Overview
Understanding the Project Context
My Role
UX Research: Competitive analysis, user interviews, affinity mapping, how-might-we statements, prioritization matrix
UX Design: Ideation, mid-fi wireframes, user tests, design system, hi-fi prototypes
Project DEtails
Duration: 5 months, Jan '24 - May '24
Type: Product Design Apprenticeship
Team: Claire O’Malley, Damaris Adeniji, Erika Suin Shin, Isaac Cheung, Joe Maddux, Joel Archer, Kavni Shah, Mahi Tripatai, Prithvi Manjunatha, Tejasvi Bhagwatkar
Team Leads: Juliet Jimenez, Lukas Marinovic
Project OVERVIEW
The goal was to build an interactive prototype and a scalable design system of the communication platform prioritizing varied user needs and minimalistic design, and reduce reliance on external platforms.
As a team within Ford, FordLabs collaborates with Ford businesses to address challenges by creating digital products using a lean and human-centered approach. The outcome was a communication platform designed for Ford employees, a digital space to celebrate their peers' milestones, accomplishments, and collaborate for events.
Problem
How Might We Build a Platform for Ford Employees Prioritizing their Varied Needs to Collaborate and Celebrate their Peers?
The objective was to design a platform addressing the varied needs of different teams at Ford and reduce the high costs associated with using external platforms. The challenge was to design a platform that could accommodate the user needs of teams of varying sizes and use cases, allowing them to celebrate their peers' accomplishments, organize events, and replace the external platform that was being used at Ford.
Solution
Proposed Design Addressing the Needs of Ford Employees
The process and the interfaces documented in the case study show the final outcome handed off to the development team at Ford. The interactive prototype and the interfaces below are a result of further exploration of the solution space using AI-assisted coding.
Research
Understanding the Social Culture at Ford and their Needs for Collaboration
We conducted secondary research to get an understanding of stakeholders’ work culture, user requirements, and identify features for the platform tailored to the corporate work environment.
Secondary Research
Understanding the Platform Currently used at Ford
To understand the platform that was being used at Ford, we interacted with a team at KudoBoard, a paid platform used to recognize peers’ accomplishments. Users can create and interact with their peers by creating interactive digital boards to post messages, photos, and other content. This helped us understand how our stakeholders celebrate their peers, and the general culture at Ford.
Exploring Existing Solutions through Competitor Analysis
The objective of our competitive analysis was to explore the commonly used employee celebration platforms and compared the competitor platforms for their functionalities, pricing, and board types and compared them to KudoBoard.
We further researched Keka, AirSpeed, and Celebrations for Microsoft, the top three preformed platforms by companies for their well rounded features. This helped us identify features for our proposal and understand the significance of Kudoboard in Ford's social and work culture.
From our secondary research, the three major takeaways were:
An integrated calendar highlighting current and upcoming events
Point-based system for creating boards accessible to admins and team managers
Flexibility with accepting and offering gift cards in celebratory posts
Primary Research
For our primary research, we interviewed stakeholders at Ford to get insights into their experience with KudoBoard and identify their needs for the platform. Analyzing the interview data using an affinity map to helped us identify themes which were translated into “how might we” statements for further ideation. A prioritization matrix was developed to identify potential solutions and prioritize them for the initial proposal.
Interviewing Users and Affinity Mapping Data to gather Insights
From our secondary research, the three major takeaways were:
Goal #1 - Understand FordLabs employees' interactions with KudoBoard, the platform currently used at Ford.
Goal #2 - Identify their needs for virtual celebrations and uncover pain points in their existing celebration process.
Goal #3 - Gain insights into other communication and virtual meeting platforms like Zoom, Slack, and Webex used at Ford.
Ideation
Brainstorming Ideas Through Iterative Wireframing
Information Architecture
After analyzing the data from our primary research, we organized the prioritized themes into relevant categories and by taking an iterative approach, we created an information architecture for the platform.
Exploring Existing Solutions through Competitor Analysis
With information architecture of the site, we ideated the Home Page, Posts Page, and Create New Board Page of the platform through sketching and iterative wire-framing. We focused on structuring content layout and simplifying information for clarity and usability.
Design
Proposed Design for Ford Employees
Home Page
The Home Page has a two-column design with a side bar and the main content view. The side bar on the left is divided into three subsections: For You, Calendar, and Upcoming for quick access. A search bar is integrated into the top section of the main content view with the templates to create new boards just below search bar.
Posts Page
The Posts Page interface below shows a completed board created for a coworker’s birthday. With support for various media types, including images, GIFs, audio, and text, users choose their preferred format to send in their messages.
Create Board Dialogue Box
Users can browse through the templates for events like birthdays, milestones, and professional events to create new boards and select contributors for targeted engagement.
