Setup: Contractor at Volvo, 4 moths, 2019-2020
Summary: I conducted both generative and evaluative research for the concept development of a tool used by HMI engineers at Volvo to manage HMI label translations.
Details omitted! As the project is confidential, the page only includes a high-level description of the research and its findings
Project goals
Methods
In this work, I applied a variety of methods:
- - conducted 8 in-depth interviews
- - performed 5 usability testings
- - synthesized data into 6 actionable insights
- - created a list of user stories
- - created 4 personas
Outcome
My data analysis resulted in 6 insights that included recent business process changes at experienced by engineers, the main usability issues of the legacy system, and design principles. I also created a list of user stories and 4 personas.
Based on these findings, I also created the mock-ups of the design concept in Adobe XD.
Reflection
In this project, the UX work was introduced after project initiation. So, I was not involved in initial time planing, resource allocation, and prioritization. This introduced extra challenges to the research and design. As the team had already started the requirements analysis and development, the UX input was not fully taken into account so the project deadlines could be met. Consequently, the product management decided to include the UX improvement backlog items after delivery and in the maintenance phase. This is a classic case of project efficiency over quality (UX in this case) in software development which is proven to result in waste and UX debt. To prevent such waste, UX practices shall be an integral part of the project and introduced early on. The UX expert should be involved in initial planing and prioritization to ensure enough time and resources are allocated to realizing the proposed design solutions.
Note
In all of the included user research assignments, I was the sole researcher and responsible for the whole process: design, recruiting, data gathering, data analysis (tagging/coding and pattern/thematic analysis), creating an insight repository, and discussing the findings with the stakeholders in a series of workshops (e.g. to prioritize the insights or plan for taking actions based on the research recommendations). In addition, all of the interviews (often 1-2 hour) and workshops (often 2-3 hour) were audio/video recorded and transcribed for data analysis and generating evidence-based insights and recommendations. The research assignments were conducted in close collaboration with the stakeholders and in an Agile setting (iteratively) for fast delivery and feedback.