span>\u00a0company works long and hard on a new product or feature<\/span>\u00a0and proudly rolls it out to its enterprise customers, only to have them ask, \u201cHow do we turn this off?\u201d\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

If not\u00a0<\/span>the stuff of nightmares<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>this is\u00a0<\/span>at least\u00a0<\/span>a\u00a0<\/span>scenario<\/span>\u00a0that\u00a0<\/span>can inspire<\/span>\u00a0some angst.\u00a0<\/span>So, w<\/span>hy does this happen?\u00a0<\/span>And more importantly,\u00a0<\/span>how can you prevent\u00a0<\/span>it<\/span>?\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Laser focus on the needs of end users is a wonderful thing. But<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>for<\/span>\u00a0our Enterprise customers, the end user is just one piece of a complex\u00a0<\/span>ecosystem<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>of stakeholders who<\/span>\u00a0will be\u00a0impacted\u00a0by any\u00a0<\/span>updates or new offerings<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Expanding your view of who the customer is to include these\u00a0additional\u00a0stakeholders, understanding their concerns, and meeting their needs will increase the chances of your feature helping users and their organizations achieve more.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Who is involved in enterprise adoption?<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>recently\u00a0<\/span>recruited some customers\u00a0<\/span>from our Compass program\u00a0<\/span>for\u00a0<\/span>a<\/span>\u00a0design sprint.\u00a0<\/span>While we initially scoped the sprint to think through how we could take a more experimental approach to developing features, our customers brought us back to basics. Developing usable and valuable features is not much use if the feature is going to be turned off as soon as it hits the enterprise environment. They implored us to think of the stakeholder cycles that each new feature must get through and ensuring features were also supportable.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

To understand this better, we<\/span>\u00a0ran an exercise where customers\u00a0<\/span>provided<\/span>\u00a0a great deal of depth into the\u00a0<\/span>people and departments that are<\/span>\u00a0affected and involved when we release a new service,\u00a0update\u00a0or feature. Each customer listed the roles involved, what they did, their blockers and pain points<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0and what they needed to make their lives easier.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We\u00a0<\/span>learned<\/span>\u00a0that while the end user may be the\u00a0<\/span>person<\/span>\u00a0we\u2019re\u00a0solving the problem for,\u00a0<\/span>additional<\/span>\u00a0roles are also\u00a0impacted, involved, and need to be consulted.<\/span>\u00a0These could include<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>IT<\/span>\u00a0operations, Security and Privacy managers,\u00a0<\/span>and C<\/span>hange Management owners,<\/span>\u00a0just to name a few<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>Not giving those\u00a0additional\u00a0roles\u00a0<\/span>the tools,\u00a0controls\u00a0and content<\/span>\u00a0they needed results in features being turned off or not used<\/span>—<\/span>diluting the value of\u00a0<\/span>the services.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What do these stakeholders need?\u00a0<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the chart below,\u00a0I\u2019ve\u00a0listed a few of the roles that were highlighted, including their responsibilities and what they need from us\u00a0<\/span>in order to<\/span>\u00a0help them get an update to a user. Each organization will have roles responsible for these\u00a0<\/span>areas<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0but<\/span>\u00a0may use different titles or combine roles. Each role has the potential to block deployment of an update to a user.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

How can you help stakeholders drive adoption? <\/em><\/p>\n

Our discussions with customers yielded prescriptive recommendations for how to help them with adopting updates and new products:<\/p>\n