Synergies among Lean Six Sigma, Agile and Design for HSE Risk Assessment
A synergic application of the methodologies of Lean Six Sigma, Agile and Design Thinking led to a success case in redesigning a process and its digitalization
This article was written together with Alessandro Banzatti, Marina Po, Vittorio A. Cinardi.
In a current dynamic and complex context, the use of obsolete technologies for HSE (Health, Safety, Environment) risk assessment was no longer responsive to business needs. The use of “computerized spreadsheet” (as it was the previous tool used by the unit) and the lack in underlying processes critical review has generated de facto inefficiencies in HSE risk assessment analysis delivery. To overcome these inconveniences, digitalization, design thinking and processes redesign were adopted to bridge such management and technological gaps.
The three methodologies involved in the initiative of HSE risk assessment digitalization process, Lean Six Sigma, Design and Agile (with Scrum framework), have many elements in common that we can summarize with three cornerstones:
- Customer orientation: customers and users’ satisfaction and their active involvement in solutions co-creation, in decision-making process and in search for solutions (processes or tools).
- Iterative and experimental approach: continuous and cyclical improvement, with the aim of prototyping and testing solutions (processes or tools), to receive feedback and iterate incrementally.
- Multidisciplinary collaboration: teamwork with different competences, even from different departments, exploiting complementary and cross-functional skills.
The results we obtained
The results we have obtained in the construction of this product, involving these three methodologies on different aspects and phases of the project, have led to winning synergies that we describe in the following paragraphs.
A. The redesigned process
To redesign the process successfully we resorted to Service Design and Design Thinking methodologies and techniques, particularly for user journey mapping and stakeholders mapping. Multiple collaborative workshops have been organized to create the new process with the users and stakeholders. Prior to embarking on the design of a new process, a thorough understanding of the as-is process was deemed essential. This involved gaining insights into the flaws and difficulties of the current process, as well as the jobs-to-be-done of the actors involved. To this end, extensive interviews were conducted, resulting in the creation of an actor’s map. This enabled the product team to map the entire workflow approval process for the first time, providing a solid foundation for its eventual successful redesign.
The process redesign led to its standardization in terms of:
- All key users mapping (and their active involvement) with evidence of the relevant tasks assigned, relieving the HSE Managers, since the entire process relied on them.
- Linear workflow creation with a defined start and end of the process, shifting from a circular one where such information were misleading and not clear.
- Risk management upward sharing to another department, external to HSE.
- Approval workflow creation with a specific status assignment to the HSE risk assessment report based on its progress.
B. Visual management and Design system
Visual management, a technique of Lean Six Sigma, has contributed to improve the efficiency of the process by enhancing UX/UI as well. In fact, a particular attention has been paid to graphic aspects to make the report more intelligible by providing immediate and visual support to users. To achieve these results a full-time designer has been engaged since the beginning of the project. Furthermore, the adoption of this technique facilitates and speeds up the onboarding process by creating a standard inside the company for HSE risk assessment. Here just a couple of examples:
- Different colors have been assigned to the icons based on their status (default, mouse over and disabled);
- The risk grade is displayed based on the color whose severity belongs.
A design system is a collection of reusable design components and guidelines, that can be backed up with additional documentation that helps teams build consistent and user-friendly digital products. It is particularly important to create and use a design system to ensure digital products consistency and scalability. In this case, our objective was to have a uniform and straightforward language of communication throughout our application for many users with different levels of engagement and background. This approach has the potential to significantly reduce the time dedicated to training and onboarding, particularly given that our user base is spread across multiple language zones. Moreover, having a pool of components that can be reused whenever a modification or evolution of feature is needed has enabled product and development team to work more efficiently and independently.
C. Golden Rules UX design and Mistake Proofing
Even when we are talking about in-house products and, particularly, industry specific platforms, the golden rules and best practices of good user experience should be followed (e.g., usability, accessibility, usefulness, etc). The focus on user-centricity when creating applications and their features is paramount. It’s essential to prevent errors in system and qualify the users to autonomously resolve their problems.
Mistake proofing is a Lean Six Sigma technique used to prevent upstream errors. In particular, it was adopted in this initiative to impede users from continuing with the workflow if a rule was not respected. Therefore, now the user is timely and properly addressed (through specific notifications) without going through the process backwards. For example, if the residual risk (with the addition of mitigation measures) is higher than the current risk, the system notifies the anomaly and blocks the user.
D. How the solution came to be: from concept to solution design to execution
Before diving into execution phase of product development, it is important to have as much development work done beforehand. Spending time on refining activities and collaborative workshops where we can test and refine ideas is fundamental.
During the concept phase, Design Thinking techniques for user needs assessment and journey design were helpful as a ground base for the product backlog definition.
The following solution design phase served as a bridge between concept and execution phases, that is from Design Thinking outputs into Agile inputs. In this phase, epics and wireframing are refined, with the goal of defining:
- The economical estimate (how many sprints, what development skills do we need, …).
- The product roadmap, with the MVPs planning (epics prioritization with business value and technical constraints).
- The product technical architecture (components, cloud services, …).
Then, the execution phase started, adopting the Scrum framework:
- 3-week sprint let the team to iterate safely, having the time to refining and developing the user stories and the mock-ups.
- The full involvement of the business HSE (Product Owner and stakeholders) was the most important contribution to the success of the product, as the whole Scrum team could refine the product backlog to find a suitable solution for the users that was technically feasible.
- The adoption of the product led to new feedbacks from the users that was promptly developed and released in the following MVPs.
E. Trust & teamwork
To carry out the project, a multidisciplinary teamwork was created within a Scrum framework. Thanks to clear roles, the team worked together — each member with its own skills and competences — during user stories refinement and development sprints, achieving defined goals. The achievement of project release deadlines and the success that derived from the early users, created an environment of trust among team members, thus establishing a positive feedback loop on team performance.
Conclusions and take aways
The experience conducted has demonstrated the positive synergy between Lean Six Sigma, Design Thinking and Agile-Scrum methodologies in the different design phases.
It is already known that in recent years the traditional waterfall approach has envisaged the use of agile “grafts” for the design phases that require digital developments. The synergistic approach between methodologies is therefore not new, but the synergistic use among Lean Six Sigma, Design Thinking and Agile Scrum methodologies certainly is. In detail, this project demonstrated their full overlap according to common principles, applied in specific design phases.
Specifically, for the development phases of the application, Design Thinking was used, more precisely for the concept and solution design phases and as an UX Design approach during execution phase, while for the IT development phases, the Agile Scrum approach was adopted; the methodologies were used within a continuous improvement reference design framework whose aim was the optimization and standardization of both existing processes and its potential replicability towards the different realities of the company. For this reason, a fundamental aspect was the continuous monitoring of the results produced with the aim of making continuous improvements in relation to the outcomes deriving from its widespread use in the company.
In conclusion, the joint adoption of these three methodologies has led to undoubted and multiple benefits. In particular, continuous improvement approach will allow the solution adoption by all Business Units, thus creating a standard and common framework within the company.
