When WalkMe started out, theirs was a simple kind of a proposition: they helped drive software adoption by offering contextual guidance within applications. Instead of having to refer to an instruction manual or some other third-party offering, for example, users would have WalkMe-generated advice pop up within the application itself.

Increasingly, however, the art (or, perhaps, science) of refining user interfaces and software design has become ever more complex and, in turn, WalkMe has built out the complexity of its offering to meet these more complex demands. An acquisition being announced today takes the company further on this journey. WalkMe is acquiring DeepUI, a startup company that has, until now, been operating in stealth.

DeepUI has patented some technologies that allow it to understand user interactions at the user interface level. DeepUI then aggregates this data across the many different users a piece of software might have and applies some smarts to that data in order to intuit individual user’s needs, create step-by-step guidance and generally complete required tasks faster.

DeepUI seems to be a similar proposition to HotJar, another company that delivers scary levels of insights into website visitor behavior. It is almost terrifying to watch companies like these display, in real time, where users to a website are clicking, scrolling and generally consuming content – it is the ultimate in the realization of George Orwell’s Big brother prognostications.

Outside of the 1984 references, the utility of this sort of offering makes total sense – it allows organizations to tailor their applications and user interfaces to the real-world tendencies of their users, in doing so, they can assure the highest levels of adoption and uptake.

DeepUI was actually founded back in 2014 by Dr. Ron Zohar and Moran Shemer, who together have over 35 years’ combined experience in the design and development of advanced algorithmic systems. According to WalkMe, the DeepUI team will join the broader team to help automate other parts of the digital user experience.

DeepUI is actually WalkMe’s third acquisition since the company was founded in 2011. WalkMe acquired native mobile AI startup Abbi in January 2017, and visual analytics startup Jaco in April 2017. Both technologies have been integrated into WalkMe’s digital adoption platform – and a similar fate is intended for DeepUI

MyPOV

Technology like that provided by DeepUI is actually pretty scary on some levels, but outside of the anxiety, the value proposition is very clear. DeepUI will help WalkMe deliver what its customers want: a more finely customized, dynamic and responsive offering. This acquisition makes lots of sense to me.

Ben Kepes

Ben Kepes is a technology evangelist, an investor, a commentator and a business adviser. Ben covers the convergence of technology, mobile, ubiquity and agility, all enabled by the Cloud. His areas of interest extend to enterprise software, software integration, financial/accounting software, platforms and infrastructure as well as articulating technology simply for everyday users.

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