Why do it
AppDiscovery gives you insights into the applications your employees are using and therefore, where they spend their time.
But what should you do if you notice they're using an application they shouldn't? Maybe you already pay for a project management tool, and they're using a different one, or maybe AI tools like ChatGPT haven't yet been cleared by your IT department for regular use.
This use case comes up often with Userlane customers, so let's dive into how you can leverage Userlane to inform and guide your employees to the correct applications.
Here are the points you need to consider for this process. In this article, we will touch upon each of them in detail:
1. Review applications in use
Use Userlane App Discovery to get an overview of the applications your employees are using.
- Do you see any applications that potentially pose a security risk? (eg. AI-powered tools not yet cleared by your IT security)
- Do you see any applications with duplicate use cases? (eg. your company already pays for Jira but you see employees using Asana or Trello)
2. Get more insight
If you answered yes to either of the above questions, add the applications in question to Userlane to gain more insight. To add a discovered application to Userlane is quick and easy, simply click the 'Add App' button.
Once you've added the new application, Userlane HEART will automatically start collecting data you can use to better understand how often your employees return to this app, whether they're actively engaged with it, as well as how much of it they navigate through.
Additionally, with Userlane Surveys, you can directly ask your employees for qualitative data about the application they use:
- What do you find most valuable in using [name of the application]?
- Why do you use [name of the application]?
- What benefits do you see in using [name of the application]?
3. Act on the data
After analyzing the HEART data and survey responses, you'll be able to make a decision on how to proceed:
- If the application in question goes against your internal IT policies, it's best to reach out to your IT team.
- They can then decide if the application should be approved for internal use or blocked.
- If the application is a duplicate use case for an application already in your company's tech stack, you can continue to leverage Userlane to drive your employees to the correct application.
How Userlane can help:
We strongly recommend using a combination of Announcements and Tooltips to make employees aware of what to do.
With an Announcement you can inform the user and also give them a clear call-to-action, e.g.
- We moved to [name of the application] for improved functionality and better user experience. Follow the link and get started.
- Important Notice: We regret to inform you that the use of [name of the application] is no longer permitted due to [reason]. To ensure compliance with our policies and regulations, please discontinue use of the application immediately.
A Tooltip can be also used to ensure the information is shown during typical user actions, like on hover over the Login button:
- Sorry, [name of the application] is no longer available for use. Please use this link: [URL of new application]
- Switch to our new internal app for a smoother and more efficient workflow! Explore now: [URL of new application]
- Discover the superior features of [name of the new application]!
4. Monitor change
To ensure that the measures you took had an impact, continue to monitor HEART data for the application:
- you can check the Engagement metric to see if engaged sessions have decreased
- you can check the Adoption metric to see if the App Coverage has decreased
- you can check the Retention metic to see if fewer users are returning
Additionally, you can compare with the HEART data for the approved application, to ensure that traffic there is increasing.
