We used this visual design as a design toolkit to build out new features.
This agency had no shortage of great ideas to make their platform a success. But they were struggling to meet the more basic user needs and turn a profit on larger accounts. So, I started with some thorough research to help them ground their investment decisions on what mattered most to their users.
We began by studying their employees, how they currently work, how they want to work, their challenges, what matters most to them and what they want to achieve for their clients. Through 12 depth interviews with managers and leaders in multiple countries, we created a task analysis to break down how they work.
The agency didn't have effective time tracking in place, making it difficult to identify inefficiencies. So we conducted quantitative surveys to measure their time-on-task, using the task taxonomy we developed through the initial interviews.
We asked for open responses to justify many of the estimates and I used Python to analyze these responses using natural language packages (nltk) and we identified key patterns in how employees spent their time. This helped us validate our findings from the interviews and prioritize the most impactful areas for improvement. Critically, these estimates allowed us to create cost saving estimates so that we could make the case for further investment.
We brainstormed and prototyped new potential solutions to the larger issues and these solutions formed the basis of a strategic, funded roadmap.
The research made the roadmap much more objective by centering it around the biggest pain points and opportunities for improvement.
Contextual enquiry, task analysis, mapping workshops, roadmap development and benefits forecasting — all designed to prioritise work that delivered measurable time savings.
- Contextual enquiry (interviews & observation)
- Task analysis and time-on-task measurement
- Quant analysis with Python
- Mapping workshops with stakeholders
- Roadmap development with Product Owner
- Benefits forecasting and business case
Task analysis mapping the steps to run campaigns and identifying the biggest opportunities for efficiency.
A collection of pain points visualised, which highlight specific concerns about working and reworking client proposals. Once identified, we could look at the system conditions that cause them.
Breakdown of time spent on different tasks helped focus improvement effort.
Spider chart comparing how ways of working impacted time across markets.
Usage comparison exposed a key weakness and clear target for improvement.
Revised roadmap & backlog targeting €4.2m savings through the largest time drains.
Business case produced to secure funding for the proposed improvements.
Value Created
Developed a roadmap targeting €4.2m in time savings over four years and secured funding to hire a larger delivery team; introduced benefits forecasting and budgeting as a new capability for the agency
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