Use Case | 2020
Unbiased Succession Planning
COMPANY
TalentGuard
INDUSTRY
Human Resources
DURATION
12 Months
ROLE PLAYED
UX Design Practitioner and Manager
Design Sprints for Extended Projects
Introduction
TalentGuard, an HR software solutions provider, embarked on the redesign of the Succession Planning module from scratch. Despite other priorities on the roadmap, the aim was to deliver actionable items, involving diverse teams and maintaining alignment throughout the 12-month duration of the project.
Outcome
Utilizing Design Sprints, the streamlined UX team at TalentGuard successfully redesigned the Succession Planning module, enhancing usability, aligning with user needs, and ultimately introducing a product to the market that intends to systematically promote impartial succession planning.
Process
Jared Spool compares Design Sprints to an ignition system, “the first push to break the inertia,” yet the UX team at TalentGuard used this methodology for a year as it offers a structured approach to iterative refinement. Given the scope and complexity of the Succession Planning module, further sprints were utilized to refine and enhance different parts of the project. This multifaceted journey included four Design Sprints:
- Sprint 1: Strategy and planning.
- Sprint 2: Administrator setup.
- Sprint 3: Employee and manager experience.
- Sprint 4: Automated recommendations and notification system.
For each Design Sprint, the team focused on the following steps, although some were more critical in different sprints.
UX Research:
Conducted expert interviews, analyzed industry trends, and identified key user pain points and scenarios. The team discovered bias could play a critical negative role in succession planning. It was interesting to learn that not only high subjectivity could tamper with the impartiality of the process, but also how detrimental is aliging to a rigid process rather than having a comprehensive people-centric approach.
Customer Journey Mapping:
As this was a new process, the team didn’t build a blueprint; instead, a journey mapping starting with the jobs-to-be-done illustrated Succession Planning processes, pinpointed pain points, and aligned future system functionalities with user needs for both hiring managers and people wanting to fill a position.
Scenarios and Personas:
Defined user roles and behaviors across different Succession Planning approaches. For this project, we learned the same persona could behave differently depending on the type of organization, so it was critical to have a clear understanding of the needs, and a commitment to bring transparency and inclusivity to the process.
Conclusion:
The design of TalentGuard's Succession Planning module exemplifies the power of research and collaborative problem-solving methodologies. Key takeaways from the multi-Design Sprint approach include the indispensability of investing in UX research at a macro level, even when it prevented the team from conducting exhaustive usability testing. This investment enabled our team to take action on strategic choices. Other crucial aspects were the necessity of "lightning talks" (even when there are pertinent UX research findings), the importance of obtaining executive buy-in (while being vigilant for potential obstacles and derailers), and the benefits of embracing ambiguity and friction as catalysts for creativity. Ultimately, success was achieved through thoughtful design practices, inclusive rituals and agreements, one sprint at a time.