Novi, Michigan
UX Consultation
Consulting uses contextual inquiry for Brandmotion to optimize the product development process.
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Project Duration:
4 months
Project Type:
Contextual Inquiry
Consulting
My Role:
Background Research
Qualitative Analysis
Technical Report Writing
Team: Lindsay, Marco, Yiting, Carly
Client Overview
Novi, Michigan, USA
Automotive technology
Safety products for cars of all ages
Creating “Safer Cars Today“
Posed Problem
Using the same process on every product is not effective
Design Thinking Framework
Stages of the Product Development Process
Classifications Based on Complexity
Methodologies
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Background Research
Before commencing our interviews in early October, each member of Team Savas completed a background research report about the client and topics relevant to the industry at large [Link]
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Interviews
Interviewing different “stakeholders” is intended to produce insight from members performing different roles throughout the company
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Affinity Wall
We constructed our Affinity Wall across numerous brainstorming sessions using notes, including individual quotations, from our interview sessions. We then attempted to organize this data by searching for repeating themes and ideas expressed by participants [Link]
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Prioritization Method
We chose an impact-effort matrix for finding better solutions. An impact–effort matrix is “a 2D-visual that plots relative user value against implementation complexity [Link]
Significant Problems
Ineffective Product Development Process
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The one significant problem that we are focusing on for Brandmotion is their ineffective Product Development Process.
There are a few reasons why this has become a problem. Brandmotion does not have clear priorities set, which is causing confusion among departments and can lead to unsuccessful product launches. During our interviews, we heard a few stories of times this has happened so we want to try to resolve this issue.
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Currently, our client is skipping stages when they don't feel like they are necessary or if there is a time-sensitive project that they are working on. When they skip stages, it creates frustration among the employees because not everyone is always on the same page about what stages should be done or some employees are not kept up to date on what changes are being made. One project that had an unsuccessful launch was their trailer backup camera for trucks. At the time, no one had created one so they wanted to be the first ones on the market. Because they wanted to get the camera out as quickly as possible, they skipped their initial research stage. When they launched the camera, it ended up completely flopping. This was because they hadn't thought through what would happen if the truck wasn't towing a trailer. This could have been avoided if they had done the initial research stage and actually talked to their customers to get their feedback.
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Finally, there is a lack of communication between departments. This is partially because they don't have a universal communication platform that all employees are using. Some employees only use Slack, while others are only using Asana, which is a task management system. This is leading to employees and higher-level management being out of the loop on parts of the product development process.
Recommendations
Project Management
For our recommendations, we'd first like to address the lack of project management. We believe this contributes to project deadlines and priorities being unclear since there is no one to actively direct and plan the entire process to ensure efficiency. For this reason, we are recommending that Brandmotion designate an employee to set project priorities and maintain structure throughout their development process.
Classification
As for our second recommendation, we wanted to focus on Brandmotion's classification system. The company defines classes for each product based on how complex they predict the solution would be to obtain for their customers. The guidelines are unclear for projects that differ in complexity; For example, whether they go through all the stages for a particular product? Or should they skip certain ones? We are suggesting that they redesign their process to have a specific set of stages for different levels of classifications.
Visual Aid
Finally, for our third recommendation, we are recommending a more cohesive visual aid to allow every company member to better understand where each project lies in the development process. An example of this may be a physical or virtual space where departments can post visual representations of their progress in a given stage on a regular basis. This will allow higher-level management as well as other departments to keep track of how projects are progressing. Also, it would help eliminate project delays and confusion about deadlines.
What did I learned?
This project built my skills in user-centered qualitative research methods and professional consulting. The project provided me with experience working with a real-world client who poses a problem involving information, technology, and human processes in the context of a work environment. I learned to manage projects; work in teams; work with a client; conduct interviews; observe work practices; analyze and synthesize qualitative data; present the client recommendations; and write formal reports.
Team bonding time - GO BLUE!