Power of system is realized when users adopts the system. Number of subscriptions or units sold is a great metric to calculate revenue and initial success of a product but the true to success of the product is based on how well it is adopted. Once a product is well adopted, it confirms all aspects of its success like product objectives, customer impact, profitability, market share etc. As product managers we must focus on adoption as the key goal/OKR besides the normal financial metrics.
Most importantly, adoption doesn’t means it has to be a fancy solution. On a product demo from a vendor, I learnt that the most adopted feature of their financial planning tool for CFOs and their financial teams; is the ability to generate data loaded cubes in excel. Who will believe that in today’s world, but that is what finance teams want. Providing the solution that the customers need and continuous improvement is the key to product adoption.
