Odd couple or perfect pair? Design research and business processes
How design research can show the way to better employee experiences
Some companies’ operating models evolve smoothly, with procedures and products that keep working well for employees even as the business grows. But many thriving companies outgrow their processes, leading to a less satisfied, less productive workforce.
UX researchers might not be the first people you think of when it comes to internal processes. But we’re a natural fit. Getting honest feedback from people (in this case, employees) and converting it into actionable insights is what we do every day. Our human-centered approach to design can reveal how operational processes are affecting job satisfaction and productivity — and point the way to improvements.
Digging in
Research insights can be applied to a wide range of business areas, including finance (purchasing, accounting, budget planning), HR (performance management, goal setting, learning and development), and facilities (security, maintenance, new construction). But rather than trying to tackle an entire area, such as finance, it’s best to start with one specific process, like accounts receivable.
Identifying a broken process is a good way to start. In my own experience on a team that develops internal HR tools, I noticed that most of the team lacked a clear understanding of our HR processes. For example, while we had detailed descriptions of the mechanics of onboarding and internal mobility, it was missing the human aspects of the processes: No one understood peoples’ actual experiences.
That was also true for the internal team that supports employees who have questions about matters like benefits, compensation, and annual holidays. Everyone knew the current tool and processes were broken. But before we could develop better processes, it was important to understand the current ones.
I wanted to learn how the documented HR processes differed from the real ones people were experiencing. So I researched the processes from many angles, including:
- Structured interviews with HR program owners, employees, and others who are affected by the business process
- Past internal and third-party research
- Ongoing survey data by program owners
- Foundational research (interviews, field observations, etc.)
- HR process documentation on our company’s internal Wiki
As I reviewed all the information I’d collected, I began to notice the sequential pattern of the insights. I realized the best way to represent it would be to create a visual map to show the processes from beginning to end.
In a raw state like this, I could identify:
- Emerging patterns, themes, and important moments
- Critical areas of success or failure
- Activities to simplify or remove
I organized working sessions with HR program owners, employees, and others who are affected by the business process, program owners, and team members to fill in missing details and correct certain sequences. Mapping the processes facilitated conversation and helped us see everything in one place. We often found ourselves in small groups, walking the wall of information.
What process mapping can do
A visual model of current processes demonstrates our understanding of the business’s complexities, problems, and pain points. By articulating issues, opportunities, and scale of impact — in a way that words alone cannot — a model can build business partners’ and engineers’ confidence in the product roadmap and vision. The process maps also help product managers and product designers prioritize their work and find the highest-impact opportunities for the future design vision.
Other benefits of process mapping include:
- Reveal biggest pain points. For example, in one process, we could see that the team had too many products to find the information it needed.
- Clarify the big picture. Process maps translate a lot of information into themes, stories, and opportunities, reinforcing connections both within the organization and with other areas of the business.
- Spark insights.When you show people a complete picture of current processes, they suddenly see how their work affects other team members. This often leads to ideas for program improvements, quick-win product ideas, and more.
- Strengthen morale through collaboration.Working with maps on cross-functional teams can build trust, develop productive relationships, and providing alignment on product direction.
- Improve onboarding.Maps help orient new designers, product managers, engineers, and others.
Designing better processes
Once current processes have been mapped, teams can start mapping out processes that are more likely to improve employee satisfaction and productivity.
These models should:
- Act on insights from the mapping of current processes.
- Address both human and organizational challenges.
- Communicate stories to guide design solutions.
- Zoom out to clarify a larger vision.
- Provide a strategy to achieve future goals.
A work in progress
So how did all this play out for our HR project?
The program team used our research insights to select a new support tool. The vendor selection process was fairly smooth because the team knew not only where they were, but also exactly where they wanted to be in a year.
The same research was also used to select the support tool implementation vendor. Some vendor proposals included several months to conduct research to understand the team’s processes. It was great to be able to say that that research was already completed, reducing the time it would take to implement the first version of the new support system.
Applying research to internal processes can be transformative, but big changes rarely happen overnight or seamlessly. Four months after the implementation vendor started the work, the first version of the new product was launched. Support teams started using the new systems. A couple of weeks after the first version was launched, I conducted a half-day working session with the team to see how the new product was mapping to the future vision. Unfortunately, we had a lot of sad faces on the future map, and a lot of sticky notes showing where improvements and changes had to be made.
The biggest ‘aha’ moment for the team came when they realized the support agents were using their old processes with the new system. In response, the team developed a roadmap for improving processes to better match the future vision while using the capabilities of the new product.
We agreed to meet after 6 months to compare the implementation to the future vision. The results from our design research project will continue to be used until the team is confident the future vision has been achieved.
Putting people first
UX research and design thinking can help teams understand the big picture of business processes and spot inefficiencies. But those aren’t the most important benefits. By building understanding and pointing the way toward improvements, it can restore priority to what matters most: the people those processes affect every day.
