Adoption is the ultimate measure of a product or service’s success. It defines the viability of your idea and its real-world execution. You can create a beautiful product, present it at a conference, and even win an award for “Service of the Year”—but the only true metric of success is whether real users adopt and continue using it.
How Do We Measure Adoption?
Adoption is a quantifiable metric. While specific indicators vary across different service types, they almost always include:
- The number of active users, possibly expressed as a percentage of the target audience.
- Position relative to competing services, indicating whether your product is the preferred choice.
For example, if you introduce a new ordering channel, its adoption rate will be one of the key indicators. However, if an increase in orders through this new channel is accompanied by a decline in the overall number or average volume of orders, then you have a problem.
Another critical metric is properly collected user feedback—not just raw numbers but insights into how and why users engage (or disengage) with the service.
What Determines Adoption?
At its core, adoption is a balance between value and usability.
A product that offers high value but is difficult to use can still be adopted—if the value outweighs the inconvenience. Consider a CNC machine: operating it requires specialized education, but the precision and efficiency it provides make learning worthwhile.
On the other hand, a product that is easy to use but offers little intrinsic value may still succeed in the right context. Think of video games—some may argue they lack tangible value, yet their ease of access and high engagement make them incredibly “sticky.”
Most products exist in a dynamic balance between these two extremes. They solve user problems (delivering value) while also being intuitive, accessible, and efficient (thanks to significant investments in UX and usability).
Beyond usability, other barriers can affect adoption—such as availability in different forms:
- Physical accessibility (Can users reach it?)
- Financial accessibility (Can they afford it?)
- Regulatory or procedural accessibility (Are there bureaucratic hurdles?)
Ignoring these factors can lead even a well-designed product to fail in real-world adoption.
Why Does Adoption Matter?
In competitive markets, anything that can be replaced by a more convenient alternative will eventually disappear. Only products with no viable substitutes can afford to be inconvenient.
But in a world where everything can be copied and reproduced, the absence of competition is rarely a long-term advantage.
That said, the very expectation that a product should be convenient is itself a product of market conditions. As competition declines, usability and accessibility often take a backseat to other factors.
Recent years have demonstrated this shift: when markets become constrained, unexpected qualities suddenly gain value—such as the country of origin, regardless of a product’s actual quality. In such conditions, usability might no longer be a priority.
A conversation with a telecom executive once captured this mindset perfectly. When asked why they weren’t investing in making corporate tools more user-friendly, he responded:
“We don’t pay employees for convenience. We’re not going to spend money on that.”
This purely utilitarian perspective may seem logical in times of economic change. Some companies might see reducing investment in usability as a cost-saving measure.
However, this approach is dangerously shortsighted.
Users Will Always Find the Path of Least Resistance
If an internal product is too cumbersome to use, employees will seek alternatives—whether through bypassing procedures, creating shadow workflows, or outright ignoring official tools.
The cost of a failed product is often far greater than its development cost. Users who struggle with an ineffective service don’t just abandon it—they find ways around it. And these improvised solutions often lead to bigger risks than anyone anticipated.
In the end, adoption isn’t just about the product itself—it’s about whether users choose to integrate it into their lives or their work. And that choice, in turn, is shaped by a product’s ability to balance value, usability, and accessibility in an ever-changing environment.