Case Study
Goal: Understand how people make decisions for their aging parents and document this process in the form of personas and journey maps
Role: Lead researcher
Methods: Subject matter expert interviews, stakeholder workshops, participant interviews, data analysis, persona and journey map creation, collaborative design workshop
The project began with phone interviews with subject matter experts, including customer service representatives, to help us create a baseline understanding of the client's customers. I then facilitated a series of workshops with stakeholders to understand the business goals and collaborate on the creation of hypothetical personas. Because the client had no existing personas, the hypothetical personas helped harness the company's tacit knowledge of their customers. These workshops led to the creation of the research planning documents (screener and protocol) and in recruiting participants for the study.
Potential participants for the research were recruited through social media, word of mouth, and information posted in strategic businesses (doctors' offices, retirement communities, etc.) then screened multiple times to ensure a good fit for the project. In-person user interviews (one on one) were conducted in two markets, using co-design techniques to document the participant’s experience and emotional journey. I led several hands-on exercises in the sessions to guide the discussions. All sessions were recorded and transcribed for analysis.
After concluding the research and beginning analysis of the data, I led a collaborative workshop with stakeholders. The workshop helped the stakeholders deeply understand the research and the artifact creation process. It also allowed them to brainstorm ways the company could address user needs and pain points. Then using the research data and the input from the stakeholders, the personas and journey maps were finalized. The final artifacts were customized to meet the needs of the client. For example, recommended strategies for each persona were included in the maps to inform to strategic discussions.