Role
Product Designer, Strategist
Industry
Civic Tech, Mgmt Consulting
Organization
... co-designing and rapid prototyping
to build new products & services.
Championed the development of digital design capabilities inside of a management consulting company by leading co-creation product workshops, creating digital mock-ups to validate and define product requirements, and educating executives and teammates about design thinking along the way.
Deliverables
Designed high fidelity prototypes, presented concept and capability to executives, and facilitated design thinking discussions.
Summary
Delivery Associates
Duration
12 weeks
Background
The team consisted of a product manager, 3 designers rotating through, and a product director.
Brief
Design the experience and visuals of a dashboard and communication platform for cities and their residents
I was hired to develop and design an unknown digital solution. Delivery Associates had a partnership grant to support cities response to (the beginning of) the COVID-19 crisis. The management consulting team on the project was primed to support cities with bespoke implementation of management metrics, but they didn't know how the metrics would be best experienced and represented visually.
Research
In collaboration with the management consulting side of the organization, I researched the demographics, needs, and nuances of different cities and their local governments.
Interviews
I joined the team after the first round of interviews had been done so I reviewed each of the interview videos and transcripts on Reduct Video. I analyzed these through a grounded theory approach.
After prototypes were made, the product manager and I conducted 5 user test interviews. To analyze the data, we again used a grounded theory approach to set feature priorities and create a road map.
Deliverables
Based off of desk and user research, we brainstormed possible features and product offerings. I generated concept sketches, mockups, and high fidelity prototypes.
Sketches
Mockups
High Fidelity Prototypes
Design Thinking Education
Throughout this project, I took advantage of moments in smaller group settings to share the use, meaning, and importance of different parts of the design process. I made sure to share how they fit into Delivery Associates own project management process of "Deliverology." I also created visuals, like this one to the right, to communicate the design process using Delivery Associate language.
Design Tool Implementation
I took a step towards integrating a team of individually contracted designers into a more cohesive one by implementing Figma as the core design tool to encourage more team collaboration between designers and PMs.
Presentations to Executives
I presented to the executive team on multiple occasions to explain the vision, possible capabilities, and potential impact of designing products in-house.
Impact
I joined this project right after COVID-19 lockdowns started. In an otherwise stuck world, I believe my rapid prototyping and bias to engage all of my teammates built momentum to construct the core product offerings of the Digital Division of Delivery Associates (DA). I showed that DA had the ability to offer many digital solutions and that there was value in diverging to solidify the vision.
Reflections
The best tool in my toolbox during this project was my ability to ask "why?" with genuine curiosity.
During any collaboration, I felt that my biggest impact was when I asked why something was on a slide, why we valued X, or why we were including Y. In this metric-driven setting, I believe "why" encouraged teammates to pause long enough to produce something with just a little more meaning. This is not the question to ask in all settings, but it is an effective question to create impact.