Due to project privacy, not many details can be shared.

<aside> <img src="/icons/calendar-week_yellow.svg" alt="/icons/calendar-week_yellow.svg" width="40px" /> As a first project at the team, I explored the context of Executive Assistants to better understand their pains, gains, and tasks. The exploration was also the base of the first Design Sprint followed with the team - to explore solutions with the Scrum team, transfer the knowledge, and create a feeling of shared ownership.

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Client: Director of Executive Assistants (NL) // Team: SD, SD intern, EA Lead, scrum team // Project Duration: 6 weeks research exploration, several months of solution creation // Goal: improve EA satisfaction

PROJECT SETUP

EXTENSIVE EXPLORATION

The project started with a broad and abstract request: to improve the working days of executive assistants. To better understand what this could look like, an extensive target-group exploration was done. Insights that were non-digital were handed back to the stakeholders, while I took digital-opportunties back to the team.

A FIRST DESIGN SPRINT (becoming later the standard)

We did our very first (and second, and third) design sprint, facilitated by me. And we had a first try at transferring the outcomes of research and a design sprint to the scrum team for product development.

<aside> <img src="/icons/bullseye_yellow.svg" alt="/icons/bullseye_yellow.svg" width="40px" /> GOAL

To improve biggest pain point executive assistants, help increase employee satisfaction.

This led to the exploration of ‘how to give time back to EAs’, by simplifying and optimising the ‘request’ process and support them to manage their ‘request flow’.

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MY ROLE

RESEARCHER & CREATIVE FACILITATOR

Setup and execute exploration phase, include stakeholders and recruit participants, facilitate a Design Sprint with the scrum team, and lead the ideation and validation phase afterwards.

MENTOR

Besides, I worked closely together with a work student. I strongly believe and follow the see, try, do approach:

• I once lead, and thereby show how I normally approach it
• We once collaborate, both leading elements of the activity
• They fully lead themselves, with me being only a support and backup

PROJECT PROCESS

From extensive research, to insights, ideation, and validation.

<aside> <img src="/icons/location_gray.svg" alt="/icons/location_gray.svg" width="40px" /> DESIGN THINKING APPROACH

• setup a scope definition with stakeholders
• explore the problem area in several cycles
• translate insights in updated personas, customer journey, and a problem statement, business opportunity
  • validate this all again with the target group.
• Explore solutions (design sprint)
• Iterate and validate solutions

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<aside> <img src="/icons/location_gray.svg" alt="/icons/location_gray.svg" width="40px" /> IDEATION

After the first ‘diamond’ of the Design Thinking process, the second diamond started with the presentation of the problem statement and contextual information to the scrum team, and in a Design Sprint (facilitated by me), the knowledge was translated into product opportunties.

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<aside> <img src="/icons/location_gray.svg" alt="/icons/location_gray.svg" width="40px" /> ITERATION & VALIDATION

The Design Sprint was followed by several cycles of ideation, and validation by user interviews, user tests, and workshops

In a workshop, the final design (together with the main pains, main problem statement, business needs) was handed over to the scrum team and my role changed into being a stakeholder expressing the voice of the customer.

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METHODS

• 6 User interviews
• 12 diary studies
• 2 context mapping sessions with in total 19 participants
• 1 design sprints, including 7 participants and 5 user tests with executives
• 2 iteration sprint, including 4 participants and in total 8 user tests with 10 participants
• 3 validation/ideation workshops in England, with in total 21 executive assistants

OUTPUT

• Four opportunties, together with the improved persona leading to the final product opportunity (’to give time back to EAs and Executives, by streamlining tasks & activities)
• Overview dependencies
• General Executive Assistant (EA) journey including: tasks, emotions, touch points, pains, other relevant employees (EA Lead, executive, executive team, other EAs) pains, and opportunties.
• Improved EA persona (pains, gains, tasks)
• 1 prototype, including an MVP development plan co-created with PO and lead-developer.

FURTHER VALIDATION

Of potential solution for Deloitte UK