Design Thinking Digital Workforces in Healthcare
BMS, a leading bio-pharmaceutical firm recognized for its advancements in cancer treatments, has a workforce exceeding 34,000 employees. After the sudden lockdown caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, many employees at BMS had to transition to working remotely from home, forcing global companies to rethink how technology can foster digitally connected hybrid environments.
They asked our team to understand the current experience of remote Information Technology (IT) employees, identify unmet needs, and surface high-impact opportunities and design concepts that leverage technology. Additionally, engage core IT members to co-create and learn Design Thinking methodologies.
Responsibilities
UX Research
User interviews
Workshop Design
Concept Design
Concept Testing
User Testing
Written Reports
Project Management
Role
UX Researcher and Design Strategist
Duration
February 2021-June 2021
The Problem
Following an abrupt lockdown, numerous BMS employees had to adapt to remote work from home, introducing entirely new processes and ways of performing tasks and jobs that were previously nonexistent.
Adjusting to the new distributed workforce posed challenges; however, the IT department of a global pharmaceutical company actively embraced online environments and sought ways to strengthen existing relationships.
As leaders in innovation, BMS expressed a keen interested to harness our team’s design thinking expertise—a strategic mindset for problem-solving and innovation that emphasizes a human-centered design approach.
The Ask
Apply a Design Thinking and UX-driven approach to gain a deep understanding of remote IT employees and managers needs, challenges, and behaviors.
Surface high-impact opportunities that leverage digital and non-digital technologies in virtual environments.
Design and test tool and service concept prototypes that enable job productivity, engagement and satisfaction.
Engage core IT members in co-design process and how to apply the Design Thinking methodology.
Approach Overview
Learn & Observe:
Semi-Structured User Interviews with five (5) employees and three (3) managers
Poll 25 users to validate assumptions
Market research of emergent trends within remote workforces
Led weekly working sessions with core IT team to engage in co-creative process and teach how to apply Design Thinking
Frame Insights:
Map current engagement experience
Identify the top opportunities for high-impact
Explore Solutions:
Ideation workshop with IT team members to brainstorm and prioritize solutions
Prototype & Test
Designed four concept prototypes that address visibility of work-life balance, meeting efficiency, and increased engagement through data insights.
Conducted concept and user testing for desirability, usability and impact
4 moderated discussions
57 unmoderated surveys, with 17 responses
Provide recommendations for development and implementation
Presentation to Senior Leadership and Project Core Team
The Result & Impact
Innovative Workplace Transformation:
Identified and validated employee challenges and opportunities for virtual meeting efficiency and cognitive load reduction through standardization of best practices.
Designed, tested, and validated 4 concepts (digital and non-digital) for workplace enhancement, gaining universal buy-in from senior leadership and end-users on concepts.
Developed a roadmap for iterative change implementation, streamlining enterprise-wide efforts by clarifying ambiguous directions, and identified change agents for collaboration with in-flight initiatives.
Delivered critical data to leadership, management and individuals to inform and empower decision-making at their level of agency for workday improvement.
