Imagine you're playing a new video game, and a friendly character shows up to teach you how to move, jump, or find treasures. The digital adoption platform (DAP) is like that friendly character. It's there to help you learn how to use a new app or website.

Of course, unlike video game help characters, a DAP's not there to entertain anyone. They are there to ensure that customers who are trying out your SaaS product don't get stuck or frustrated in the process. The smoother the path to value discovery is, the better your conversion will be. DAPs are the grease to that conversion pipeline, and that's why they're a must-have. 

In this guide, we’ll explore what DAPs are, why they’re important, and how they can help improve product success, technology adoption, and overall customer experience.

What is a Digital Adoption Platform?

A digital adoption platform (DAP) is a solution that gets layered over another software and offers various digital tools to guide users through new software, helping them learn and facilitating faster technology adoption. By offering in-app guidance, tooltips, onboarding checklists, and contextual help, DAPs reduce friction and ensure users can navigate complex platforms with ease. 

For example, if you open a new video editing app, a DAP might trigger a pop up that says, "Click here to add your first video," or "This button lets you add music to your video." It’s there to help you get comfortable with the app quickly, making sure you know how to use all the important features without feeling lost.

Whether it's for employee onboarding on enterprise software like Salesforce or guiding users through your SaaS product, a DAP can provide real-time support and reduce the learning curve. 

Here are some core features of DAPs: 

• Product Tours: guided walkthroughs that introduce new users to key features and functionalities, helping them quickly understand the software and reach the "aha moment" to find value early on.
  
  
• Tooltips: contextual pop-ups that provide brief guidance or explanations when users interact with specific elements, offering real-time help on complex features without disrupting the user experience.
  
  
• Banners: visual notifications that communicate important updates, announcements, or prompts for action, drawing attention to critical information and guiding users to specific actions.
  
  
• Checklists: task lists that help users navigate the onboarding process step-by-step, keeping them on track, ensuring they complete essential tasks, and fostering a sense of progress.
  
  
• Resource Centers: hubs that provide access to tutorials, FAQs, guides, and other helpful materials, empowering users to find answers and learn at their own pace, improving self-service and satisfaction.
  
  
• Surveys: tools to gather feedback from users at key points in their journey, collecting insights to refine the product and onboarding flow, enhancing user satisfaction, and reducing churn.
  
  
• Product Analytics: tools that track user behavior, feature usage, and engagement patterns, providing valuable data to help optimize the onboarding process.

Why Digital Adoption Platforms Matter

So here are 4 simple reasons why DAPs are so important:

1. Reducing User Friction

One of the biggest reasons users drop software tools is confusion or frustration. When people can’t easily find value or understand key features, they’re more likely to churn. DAPs provide in-app guidance and overlays that offer just-in-time support, ensuring users have the help they need when they need it.

2. Increasing Feature Adoption

Even powerful features can go unused if users don’t know they exist or don’t understand their benefits. DAPs ensure feature adoption by offering contextual guidance that highlights key functions. For instance, platforms like Userflow, Userpilot and AppLearn can guide users through new workflows or showcase underutilized features that drive productivity and better adoption outcomes.

3. Lowering Customer Support Costs

By offering in-app support and real-time guidance, DAPs reduce the need for human intervention, which in turn lowers customer support costs. Users can find answers to their questions without having to submit a ticket or reach out for help.

4. Improving Key Growth Metrics

We've touched upon this a bit in the above reasons, but overall DAPs work to grow your business. Whether it’s increasing the rate of onboarding completion, reducing churn, or boosting feature adoption, DAPs improve key performance metrics that drive business outcomes.

Use Cases for Digital Adoption Platforms

Digital adoption platforms are versatile and can be applied in various scenarios, from customer onboarding to internal training. Here are some key use cases that show you just how important DAPs are. 

1. User Onboarding

• When a new user starts using an app or software, especially in a digital transformation context, they may need assistance understanding how to navigate the platform and integrate it into their business processes. A DAP can provide a step-by-step tutorial to ensure they know how to use the key features from the start. 
• Example: For a new user signing up for an online banking app, the DAP could guide them  through setting up their account, linking their bank, and making their first transaction, making the adoption process seamless and efficient.

2. Employee Onboarding

• When a new employee joins a company, they need to quickly learn how to use various enterprise software and digital tools. A DAP can streamline the adoption process by guiding them through the initial setup and use of these tools, making the onboarding process smoother and faster.
• Example: A DAP could walk a new employee through setting up their email, accessing the company’s project management software, and navigating the HR portal for tasks like submitting time-off requests, thereby accelerating technology adoption within the organization.

3. Feature Adoption

• When a company releases new features in its enterprise software or digital tools, existing users might need help learning how to integrate these into their business processes. A DAP can introduce these features and provide interactive tutorials, ensuring smooth technology adoption and minimizing disruption.
• Example: After a software update, a DAP could highlight new features, like a redesigned dashboard or advanced reporting tools, and show users how to incorporate these into their workflows, thus supporting ongoing digital transformation efforts.

4. Customer Feedback 

• Collecting user feedback through surveys, such as Net Promoter Score (NPS), can be crucial for understanding how satisfied your users are with your product. A DAP can prompt users to take a survey at the right moment, ensuring higher response rates and better insights into the adoption process
• Example: A DAP could trigger an NPS survey after a user completes a significant action, like finishing a task or using a new feature for the first time, gathering feedback that can help refine the technology adoption strategy and reduce churn.

5. Announcements

• When important updates or changes need to be communicated to users, a DAP can make these announcements directly within the platform, ensuring that users are aware of these new developments, and can take advantage of them. 
• Example: If there’s a significant feature update, a DAP could inform users about it with either a banner announcement or a pop up when the user logs in, thereby reducing confusion that users may experience. 

List of Digital Adoption Platforms 

When choosing a digital adoption platform (DAP) for your organization, it’s important to find a solution that fits your particular needs. So we've gathered eight different tools that you can take a look at. 

1. Userflow

Userflow is a flexible platform that allows for rapid deployment of onboarding flows and in-app guides without needing developers, making it the best choice for product managers and teams of all sizes. Whether you’re a startup or an enterprise, Userflow offers the perfect balance of affordability, ease of use, and powerful features. Which is why it is best for teams looking for a fast, customizable, and scalable digital adoption platform.

Pros:

• Fast Set up: Userflow is designed for rapid deployment, enabling teams to create and customize onboarding flows and in-app guides quickly without relying on developers.
• Highly Customizable: With extensive customization options, Userflow makes it easy to tailor the onboarding experience to specific user segments and use cases, ensuring the perfect fit for your product.
• Affordability and Scalability: Userflow offers competitive pricing while still delivering the features needed for both small businesses and large enterprises, making it the most versatile choice on the market.

Cons:

• Limited Third-Party Integrations: While the platform’s integrations are continuously growing, they may currently be more limited compared to older platforms.

2. WalkMe

Originally a Salesforce training solution, WalkMe is a comprehensive digital adoption platform designed for large companies with a big headcount. Therefore, WalkMe is best for large enterprises with employee onboarding and digital transformation needs. 

Pros:

• Great for Employee Onboarding: WalkMe is designed to handle large-scale implementations for organization-wide digital transformation, making it ideal for enterprises with complex needs and a big headcount.

Cons:

• High Cost: WalkMe’s pricing can be prohibitive, especially for smaller businesses or startups.
• Steep Learning Curve: WalkMe requires time and expertise to set up and maintain, which can be challenging for smaller teams.

3. Whatfix

Whatfix is an onboarding tool for internal and user-facing purposes. Billed as a cheaper alternative to WalkMe, Whatfix is mainly geared toward enterprise teams. Which means it may be more for larger companies looking for employee onboarding tools.

Pros:

• Ease of Use and Implementation: Whatfix offers a Chrome plugin for its Editor, which makes it easy to get started. Whatfix also has user-friendly interface and ease of deployment, making it accessible for teams with low levels of technical expertise. 

Cons:

• Limited Focus: Whatfix presents itself as a tool that can do both employee and user adoption. Because of that, it has a relatively weak solution for the purpose of user onboarding. 
• Lack of Analytics: Whatfix doesn't offer much in terms of analytics, and it doesn't integrate with top-of-the-line product analytics software such as Mixpanel. 

4. Userlane

Userlane does both employee onboarding and user onboarding, but it is more geared towards internal use. 

Pros:

• Great for Boosting Employee Productivity: Userlane 's solution is tailored to business process software such as Workday, Salesforce, SAP, and Oracle, making it a great choice for getting more out of your employees. 

Cons:

• Limited Feature Set: Userlane’s focus on interactive guides means it lacks some of the broader features found in more comprehensive platforms like WalkMe.
• Less Suitable for Large Enterprises: Userlane is better suited for small to mid-sized businesses rather than large enterprises with more complex needs.

5. Spekit

Spekit is great for delivering in-app training and documentation tailored to sales teams, making it a go-to tool for sales enablement. Due to its focus on sales enablement, Spekit is best for sales teams looking to boost their numbers. 

Pros:

• Great for Sales Enablement: Spekit excels in delivering in-app training and documentation for sales teams, making it a go-to tool for sales enablement. 

Cons:

• Niche Focus: Spekit is primarily focused on sales and CRM process optimization, which limits its versatility for broader digital adoption needs.
• Feature Gaps for Non-Sales Use Cases: For companies outside of sales and CRM, Spekit’s feature set may feel limited.

6. Apty

Like WalkMe, Apty is another tool that is more suited for internal uses. So if you're looking to do user onboarding, Apty may not be the best option. 

Pros:

• Digital Transformation: Apty provides everything you need for effective employee onboarding and introducing digital transformation to your organization. 
• Process Compliance: Apty is well-suited for businesses that need to ensure internal process compliance through detailed tracking and reporting.

Cons:

• Complex Setup: Apty’s setup can be complex and requires a good deal of configuration, which may deter smaller teams.
• Limited Self-Service Features: Apty is more geared toward organizations that require hands-on support rather than self-service options.

7. Userpilot

Userpilot is a flexible and all-around good option when it comes to a DAP focused on revenue expansion. But it does lack when it comes to customization and despite being a no-code platform, it's not as easy to manage. 

Pros:

• Balanced Feature Set: Userpilot is a well rounded product, offering pretty much everything you would need to start deploying user onboarding. 
• Flexible Targeting: Userpilot allows for highly specific user segmentation, enabling personalized experiences based on behavior or user roles. 

Cons:

• Limited Integrations: Userpilot's integrations are limited compared to other platforms, which could be a drawback for teams with complex tech stacks.
• Customization Limits: Some users find that Userpilot's customization options are not as robust as those offered by other DAPs.

8. UserGuiding

UserGuiding's biggest advantage is that it's cheap. At $89 per month, it is by far the most affordable option on the market. But in return UserGuiding lacks a lot of depth, making it unsuitable for those who need more customizability.

Pros:

• Affordable for Small Teams: UserGuiding is one of the more cost-effective options, making it a great choice for startups or small businesses with limited budgets.

Cons:

• Basic Feature Set: While it covers essential features, UserGuiding lacks some advanced functionalities, such as in-depth analytics and complex workflow automation.
• Scalability Issues: UserGuiding is more suited to small and mid-sized companies and may struggle to meet the needs of larger enterprises.

Choosing the Right Digital Adoption Platform

Selecting the right digital adoption platform for your business requires careful consideration of several factors. Here’s what you should look for:

1. Ease of Implementation 

These days, there's no excuse for a DAP to not be user-friendly. From no-code builders that can be handled by non-technical staff to easy set up that doesn't take handholding from a customer success rep, your DAP of choice should be a no-brainer when it comes to how difficult it is to handle. 

2. Ease of Integration

The DAP you choose should integrate smoothly with your existing stack. Ensure the DAP supports seamless integration without requiring extensive technical support. 

3. Customization and Flexibility

Customization is key to delivering a personalized experience. For instance, how targeted can you make your in-app messaging? Can you trigger tooltips at a certain time in a certain place in your application to a certain group of users? Look for platforms that allow you to tailor your user interactions as much as you desire. 

4. Scalability

As your user base grows, your DAP needs to scale with it. Certain platforms have the capacity to support large amount of users while others are more suited for smaller operations. Make sure that the tool you choose will be able to go the distance with you. 

5. Robust Product Analytics

Understanding user behavior is critical for optimizing adoption. So look for DAPs that offer robust product analytics, or in the least seamlessly integrate with existing tools, such as Heap and Mixpanel. 

6. Quality Customer Service

You're not just buying a DAP. You're buying also into the team behind that DAP. So try to see just how much support you can expect to get. A lot of it is noticeable right away. For instance, how attentive and helpful are they when you're trying out their product? Simple things like that can reveal a lot about how much the team cares about your success.

Start Your Digital Adoption Journey

So, now you know everything about DAPs, what they do, what their benefits are, and which specific tools to go for. Believe it or not, now comes the difficult part: picking out which tool to get. 

Whatever your digital transformation needs are, always try the software first. Get a free trial, or ask for a demo if a free trial is not available. Compare which tools give you the value you absolutely need, for the right price. That way, you get the most bang out of your buck. 

And if you're looking for the best digital adoption tool for scaling your business, whether you're a startup, mid-sized company, or even a large enterprise, Userflow has you covered. If it's about user onboarding, we have everything you need from in-app messaging, tooltips, product analytics, and way more.