Question

Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) Theory suggests that five characteristics of an innovation impact our adoption decision: relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability and observability. Select a specific health innovation and discuss how each listed characteristic might impact the adoption decision.

Answer 1

In particular, 5 characteristics are especially important in influencing an innovation's rate of adoption:

Relative Advantage. The relative advantage refers to the degree to which an innovation appears superior to existing products. ...

• Compatibility. ...
• Complexity. ...
• Divisibility. ...
• Communicability.

The “diffusion of innovations” theory of communications expert and rural sociologist Everett Rogers attempts to identify and explain the factors that lead to people and groups adopting innovations (new ideas and technologies). Design teams that account for both usability and how people adopt innovation stand a much greater chance of having users accept and use their products. The diffusion of innovations is a complex process; design teams can use their knowledge of the theory to create a road map for how they will address critical factors in the design and marketing of their product.

Relative advantage measures how improved an innovation is over a competing option or the previous generation of a product. Potential users need to see how an innovation improves their current situation. Improvements can be in one or many of these areas:

• better service,
• consolidation of multiple functions into one tool,
• decreased need for supplies and equipment,
• empowerment of users,
• improved interface,
• increased customizability,
• increased longevity,
• increased productivity,
• reduced user effort,
• reduced environmental impact,
• saving of money,
• saving of space or storage,
• saving of time.