Title: How to implement an optimal user adoption and knowledge acquisition process for product lifecycle management software?

Authors: Yi Miao Tu; Stéphane Gaillard; Frédéric Segonds

Addresses: Université de Technologie de Compiègne, Roberval, CS 60319, rue du Dr. Schweitzer, 60203 Compiègne Cedex, France ' Cristal Optimisations, 13 rue Jean de la Fontaine 78330 Fontenay Le Fleury, France ' Arts et Metiers ParisTech, LCPI, 151 bd de l'Hôpital,75013 Paris, France

Abstract: In the scenario of digital transformation projects, user adoption remains a critical challenge, especially for complex software like product lifecycle management (PLM). Recently, digital adoption platforms (DAPs) have emerged, providing new opportunities to tackle this problem. However, many digital transformation projects still have a high failure rate due to the lack of optimal knowledge acquisition processes for users. This paper discussed the cause of this phenomenon and practiced different creative problem-solving approaches following the principle of design thinking. Accordingly, a heuristic guiding tool has been designed. This tool provides decision support for project managers in selecting the optimal digital adoption platforms according to their project context, fostering collaborations between stakeholders during the user adoption process. The proof of concept is carried out to validate the tool, using a PLM deployment project as support. The result confirms the tool's feasibility to support DAP selection in PLM deployment project.

Keywords: PLM; digital transformation; digital adoption platform; DAP; knowledge management; design thinking.

DOI: 10.1504/IJPLM.2025.150951

International Journal of Product Lifecycle Management, 2025 Vol.16 No.1, pp.94 - 128

Received: 12 Sep 2024
Accepted: 09 Jun 2025
Published online: 05 Jan 2026 *

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