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Improving project and stakeholder management with creative deliverables. 

Overview

Problem

Our internal team was struggling to define our SOW for the client, as well as timelines and deliverables.

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Joining an in-progress project, we needed clarity and alignment so that ultimately, we would better understand what expectations and desired outcomes were.

Outcome

I created a "North Star" artifact and user narrative that helped align both internal and external stakeholders around objectives and desired outcomes.

 

I also created a research proposal with recommendations on how to answer the biggest unanswered questions the client had about their users.

Client

Info

NWEA

A non-profit education organization that provides assessment and learning solutions to students and educators.

Role

UX Researcher

Team

Me and Bess Meade

Timeline

1 month (I was laid off before getting to see this project through)

How and why?

Objectives and desired outcomes were undefined and unclear, so

I aligned the team under a "North Star".

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As the UX Researcher for the client engagement, it was my job to own the research and collaborate with the client and designers to inform design decisions.​

Before being laid off, I was able to:

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  • conduct a gap analysis

  • conduct stakeholder interviews

  • conduct an in-depth interview

  • write a user story

  • create a project brief

Objectives

My goal with the project brief was to give our team and our client a "North Star" that we could all point to, as well as help manage expectations, and generate engagement:

Deeply understand client's expectations for the new homepage.

Distinctly and clearly summarize the overall plan for the project.

Create innovative deliverables to help align expectations and foster user empathy.

Methods & Process

Getting clarity on the client's needs and wants.

I started by conducting a 30 minute interview with key stakeholders to make sure I understood what they already knew about their users and what were their biggest unanswered questions about their audience—teachers.

Getting creative with limited resources.

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After conducting a gap analysis and interviewing clients, it was clear that NWEA was missing a large puzzle piece— they hadn't talked to any teachers!

 

We didn't have approval for a research plan or participant compensation YET so I had to get creative and take matters into my own hands.

 

I called a family friend who fit the description of the client's ideal user and asked questions surrounding their experience as a teacher.

Getting creative with storytelling.

Screenshot of a user narrative

Having gathered so much detail from my family friend, I was able to write an in-depth, colorful user narrative (I learned about this method from this book) with the motive to help our team gain empathy for our heroine "Susan", and spark ideas and solutions for the challenges she faces.

 

Another great idea that came from this deliverable that we didn't get to execute was a visual story board to show the client.

 

This story inspired the "North Star" Project Brief.

Aligning the stars and pointing the team North.

Collaborating closely with our design team, we came up with a Project Brief (which I learned about from this book) that highlighted the Vision (Why), Requirements (What), and Design Principles (How).

 

The goal was to help our team have a distinct idea of what the right outcomes would look like and create an opportunity for our internal team and client to have productive conversation about what the focus and goals of the homepage should be.

Screenshot of a Project Brief

Research Proposal

Capturing

research needs.

Screenshot of a research proposal

Based off the stakeholder interviews and after reviewing their documentation, I put together a research proposal with recommendations on how to answer the biggest unanswered questions they had about their users.

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The research proposal detailed the why, business and user needs, research objectives, methodology, participants, sample interview questions, and estimated timeline.

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Within a week of sharing this research proposal, I was laid off and unfortunately didn't get to see the rest of this project through, but my team let me know that my artifacts were used throughout the rest of the client engagement.

What I learned

Active Listening is key to building strong relationships with stakeholders.

Even one in-depth user interview can inspire and trigger empathetic thinking in a way large numbers may not.

Aligning on expectations before conducting research and design work can make a significant difference in efficiency.

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