According to a new study (that I read via RRW) by the Sand Hill Group and Neochange, user adoption is the most critical factor for application success and return on investment in the enterprise setting.

Now, I’ve made an assumption that the same thing can be applied to the ministry setting, but I must admit that I have no proof (or no hard research specifically).  But, I think it speaks for itself.

There’s a lot to be learned from this corporate whitepaper.  Here’s the executive summary if you’re limited on time:

An ever-broader landscape of enterprise software solutions means buyers must work harder
than ever to be sure their solution decisions support their business goals. At the same time,
CIOs face ever tighter IT budgets.

Respondents agree that the no. 1 driver of value realization is ensuring effective usage of software
in the enterprise. The survey found that improved adoption lowers costs, improves customer
satisfaction and drives revenue growth. As CIOs struggle with the responsibility to ensure
enterprise software success, they expect software companies to help them improve usage levels
and share the burden of success realization.

Surprisingly, software functionality came in at a super-low 1%, process alignment @ 13%, and organization change at 16%.

Are you kidding me?  As RRW said, this is straight-up remarkable.  But, after some thought, it isn’t surprising: Success can’t possibly be measured (or cared about) if no one’s going to be using it?

What does this mean for all software developers building for the Kingdom?  Make sure that “User Adoption” is on the top of your list, and not at the very bottom (where it typically sits).  Provide compelling, simple, and easy ways for users to adopt your application, and make sharing it as much a part of the design psychology as individual and independent use.

Features and functionality are great, but,  without the user in mind, it’ll another purgatory-app; and purgatory sucks.