Implementing Mixed Reality: Five Steps to Build End-User Buy In

Your organization’s successful adoption of mixed reality (MR) technology depends on many factors, including the most crucial, buy-in from end-users. If employees who may use the technology face adoption barriers, you put the entire implementation at risk.

Through our hands-on experience helping industrial organizations test, implement, and optimize the use of MR technology operationally, we’ve developed five steps that increase your chances of achieving end-user buy-in.

1. Focus on Use Case Development

First, you have to decide how you’re going to use MR within your operations. The obvious answers would be “remote support” or “maintenance”. But you need to dig in much deeper than that to truly optimize MR’s value.

If operational use cases are identified early on during implementation, it helps to tie the uses to a measurable return on investment, such as savings in time, money, or reduced downtime.

We’d also advise identifying more than one operational path since the initial use case might not be as impactful as imagined. Say you decide on maintenance as the use case. What if the equipment actually doesn’t require repair very often? Or maybe maintenance is usually carried out during an emergency, in which case you don’t react by grabbing a HoloLens. Then you don’t use the system operationally, and the value becomes zero.

Multiple use cases allow the headset(s) to be used in different capacities in ways that help or support your front-line workers.

The planning process to decide on these use cases should include both managers and front-line workers. Including all stakeholders involved in the project (executive champions, user champions, project administrators) can be eye-opening for both sides. Often the executive team might think they have a powerful use case, but then end-users disagree. Alignment on the use cases is required before any value can be delivered and made operational in an impactful way.

2. Select Project Champions

Industrial MR pilots are more likely to succeed when a small team of project champions are selected. One champion should be a manager responsible for the planning, implementation, reporting, and potential deployment. The other(s) should be front-line workers – end-users who are keen on the pilot and technology.

We used to advise only one front-line worker but we’ve found more success when at least two users drive the implementation forward from the ground level. And often even more user champions when there are multiple use cases identified.

Already trusted by their peers, the project champions will help promote the solution and will be responsible for ensuring the solution is used. They’ll also help other users with technical troubleshooting.

It’s important to select staff members who are excited about the technology and display the technical proficiency to master it quickly. They should be open-minded and work where they can influence members of the organization outside the pilot program.

In the most successful roll outs, the executive champion plays the role of accountability coach, and ensures the user champions are on track. This consists of holding them accountable and ensuring they use the solution for operations (and not just to play around) while also measuring key performance indicators. It also means pushing them (gently) to keep the MR solution top of mind so it does not grow dust on a shelf.

If this small team is successful, you could adopt a “train the trainers” situation in which your initial champions work to spread MR adoption throughout the organization. If you have more than one use case, the recommendation is for different user champions to lead the adoption in specific areas. (For example, one technician could take the lead in maintenance and another in operations.)

3. Introduce the Solution to the End-Users

The human element is perhaps the most critical component of a successful pilot. End-user buy-in is critical to the success of any digital transformation. If workers aren’t motivated, feel threatened, or don’t see the value, the pilot will likely fail.

This means change management processes need to be in place early, even at the pilot phase, to ensure your project ambassadors can help smooth resistance and ease the transition. Remember to record any adoption barriers the end-users identify or questions that come during the introduction and training phase. It’s also important to continually tie the solution back to the agreed-on operational use cases. If you are just seeing the technology without this frame of reference, it will not be as impactful.

To earn trust early, manage employee expectations about the MR solution’s capabilities and ensure they understand the pilot goals, solution functionality, and potential outcomes. Most importantly, be clear about how end-users can benefit from this change. When expectations don’t align with reality, mistrust in the solution can grow. The result: a lack of engagement, poor pilot results, and a work culture less likely to accept the solution.

Introduce the solution to end-users where they do their daily work. If they first use the solution in a boardroom, they’re less likely to adopt it without resistance. Keep the context of your use case and end-users in mind when selecting a location for an introduction to the solution.

And remember that people learn differently and at different rates.

4. Train the Test Group

When adopting MR, choose a solution provider that has a well-defined implementation process and mapped out customer journey. You and/or the provider should host one-on-one training sessions with end-users, who will need to understand both the hardware and the software.

Have each end-user perform the solution’s entire workflow – from turning it on, to performing the necessary functions, to shutting it off, and storing it – several times. While always tying the training back to the operational use cases. At the end of each session, ask the end-user if they have additional questions.

During the training period provide the end-user champions with additional levels of instruction and knowledge on the solution because they will become the first resource that other end-users approach with questions.

During the training, be sure to identify the end-user champion to the rest of the group and explain their role. It’s also important to understand the roles that various users will play in using the technology. For example, who will wear the headset? And who will be the expert? The training can be vastly different for each role. And you don’t want to create canned training that is just repeated time and time again. You want it to be as tailored as possible to the specific users.

As an extension of training, there should be a self-serve learning management system so the user can increase their knowledge at their own pace.

And once you’re finished each session, store the solution close to where the end-users work. It seems obvious, but it’s a critical step in promoting uptake.

5. Provide Ongoing, Proactive Support

Provide ongoing and proactive support to end-users and champions. We’d recommend bi-weekly meetings to give users enough time to really use the solution. (If they haven’t used it in two weeks, there’s a problem and the accountability coach needs to step in.)

These meetings should be complemented with monthly or quarterly champion calls with the solution provider to ensure that questions can be answered by experts.

Encourage end-users to be honest about their experience.  Relay their technical concerns to the solution provider, if need be.

You’re the point of contact between your workers and the solution provider. You must help them overcome technical blockages. Use these check-ins to inform future experiences and perform satisfaction interviews.

While performance-based questions may vary depending on your use case and solution, be sure to ask about the following:

• How is the pilot team adjusting to the solution?

• Do you see performance improvements resulting from the solution?

• Is it getting in the way at any point in the process? Are these blockages due to lack of experience or are they associated with end-user skill level?

• Have you noticed any unexpected effects or outcomes (eye strain, headaches, improvement in an area outside the identified KPIs, etc.)?

• Do you feel the operational use case is still applicable? If not, is there any other capacity where you feel like MR would provide even more value in your day-to-day?  (Use cases can change. That’s not a problem, but we want to make sure that we identify new paths to operational usage if needed.)

Effectively adopting mixed reality in an industrial setting goes beyond acquiring the latest technology for innovation's sake; it’s about fundamentally enhancing the way your team learns, works, and performs on-site. Remember, successful adoption requires a multifaceted strategy, it requires alignment with end users and management, a vendor who has a clear and structured implementation process, and well-defined, achievable, measurable use cases. This ensures all parties involved see the true value of the technology.

By aligning tech with the real needs and framework that your organization operates within, and bringing to bear an environment of continuous learning and support, your teams will be able to not only implement MR but thrive. You’ll be positioned to reap the benefits of new levels of efficiency and join the many other companies who have already committed to their adoption roadmap and capitalized on mixed reality.

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