 Hi everyone, I'm here to talk to you today about why users don't have to suffer as we all transition technology and our solutions into the cloud. So my name is Melissa Jerkwise. I'm the co-founder of an initiative called diversify thinking where we focus on raising the level of action to meet the level of conversation in regards to diversity and inclusion, as well as the chief customer experience officer here at adaptation startup that's focused around user experience and providing technology to create great experiences for our customer as they move. So it's quite relevant to what we're going to be talking about today and I'm really excited to be here. So this is a hard truth. Some people see this and they maybe don't believe it or or they take it somewhat personally, but it really doesn't matter how great what you build with technology is if your users don't embrace it. I will say I've had my hand as a as a technologist for the last 25 years and building what I fondly call shelfware and meaning that it just literally sat on the shelf. Nobody used it. No one got value from it. So it was much like that saying if a tree falls in the woods. Does anyone hear it so I think you know we get really excited about the next next amazing thing in technology. And so do I, I think it's crazy like devices and how they've progressed and just programming languages and new ones that erupt all the time. It's like the next bright shiny object we want to chase. But what we can't do is forget about the people that we're doing it for and with right and I think you know one of the there's a couple of points. I hopefully drive home with you today and they're they're around, you know, stakeholders and who matters in this process. And I think, you know, there's an obvious stakeholder that we often consider and it's the executive right so we all know that in order to do any kind of large digital transformation or technology project you need executive buy in why because they hold the wallet. They are the people that are going to write the check that's going to give you the funding for the resources the technology whether that's people or hardware or software or time whatever the resources they're going to grant you. They are the people that you need to get on board. Yes, this is a great idea. We believe in it. Go. You get to build your team and assemble them accordingly. The other stakeholder though I challenge you today to think about and I want you to keep them in mind throughout our entire time together is the end user. So I'm here to tell you that end user buy in is equally, maybe even arguably more at some level, equally as important as executive buy in to your success with technology. So successful implementation of something, whether that's moving to the cloud, any kind of like digital transformation does not equal successful adoption. Just because you think it worked and it's awesome and it's using the latest and greatest technology, and it's in the cloud and this is amazing does not mean that your users agree and I think that's, that's the shift that I want to challenge you all with today. So, who are these people who are these mystical creatures, the these end user stakeholders that I talked about and you know these are some of the comments that we hear from, from end users and they often get left out of any change management exercise really, especially in the technology and these people have jobs to do. They have every day jobs like you and I, and technology sometimes is not at the forefront of that it happens to be a means to an end or a vehicle for them to do their jobs, but it's not their focus if they're not technologies, technologists like you and I. So to them it's just a lot of change they're already busy. You know, okay fine yeah there's some great stuff there but it doesn't have everything I need I'll wait till the next one comes out right because there's always going to be a next one, which is true with technology and it's changing much faster than us as humans. They're very comfortable with what they already do. And even if they hate it, they'll stay with it. And one of the things that's helped me recently if the technology we build today will become obsolete in 2025, and I said absolutely not because there are legacy systems out there that are decades old because of these particular stakeholders, they won't let it go, because they've learned it, and they don't want to learn something new, not unless it's going to make their lives tremendously easier. They've got too much already on their plates. This is true of most people, they're stressed, they're overworked, and they don't care about the new shiny object that you're so excited about. So they'll just stay doing what they're doing even if what they're doing is an Excel spreadsheet that they have to manually update, or even if what they're doing is a pen to paper and they're literally doing it manually. So these are your end users and your stakeholders, and they're humans and they're habitual. So they've already created habits. And so what you're doing is displacing habits that they actually are comfortable with. So what if I told you there was a way that you could approach this sort of a mindset I know it says architecture, and it is conceivably an architectural model. And then really because we're talking about scaling technology, but I'd like to challenge you to think about it as a mindset where at the hub of this model is all the important things, the data right all the important things about the business that tells you the health of the business. And your users. Sure, there are some use especially your executives right they're really really concerned with the health and accuracy of that data, but the end users. So the day to day users where this data actually comes from. They're, they don't consider themselves data analysts or data, you know, entry operators, they are there whatever their role is. And so for them. We want to create these amazing experiences these folks that are so focused on their them that they're able to do their jobs, and everyone wins. So the spokes feed in to the hub, and they don't need to care about what technology that's how that hub is on so it could be on prem or it could be in the cloud, or it could be an AS 400 or it could be Salesforce. It doesn't matter to them. They just know that they haven't the ability to do their job and we've abstracted that away. And that's really the core of this architectural model. When we do this here at adaptation, we really focus around some key design principles and think of them as a stepwise approach but the, you know, some have order and some are really just that they're just principles that we hold true. One is, you know, won't be a surprise you need to know who your user is and identify the job that they're doing like what are what outcomes are they trying to reach. And then you need to collaborate with them I often call this inclusive design. So this is where we don't build for our users we build with our users. We bring them along for the journey and, you know, key key thing here guess what we get buy in early, because they helped to build it. And so, you know I've seen companies that say like built with whoever their end user population is for whoever their end user population is. That's brilliant. And it's definitely speaking to what I'm talking about here, which is inclusive design, maintain database integrity this is really when I spoke to the business health and the metrics that you use to evaluate that health, and the accuracy of the data. We want to make sure we hold true to that because that's inevitably why everyone's using these systems in the first place right no one's using them just because they're fun if they're playing some sort of candy crusher wordscapes on their phone right like this. These are business apps, these are applications that are allowing people to do their jobs, which are feeding into an overall business strategy and process. So really crucial be where your users are meet them there. If they're using their phone mostly then make sure that the the experience that you're giving them works effectively there. Don't don't make them struggle don't make their jobs harder, because we saw their feedback will be. I can do it over here I'll just do it over here or I'll just write it on a piece of paper because it's easier than doing it on my phone. And then finally the most arguably the most important part of this entire process is listening to your users and creating that feedback loop make it easy for your users to give you feedback that doesn't mean you have to address all of it. It means you need to listen and acknowledge it acknowledging your users feedback and addressing it are very different. And I challenge you because some people are really afraid of getting feedback. They don't invite it. They're actually worried about asking. I recently sent out an invite to all of my customers asking them what's one thing adaptation can do better for you as we plan for 2022. People could be really scared about that because maybe they're going to tell you that they don't even want to work with you in 2022. Well if they tell me that then I want to know why I would love to understand what are we not doing for you, because if I don't understand what I'm not doing for you, whether that be in the product or even how we address them from a, you know, customer aspect of working with our team that I'm likely going to do the same thing to someone else and I'm going to have attrition for lots of users and customers so don't be afraid of feedback. Embrace it it is feedback all feedback is good. Even when it's negative because you can learn from it you can adjust, and that means that no one else will have that feedback in the future. That's your goal right. The acknowledgement of feedback is different than addressing feedback. I want you to understand that because it means you can actually say to your users, we're actually not going to do that right now and justify it. Make sure they understand. We heard your feedback. We actually think it's not bad feedback. It's good. Here's what we're going to do instead or here's why we're not going to do that right now we're going to prioritize that later, but maybe you're going to do it or maybe there's a better way to get to their outcomes that is already available to them. That's I always think that's amazing when a customer asks us for something. And, you know, initially, again, you think, oh, feedback we're going to have to do work, but then you look at that and you're like, oh, actually this is amazing because you can already reach that outcome if I understand your outcome. Remember the job could be done. What are you trying to achieve? And not just the feature you asked for. Now I can actually train you and lead you down a path where you can do what you already wanted to do with the product you already have. And that's, I mean, that's amazing, right. So listen to your users create that feedback loop, make it easy for them to give you feedback. So I'm asking you to invest in user experience. So obviously, if there's an investment, you hope there's a return. So here's some of the ways there is a return. Of course, there's ways that you're going to get some ROI on these things. So some of these things should be really obvious based on what I previously told you. Why would you need expensive training or lots of time training? They've built it with you. They already know the system. You brought them along for the journey. So they don't even really need training at all. You've accelerated user adoption again, because you started with them and you build with them. And so they're excited. They want to use it. They feel like they have skin in the game and they own it. Some of my favorite moments of delight with customers is when we optimize workflows that were unexpected. I feel like those unexpected surprises around things that they didn't realize could be automated that could, that we were able to do in the process or things that were automated that shouldn't have been, that never really worked. So when we discover those things, those are my favorite moments because it provides more optimization for them and success, right? And they're going to get more value from the relationship with you as well as from your product. So retention is super important. You know, successful implementation I mentioned does not equal successful adoption. Successful adoption. So this hockey stick of acceleration of growth for adoption does not equal retention. If you don't create that feedback loop and you're not listening to your customers, you will lose them. And that doesn't mean remember that you have to do everything they ask, but it does mean you need to listen. And it does mean that you need to acknowledge that you're listening and they need to know it. If they're giving you feedback and you're not reacting in any way and acknowledging that feedback, they will leave. If you're giving them, they've given you feedback and you haven't addressed it, but you've acknowledged it, they'll stay with you. There's a trust element there. So again, successful implementation doesn't equal successful adoption. Successful adoption does not equal successful retention. There's still work to do on the other side of that. So, again, if you want to talk more to me, feel free to take a snapshot of this. This is all the different places where you can find me. And we can talk more about user experience or how we move to the cloud without creating a lot of friction with our existing user base so that they don't have to feel like they have to relearn their entire job and in fact maybe we can make some amazing improvements along the way. And I'll leave you with this again. Successful implementation does not equal successful adoption. Remember, your end users are the stakeholder we often forget during some of these large digital transformation and moving to the cloud type projects and initiatives. They are just as important as your executive buy-in for these things. Thank you.