Starting and sustaining workplace culture change
Overview
An emerging group of HR people are hungry for a custom, intersectional approach to workplace Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) efforts. Independent trainers are clamoring for new clients, but the industry relies heavily on word-of-mouth and these two groups struggle to find each other. Our team designed a platform connecting progressive HR folks with independent trainers. My role included the following contributions:
Research synthesizer: analyzed results, quickly recognized patterns
Business modeler: ID’ed trainers as essential customer, solicited feedback
Facilitator: guided team during concept development to align direction, create MVP
Experience designer: developed physical visitor interactions for pilot, like live voting on workplace DE&I training
Research
We conducted extensive research, including 19 interviews with HR professionals responsible for choosing DE&I training services. We identified about 25% as “trailblazers” who go above and beyond compliance and conduct time-consuming searches for the “right” trainer. Additionally, we did a literature review of academic research, demonstrated the gap between training content and actual workplace harassment rates. We also solicited employee feedback on workplace diversity training, and conducted a competitive analysis of training services, reporting solutions, consulting services, etc.
MVP development
Once we collected our findings, we translated these into product architecture. I facilitated group discussions using various frameworks to distill the core “jobs to be done” for our two customer groups, HR “trailblazers” and independent trainers. This included tools like business model canvas, value prop canvas, and MoSCoW prioritization. This phase culminated with an MVP definition: a web-based platform that connected HR people and trainers, speeding up search process, offering direct bookings, and value-added service models.
Feedback loops
Once we refined our MVP, we solicited further validation from trainers, who declined advertising but overwhelmingly indicated interest in booking fees. Additionally, we sought willingness-to-pay evidence by anonymously surveying HR people to gather data about their current spending on similar services.
Impact
At an in-person pilot in May 2019, we received feedback on our concept in the following ways:
Validation: 3 trainers agreed to be featured, shared their training content and contact info
Handouts: including tips for rewriting job descriptions, DE&I terminology, 14x handouts taken
Live voting: received 130 votes for most requested workplace training (see chart to the left)
This was a capstone project to California College of the Arts’ MBA in Design Strategy program. It was designed and produced in Spring 2019 with Angelique Lee, Anna Ibrahim, Liz Demakos, and Sarah Gilbert.