Project Details
MY ROLE: Lead Product Designer
COMPANY: Dayforce (Ceridian)
DURATION: 6 Sprints
XFN TEAM: Business Area GM, Director of Product Management, Director of Development, Product Managers (2), Designers (3), Lead UX Researcher (1), Dev Team (5+)
COMPANY: Dayforce (Ceridian)
DURATION: 6 Sprints
XFN TEAM: Business Area GM, Director of Product Management, Director of Development, Product Managers (2), Designers (3), Lead UX Researcher (1), Dev Team (5+)
About This Project
In today’s highly competitive landscape, organizations recognize the significance of delivering exceptional user experiences. This case study sheds light on a multi-year project aimed at redesigning a talent acquisition product that had become a vital revenue generator for the company. As the Lead Product Designer, my role involved orchestrating the planning process, collaborating with stakeholders at various levels, and leveraging design leadership to drive impactful outcomes.
The talent acquisition product, although not initially part of the company’s core offering, had gained significant popularity over time. It had become the second-highest revenue-generating business area, contributing 30% of the company’s total revenue. However, accumulating new features resulted in a complex user experience, necessitating a comprehensive redesign effort. The goal was to enhance the user experience and improve the overall reach and performance of the product.
Roles and Responsibilities
As the lead designer, the primary responsibility was to align all teams involved and establish a cohesive direction for the project. Despite having limited familiarity with the product, collaboration with senior product leadership and the design senior leadership team was essential. A series of workshops were conducted to understand project goals, constraints, and strategic alignment within the larger vision and strategy of the product team. These workshops also addressed specific improvements required for significant client deals.
Planning
The company’s talent acquisition product had evolved organically over the years, contributing a substantial portion of the company’s revenue. It became evident that enhancing the product’s user experience would lead to greater customer satisfaction and further revenue growth. Therefore, our primary objective was to align all stakeholders and develop a comprehensive plan.
We explored the problem areas and the project’s needs through a series of workshops. Identifying the specific pain points and challenges faced by users and the potential impact of addressing them was essential.
Project Goals
The core challenges were twofold. Firstly, navigating the product had become cumbersome due to the accumulation of features over time, leading to a disjointed user experience. Secondly, each new feature introduced additional limitations and dependencies, further complicating the overall product functionality. Therefore, our problem statement focused on streamlining workflows, reducing complexity, and ensuring feature parity while maintaining the product’s exceptional revenue-generating performance.
Defining Process
Now that we were aligned on the goals of the project we needed to figure out how the teams were going to work together. Educating our partners on the product and development team on the design thinking process was crucial but needed to be at a high enough level so that they can understand value without getting lost in the details. We also needed to redefine the way work was shared among the teams so that we could move to a more agile process. This was a challenge because it meant asking for more resources from the other teams during the design process, where as the team was used to approaching the work in a more siloed fashion.
Experience Mapping
The next crucial phase in the project which involved mapping out the user experiences. We undertook a thorough audit of the product, identifying and categorizing its features based on distinct use cases. This process allowed us to view these features as interconnected bundles, enabling a more comprehensive and strategic approach. By organizing the product’s elements into cohesive flows, we crafted a roadmap that not only considered individual features but also prioritized a seamless and user-centric experience. This approach would also allow us to meet the expectations of our current users and match their current experience by making sure we meet parity with the current product offering. This experience mapping played a pivotal role, providing a foundation for our strategic decision-making and fostering a holistic perspective on product evolution.
Refine
An importance versus difficulty matrix was employed to prioritize the work, considering workshop inputs, defined goals, and vision statements. This approach facilitated the creation of a roadmap outlining the first year of work.
Ceremonies
Lastly regular ceremonies, such as design reviews, product discussions, user advisory board calls, and customer design reviews, were discussed and established to maintain an organized and iterative design process. The user advisory board calls and sponsor user group calls were complimented our user testing and other user research efforts really well. The roadmap was revisited periodically to accommodate new information and ensure flexibility.
Delivery and Impact
The project presented challenges in aligning stakeholders from the research, design, and product teams regarding long-term goals and the overall vision spanning the next five years. As part of developing this future vision for the recruiting product a research project was stood up to run in parallel with the redesign efforts so that we can start to think of innovative solutions that will bring value to our users. Additionally, as a newly formed department within the company, the design team had to educate stakeholders on the importance of including research to validate assumptions and uncover user needs. Establishing backlogs to track new opportunities required collaboration and negotiation while working closely with designers to develop user stories and track progress in manageable projects.
The project’s outcome was the successful alignment of departments and establishment of a well-defined set of projects ready for implementation. Most importantly, this initiative elevated the role of design, granting the team a seat at the planning table for future years. This invaluable project empowered the design team to influence roadmaps and participate in product strategy discussions, shifting the perception of design from a mere service provider to a strategic partner in driving product success.
Challenges and Learnings
The project posed various challenges, including aligning research, design, and product team stakeholders with long-term goals and vision. Additionally, educating stakeholders on the value of research and the need to include it in project timelines required continuous effort. Setting up backlogs to track new opportunities involved collaboration and negotiation. Simultaneously, close collaboration with designers was crucial in developing user stories and ensuring trackable progress.