Gathering Insights…On Your Colleagues Part 2.

How my user-centred journey is going…

A few months ago I wrote a short blog focusing on my learning points about trying out some newly learned user experience tools with my colleagues. Please see here Supporter Journeys: They’re everywhere! | by Laura Perry | BanesCarersCentre | Feb, 2022 | Medium

Since then, I have continued to do my best to keep my colleagues at the centre of creating a new library- a platform to store our organisation’s assets, research and insights- which will be a first for our organisation.

I used a few methods to gather insights to try and keep things varied for both myself and my colleagues.

Firstly; I established which features were a priority through informal chats and surveys. The surveys in particular were really useful as they could be completed whenever my colleagues had time (a learning from the first few months!) and it meant that I could go back to them with questions.

Next, I showed colleagues a few screenshots of a basic wireframe library and asked for initial feedback on how the library could look.

I then asked a few colleagues to follow a set of instructions on a test library whilst I observed, took notes and asked a few questions. This was a really helpful exercise to figure out if I was on the right track with the choice of tool. It turned out, I was not, so I took their feedback on board and tested again with a new tool.

I made lots of notes throughout and tried to keep referring back to them to make sure my colleague’s views were still being considered as the library developed.

What have I learned this time? 1) Everyone will want something slightly different so try to find a compromise. 2) Don’t be afraid to challenge with a ‘why’. 3) Don’t be surprised if you need to change direction!

As we head towards the launch, I hope the insights library remains a work-in-progress so that it keeps getting more user-centred and helpful for the organisation.