Digital Transformation

Digital transformation is not a technology problem.
It's a behaviour problem.

Your organisation has invested in the best tools. But investing in technology without investing in behaviour is like building a motorway nobody drives on. SUE helps you design digital adoption so tools actually get used.

✓ SWAC model for adoption ✓ Proven with 500+ organisations
SUE Behavioural Design training on digital adoption

They design digital adoption with SUE

Heineken ING Bank KPN Eneco ANWB Randstad Amnesty International Roche Adyen European Commission Centraal Beheer Achmea DPG Media Rijkswaterstaat CZ Heineken ING Bank KPN Eneco ANWB Randstad Amnesty International Roche Adyen European Commission Centraal Beheer Achmea DPG Media Rijkswaterstaat CZ

500+ organisations • 15 years of Behavioural Design • 14 courses for every level

Why it doesn't work

Why digital transformation almost always fails

New CRM. New ERP. New collaboration tools. Millions invested in licences and implementation. But the Excel sheets remain. The workarounds multiply. Adoption stalls at 30%.

1

Tools nobody uses

The new system is live. Training has been delivered. But after three months, 70% still use the old way. Not out of unwillingness, but out of habit. The old path is familiar. The new path costs energy.

70% revert to old ways of working
2

Training without adoption

Two days of training. Enthusiastic participants. But back at the desk, reality wins: deadlines, pressure, habits. Training teaches what you can do. It doesn't design when and how you do it.

90% of training forgotten within 30 days
3

Resistance misframed

People who don't cooperate get labelled 'change resistant.' But they're not against change — they're against ambiguity, extra work, and loss of autonomy. Frame resistance as information, not as a problem.

Resistance = information about barriers
4

IT success, behaviour failure

The project has been 'successfully completed.' The KPIs have been met. But the real question — are people actually using it? — never gets asked. Technical implementation is not the same as behaviour change.

Only 30% achieve full adoption (McKinsey)

Want to read more about why digital transformation fails? Read the full article →

The breakthrough

It's not technology but behaviour that's the problem

Most digital transformations focus on technology: the right system, the right integration, the right features. But technology doesn't adopt itself. People have to change their behaviour.

And behaviour change follows different rules than technology implementation. It doesn't require training but design. Not: how do we teach people the new system? But: how do we design the work moment so the new system becomes the path of least resistance?

SUE combines the SWAC model with Behavioural Design to design digital adoption. At the right moment, in the right place, with the right barrier removed.

"Training teaches people what they can do. Design determines what they actually do. The difference between a tool that ends up in a drawer and a tool that transforms work isn't the tool — it's the design of the work moment."
Tom de Bruyne, Gamechangers
The method

SWAC: design adoption at the work moment

Digital adoption doesn't fail because of a lack of motivation, but because of poorly timed interventions. The SWAC model designs adoption at the exact moment when the chance of success is highest: the work moment.

Context 1

Spark: the right trigger

A spark is the trigger that prompts new behaviour. Not a generic 'use the new system!' email, but a specific prompt at the exact moment the old behaviour takes place. Timing is everything.

Adoption leak: The trigger comes at the wrong moment. Or not at all. Or too often, turning it into noise.
Context 2

Work moment: when adoption succeeds

Adoption doesn't succeed in the training room, but at the work moment: the exact moment someone performs a task. Design the intervention at that moment, not a week before or a month after.

Adoption leak: Training is disconnected from the work moment. Knowledge is present but not accessible at the moment it matters.
Context 3

Ability: design for CAN, not WANT

Most change programmes focus on motivation: do people want to change? But the question isn't whether they want to, but whether they can. Lower the barrier. Make the first step smaller. Design for capability, not desire.

Adoption leak: The barrier is too high. Too many steps, too many choices, too much uncertainty the first time.
Context 4

CAN: context that supports

CAN is the context that supports and reinforces new behaviour. Social norms ('85% of your team already uses it'), visible feedback ('you saved 20 minutes'), and nudges that make the new path the default.

Adoption leak: No feedback, no social proof, no visible benefits. The new behaviour feels like extra work.
Evidence

The numbers behind digital transformation

Designing digital adoption is not a soft stance. It's built on hard data and behavioural science.

70%
Fail

70% of all digital transformations fail to meet their intended goals. The investment in technology is massive, but the investment in behaviour change is minimal. The difference isn't the tool but the adoption.

McKinsey Digital Transformation
90%
Training forgotten

Ebbinghaus' forgetting curve is merciless: 90% of what we learn in training vanishes within 30 days. Not because of stupidity, but because of a lack of application at the work moment. Knowledge without context evaporates.

Ebbinghaus, Forgetting Curve
5 min
To first value

Time-to-value is the crucial metric for adoption: how quickly does someone experience the first win? If it takes more than five minutes before the new system delivers value, 60% drop off. Design for immediate reward.

Product adoption research
BD intervention

Replace your 'rollout plan' with a 'work moment audit': at which exact moments in the working day should the new system be used? Design a micro-intervention at each work moment. Measure adoption per work moment, not per user.

Three ways to start

Choose the level that fits your challenge

Whether you want to learn the method yourself, transform your team, or take an organisation-wide approach: there's a path that fits. Every level builds on the same foundation: behavioural science instead of good intentions.

Individual learning

You want to learn how to apply behavioural principles to digital adoption yourself

For IT managers, change managers, product managers and digital transformation leads

Deep Dive Training
Deep Dive AI & Insights
Design adoption with behavioural science

A one-day intensive training where you learn how to design digital adoption with the SWAC model and Behavioural Design. From CRM adoption to AI implementation.

  • Apply the SWAC model
  • Work moment analysis
  • Identify adoption barriers
  • Design micro-interventions
  • Set up behaviour measurement
  • Immediately applicable action plan

For: IT managers, change managers, product managers, digital transformation leads

€7,990
per group (max. 16 participants)
More information →

Or request a quote

The complete method

You want to master the full Behavioural Design framework

For professionals who want to systematically apply the method to digital transformation

Most popular choice
Behavioural Design Fundamentals
The complete method in two days
★ Most chosen

"After the Fundamentals training we understood why our Salesforce adoption had stagnated at 35%. It wasn't the tool. It was the work moment. Three months later: 82% adoption."

Digital Transformation Lead, financial services

The Behavioural Design Fundamentals is the complete method in two days. You learn the SUE Influence Framework, the SWAC model and the Behavioural Design Sprint. From diagnosis to intervention, from insight to behaviour change.

  • SUE Influence Framework
  • SWAC model for adoption
  • Behavioural Design Sprint
  • Translate behavioural insights
  • Design interventions
  • Directly applicable to your case

For: Professionals who want to systematically apply BD to digital transformation

€1,490
per person (or €17,990 per team)
View the training →

Or schedule a conversation

Organisation-wide approach

You want to structurally embed digital adoption across the organisation

For IT directors, CTOs and L&D partners who want to build lasting adoption

Learning Journey
Digital Transformation Learning Journey
Embed adoption as an organisational competency

A multi-month programme where SUE analyses the digital adoption challenge and redesigns the work moment. From diagnosis and work moment audit to intervention programme and embedded behaviour change.

  • Adoption diagnosis (Influence Framework)
  • Work moment audit
  • SWAC intervention programme
  • Design micro-interventions
  • Behaviour measurement and evaluation
  • Embedding in the organisation

For: Organisations of 200+ employees, IT directors, CTOs, L&D partners

Tailored
depending on scope and duration
Request a conversation →

Or call 020 223 46 26

Deep reads

Everything on digital transformation and adoption

Frequently asked questions

Still have questions? Here are the most important ones.

Why do most digital transformations fail?

70% of digital transformations fail to meet their intended goals. The reason: organisations invest in technology but not in behaviour change. A new CRM, ERP or collaboration platform is worthless if nobody uses it. The problem isn't the tool — it's the adoption.

What is the difference between digital transformation and AI adoption?

AI adoption is a specific form of digital transformation. Digital transformation encompasses all technological changes in an organisation: from CRM implementation and process automation to workplace digitalisation and data-driven decision making. AI is one component. The behavioural principles for adoption are the same.

How does Behavioural Design help with digital transformation?

Behavioural Design doesn't look at the technology but at the behaviour around it. We analyse: why do people stick to the old way? What barriers block the new way? Using the SWAC model we design interventions that place the right trigger at the right work moment, so new tools become the path of least resistance.

What is the SWAC model?

SWAC stands for Spark, Work moment, Ability and CAN. Spark is the trigger that prompts new behaviour. Work moment is the exact moment when the chance of adoption is highest. Ability is about lowering the barrier (design for what people can do, not what they want to do). CAN is the context that supports and reinforces the behaviour.

How long before we see results?

With a Deep Dive training your team starts working on concrete interventions that same day. With a Learning Journey we typically see measurable shifts in adoption behaviour after 4 to 8 weeks. The first quick wins — micro-interventions at specific work moments — often deliver visible results within two weeks.

Ready to design digital adoption instead of just rolling it out?

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