Power to the people: Cues, cravings, rewards and habit loops

Abstract: Changing user behaviour to encourage positive attitudes towards adopting new workflows and digital asset management (DAM) systems can make or break the success of the DAM in any organisation. This article aims to focus on the art of interpersonal communication via heuristic models, which reflect the dirt in the trenches of everyday work in a real-life corporate setting. References will be drawn from popular publications as examples of highly accessible resources that can be easily understood and accepted by non-academics performing the daily functions with DAM, and by people who use assets managed in a DAM. Understanding the power and ubiquity of habits is key to breaking through the barrier of DAM user adoption. This article also aims to inspire DAM administrators and decision makers to focus on the people (users) first, technology (DAM) second, and with the realisation that change is an ever-evolving process, which requires patience and time.

Keywords: digital asset management, change management, habits, interpersonal communication, people skills