DESIGN LEADERSHIP
How Design Optimization Improved ROI & Customer Experience
This case study explores how my design team implemented design thinking to improve collaboration and communication with our cross-functional partners and stakeholders at Best Buy. Before this initiative, collaboration was restricted to silos, which led to inefficiencies, frustrations, and inconsistencies in the final product experience.
By implementing these processes, we enhanced customer experiences by streamlining user flows and contributing to multi-million dollar reductions in operating costs.
Okay, so tell me how this started.
I transferred to the self-services team in 2022 because there was a lack of design leadership in the space.
The designers were in the weeds without design direction or a vision, and product managers were assigning work.
The team needed vision, strategy, and mentorship. The product partners needed a strategic design partner.
Customer complaints were piling up as our self-service experiences were over-complicated and time-consuming.
Where was the breakdown in the process?
Fragmented communication
Communication between internal and external teams lacked structure, leading to misunderstandings and misaligned expectations.
Disparate design processes
Our internal design process differed significantly from our partner's, creating friction and delays in quality design hand-off.
Assumption-centered experiences
Designers often prioritize meeting deadlines over human-centered design due to a lack of time for discovery and cross-functional collaboration.
*dramatization of a disempowered designer.
How I championed human-centered design.
Establish Common Ground
Hold regular communication and alignment meetings with product and engineering partners to ensure human-centered design is reflected in the product roadmap, strategy, and vision proposals with executive leadership.
Develop a Unified Design Process
We created a collaborative way of working by leveraging the strengths of both teams' processes. I managed incoming design requests and workloads and coached designers to prioritize customer research, stakeholder feedback, and usability testing before handing off significant changes or new flows.
Foster Empathy
Our teams better understood the customer's needs and feelings through design thinking exercises, fostering innovation, and building personalized and optimized experiences.
One of many empathy maps after conducting or partnering with UX research.
Beginning to optimize the help center in the Best Buy app.
Did the new process make an impact?
It sure did. My job as a manager is to grow and challenge my designers, and they can't grow inside a tightly confined box overflowing with Jira tickets. Now, we are spending more time empathizing with the customer and creating concepts that deliver business value and customer satisfaction. Here's how:
Improved Communication
Design thinking facilitated open communication and a shared vocabulary, leading to fewer misunderstandings and a smoother workflow. I've built a strong foundation with my partners so that they trust my team to do a fantastic job.
Streamlined Workflow
There are no surprises, more alignment, and no one is getting burnt out. Managing workloads lets my designers and partners know what's on our plate and what's coming next.
Increased Efficiency
When my team can work more efficiently, we can focus on designing experiences that help customers while delivering business value. Not to mention the expense of rework or misalignment. Most recently, my team's designs saved the company millions in call center costs by optimizing self-service on Best Buy's app.
Stronger Partnerships
The collaborative approach fostered team trust and respect, strengthening working relationships and psychological safety. Everyone gets a chance to voice their opinions or concerns.
Lessons I learned.
I wasn't the first design leader to try to change my partners' working relationship. Instilling change takes patience and consistency, and it doesn't happen overnight.
My secret weapons when handling change:
Goal-setting
Aligning team goals with strategy gave designers purpose and a sense of contribution.
Quality customer research and analytics
I lead by example, teaching my team to gather and analyze research effectively, check biases, and make data-driven decisions.
Bottom-up vision alignment
Executive leaders often lack awareness of what's happening on the ground. To ensure no surprises, I start with every stakeholder affected and work my way up. By the executive meeting, everyone has context.
To protect employee data, I'm showing you just a tiny taste of a stakeholder alignment exercise.
© 2024 Tara Smith
Illustrations by Annie Konst