"Non-tech ConTech": Behavior change in an industry that does not change its behavior

When the computer science and business students graduate from their universities, the last place you'd expect them to end up is on a construction job site, framing walls, laying flooring, or hanging sheetrock. With $100k salary, air-conditioned jobs waiting, most "white-collar" graduates don't cross paths with the construction industry.

On the other hand, when the day-to-day job for the construction industry primarily involves sweat-dripping and dirt-covered work done with your hands and not software, contractors don't have much time to consider technology and computers. Unlike almost all other industries in the world, construction workers don't face a computer screen during their day jobs.

The result?

• 67% of construction projects don't use advanced software technologies to streamline project management and performance,
• Less than 20% of those builders have any interest in adopting new technologies, and
• Only 4.1% of construction professionals use any cloud-based technologies.

Considering that the U.S. construction industry exceeds $1.6 trillion, the gap between modern technology and technologies applied in the field represents a massive opportunity for innovators - which is why the VC investment into construction technologies has doubled every two years.

But if contractors are inherently averse to technology, how does a startup get these users to adopt new contech? How does a software startup get a hardware industry to look at computer screens?

Ruck's answer? Don't.

Don't force behavior change if it doesn't come naturally. Professionals off of a construction site have a drastically different set of behaviors from those actively working on a construction site. On one hand, everyone from finance elitists to doctors to waiters looks at a computer screen at least once every 5 minutes for work. On the other hand, construction workers may go an entire work day without looking at their phones on the job. Construction is an industry and culture completely different from what most professionals are used to.

That's why it's notoriously hard for the tech sector to create software that contractors want to adopt. A contech startup can't project non-construction expectations on their construction pro users. An increase in the behavior-change variable directly leads to a decrease in the adoption/conversion rate.

As a result, Ruck has developed an interesting approach to construction technology, something our team likes to call "NonTech ConTech". Specifically, our thesis is to bring advanced technologies like AI, Natural Language Processors, and marketplace tech to the construction industry, without changing much of the user's experience. Our goal is to preserve the existing touch-points between the construction pro and technology on the front-end, but disrupt everything on the backend.

Example: While Ruck does have a mobile app in the app stores, the Ruck team noticed that most of its users still call/text their dedicated Ruck representatives to place orders and coordinate logistics. For a while, our team tried to persuade the users to use the mobile app. The order rate dropped significantly. Quickly, the team called all its users and guided everyone back to phone calls and text messages. The users returned.

The realization that a mobile app is not what contractors want to use was discouraging - until we realized that all the critical technologies, such as driver matching, route optimization, pricing, load matching, could still easily be implemented without a mobile app. Meaning: Ruck can offer low-tech UI (User Interface(s)) while using the most advanced tech behind the scenes.

The resulting Ruck UI was the least advanced technology ever: SMS and good ol' phone calls. On the front end, Ruck's users text their rep the details of their order, but on the back end, Ruck's system calculates weight, length, distance into the pricing while dispatching and matching the appropriate vehicle and driver with the cargo. The algorithm takes into account pickup and drop-off locations, driver starting location, bundling multiple orders, weight and length capacity of the vehicle and more to optimize the payout and charge amounts.

So, for the contractor, they are able to use the most basic technology that they are already familiar with and using, while gaining all the benefits of the software backing their delivery requests. Their experience is so simple that it almost looks like Ruck is not really even "tech". Hence, "NonTech ConTech".

And guess what? Users increased.

Author: Lee Chang, CEO

Sources:

"The Next Normal in Construction" (McKinsey & Company)

"Construction Industry Slow to Adopt New Technology" (KPMG)

"Study Finds Construction Industry Slow To Adopt, Utilize Technology" (Texas A&M)

"Record year for construction and ConTech investment" (Medium)