The Institutes: User Research
Goal: Complete three user research projects in two months, on two coasts
My Role: UX Lead (Consultant)
My Team: Business Analyst and Project Manager
Customer Problem: Quickly collect a large amount of target audience data to drive strategy and roadmap
Successful Result: After discussing the research, the client hired my company to map a comprehensive customer experience journey and subsequently build applications for the launch of a new program, Continuing Education for CPCUs.
Detail from the MyPath website design
In 2014, I worked with The Institutes, a nonprofit that provides education and credentialing to professionals in the insurance industry. I led the user research for three projects that overlapped over a two-month period: testing the usability of two websites and running focus groups to determine how millennial college students research career information.
Challenges
Running research projects in Portland, OR and Atlanta, GA in the same week
Resolving unexpected technical glitches on the fly (computers not recording audio during testing, Webex issues)
Completing each research project within a month or less
Process
With one day’s notice, joined the team and presented draft test scripts to the client
Within two weeks, traveled to the west coast to initiate usability testing and focus groups
Conducted usability tests on the MyPath website
Conducted focus groups with people planning their first career path to learn what networking and career planning tools would be most helpful to them
Four weeks later, usability-tested a potential catalog feature on The Institutes’ website, working remotely via WebEx with customers nationwide
Debriefed with the team each night to quickly gather data from the findings that day
Notes and sketches from focus group participants, describing ideal features for a career search tool
Results
A comprehensive narrative about user needs that incorporated video to emphasize key points, a fully estimated list of potential solutions, and wireframes to illustrate new design concepts. Each research segment was completed within four weeks.
As a result of that research, the client hired my company to map a comprehensive customer experience journey and subsequently build applications for the launch of a new program, Continuing Education for CPCUs.