Why Digital ID Programs Can Stall, and How to Design for Adoption from Day One

Across the United States, state governments have invested millions in mobile driver’s license (mDL) and digital identity programs. Yet adoption can tell a very different story. While a small number of states reach high enrollment in their first year, many struggle to reach minimum adoption goals.

The difference isn’t funding or whether the technology works. It’s how these programs are designed, deployed, and adopted.

At SpruceID, we work with governments building digital identity as public infrastructure. Across these implementations, a consistent pattern emerges: programs that succeed address adoption challenges before launch. Programs that don’t can stall quickly. For state CIOs and program leaders, these patterns are predictable and avoidable.

The Adoption Gap Is a Design Problem

Digital identity only works when people use it. And people only use it when it is simple, more reliable, and more trustworthy than the alternatives.

Programs that stall typically fail in five areas:

• Enrollment friction
• Lack of real-world acceptance
• Closed system dependencies
• Connectivity assumptions
• Missing agency mandates

Programs that succeed treat these not as edge cases, but as core design requirements.

Making Enrollment Harder Than the Physical Alternative

One of the most common failures is also the most preventable: making digital enrollment more difficult than getting a physical ID.

In some states, residents are asked to:

• Visit a DMV office for identity proofing
• Complete multi-step verification that takes several days
• Use newer devices with specific requirements
• Navigate complex, technical interfaces

This creates an immediate drop-off. If the digital option is harder, most people simply won’t switch.

Successful programs take the opposite approach. They use existing DMV data for remote verification, allow enrollment directly through mobile devices, and complete the process in minutes, not days.

The principle is simple: digital identity must reduce friction, not add to it. Every extra step is a lost user. As we explored in How to Build a Digital ID People Actually Want to Use: 5 Lessons From the Field, reducing friction isn’t just good UX, it’s foundational to adoption.

Launching Without Anywhere to Use the Credential

A verifiable digital credential that cannot be used is not infrastructure, it’s a demonstration.

Several states have launched mDL programs before securing acceptance across agencies or service providers. Residents enroll, but quickly discover they still need their physical ID for everyday interactions, which can erode trust early.

Successful programs reverse the sequence. They build acceptance infrastructure before public launch, ensuring credentials work immediately in real-world scenarios: at airports, government offices, and participating businesses.

Utility drives adoption. When a credential works everywhere, people rely on it. When it doesn’t, they abandon it. This broader pattern is detailed in our Digital Identity In America: Series Overview, which shows how real-world usability determines program success.

Locking Into Proprietary Systems

Short-term procurement decisions can create long-term constraints.

When digital identity systems rely on proprietary formats or tightly coupled vendor ecosystems, states lose flexibility. They cannot easily adapt to new standards, integrate with federal systems, or switch providers.

This becomes especially problematic as standards evolve. Requirements such as ISO/IEC 18013-5 for mobile driver’s licenses and W3C Verifiable Credentials for data exchange are increasingly foundational to interoperability.

Programs built on open standards maintain optionality. They can evolve, integrate, and scale without re-architecting their entire system.

At SpruceID, we design systems around open, interoperable standards. Not as a preference, but as a requirement for long-term public infrastructure.

Assuming Constant Connectivity

Digital identity must work everywhere, not just where the network is strong.

Many implementations depend on real-time connectivity for credential presentation or verification. In practice, this can create failure points in rural areas, airports, government buildings, and any environment with limited signal.

Residents quickly learn that a digital ID is less reliable than a physical one.

Standards like ISO/IEC 18013-5 enable secure offline presentation using Bluetooth and NFC, allowing credentials to be verified without network access. Programs that implement these capabilities provide a consistent experience across environments.

Reliability builds trust. If a credential works every time, people will use it. The Digital Identity: End User Experience principles reinforce this: consistency and reliability matter more than advanced features.

Leaving Acceptance Up to Individual Agencies

Without clear mandates, adoption can stall. When agencies independently decide whether to accept verifiable digital credentials, they can delay implementation due to competing priorities. This limits where credentials can be used, thereby discouraging public adoption. The result is a coordination failure.

Successful programs address this directly. They establish clear policies requiring acceptance across state agencies, supported by shared infrastructure, implementation guidance, and timelines.

When acceptance is consistent, adoption becomes rational. Residents use digital identity because it works everywhere they need it.

Building Programs That Succeed

The challenge isn’t whether the technology works, it’s how it’s deployed.

Across the U.S., the adoption gap isn’t explained by funding or features. It comes down to whether programs are designed for real-world use from day one. Enrollment must be simple. Credentials must work everywhere. Systems must be built on open standards that prevent lock-in and enable long-term flexibility. And above all, programs must earn trust through reliability, privacy, and usability at every step.

At SpruceID, we’ve seen this firsthand. Successful programs treat digital identity as infrastructure - the trust layer that connects people, services, and institutions. That means addressing adoption barriers before launch, not after. It means designing for interoperability, offline use, and universal acceptance. And it means building systems that protect user privacy and control by design.

Build with SpruceID

SpruceID partners with governments to design and deploy privacy-preserving, standards-based digital identity systems that scale, from pilot to infrastructure. We combine deep expertise in ISO standards and W3C Verifiable Credentials with real-world deployments powering millions of verifiable digital credentials today.

If you’re planning or rethinking your digital identity program, we can help you design for adoption from day one. Get in touch to learn how SpruceID can support your state’s digital identity strategy.