Student Dropouts
UX Design Intern
|
Summer 2022
Description
For my UX design internship at H-E-B, a leading independent food retailer based in Texas, I worked with the DesignOps team to improve the onboarding process for designers. We conducted research and created a service blueprint to visualize the journey and identify areas for improvement. This project was completed over a period of 8 weeks.
My Role
UX Researcher
Tools
Figma, Figjam, Adobe XD, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Google Suite
Link
Collaborators
Alex Bazan, Chloe Gillmar, Alex Del Taylor, Katie Bingham
The Problem
Current onboarding processes for newly hired designers lack consistency across Design & User Experience org (DUX), with hiring managers and squads spending a considerable amount of time and energy creating onboarding solutions.
The Solution
DUX can use the service blueprint and archetypes to visualize the relationships and touchpoints in the onboarding process and understand the values, tendencies, and challenges of different behavioral patterns among new hires. This information can be used to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the onboarding process in the future.
The Process
Aduit
Interviews
Insights
Data Models
A new hire is an employee who is transitioning into a new role at a company and typically undergoes an onboarding process to learn about the organization, their responsibilities, and necessary tools and resources. The goal of onboarding is to help new hires become successful and productive members of the organization.
A hiring manager is responsible for the recruitment and hiring process, including identifying staffing needs, posting job openings, reviewing resumes, conducting interviews, and making hiring decisions. They may also be responsible for onboarding new hires, supporting and guiding them as they transition into their roles, and managing employee performance and development.
During Sweeps Week, a weeklong focus on organization and special project deep dives, we gathered information about the onboarding process and touchpoints for new hires, as well as the different onboarding processes used by different squads.
We learned about manager touchpoints with new hires and the variation in onboarding processes depending on work location, and discovered that DUX partners (employees) are often creating best practices for tools and processes in silos.
We compared 20 onboarding documents, including presentations, guides, and checklists. we used the existing materials as a starting point to simplify and standardize the onboarding guides and manager templates. This helped us to review all the artifacts that new hires interact with and improve the efficiency of the onboarding process.
We created assumptions to validate during interviews and used them to develop 5-6 questions for 45-minute interviews. For example, we assumed that the onboarding process varies by work location.
We interviewed 17 DUX Partners, including 8 new hires, 4 hiring managers, and 2 hiring managers/new hires.
We analyzed the results of our interviews with new hires and hiring managers by grouping the data into thematic clusters and identifying consistent themes. From these insights, we identified overarching principles of the onboarding experience for both groups.
After grouping, we started to noticed themes from our 10 New Hires. We found New Hires seek culture and belonging, want to measure onboarding progress, and need clarity about accessing tools and resources.
New hire's Sense of belonging is determined by relationships and communication.
New hire’s past experiences inform how they show up as their authentic selves.
There are no set communication standards within DUX, including how to speak with leadership.
There is little guidance to understanding DUX or its relationship to H-E-B.
New hires try to build confidence in their roles while navigating organizational challenges.
New hires prioritize learning about their squad, project, or skillset over learning about DUX or Org as a whole.
Receiving feedback during onboarding reassures new hires that they are on the right track.
There is difficulty understanding the onboarding process and new hires’ place within it.
New hires require clarity around tools and resources to orient themselves during onboarding.
New hires are often confused about how to access and use existing DUX tools.
When given a new resource, new hires value context for how it relates to their role.
After grouping, we started to noticed themes from our 10 New Hires. We found New Hires seek culture and belonging, want to measure onboarding progress, and need clarity about accessing tools and resources.
Managers use a variety of tools to onboard new hires, sometimes creating their own.
Managers use onboarding buddies differently, with varying perceptions of success.
Managers often create their own methods to track and prepare new hire onboarding.
Managers rely on DUX relationships to provide info and create a sense of belonging for new hires.
Managers often feel that their relationship with new hires is crucial to a successful onboarding experience.
Mangers advise new hires to attend 1:1s to gain an understanding of DUX and their place within it.
Managers create onboarding experiences that are unique to their squad or team or management style.
Managers rely on DUX relationships to provide info and create a sense of belonging for new hires.
Managers develop their own metrics for new hire onboarding success.
Managers often feel like they don’t have adequate time to prepare for new hires.
After synthesizing research, we found that new hires and hiring managers made distinct choices while facing similar challenges, which we mapped along spectrums from one behavioral extreme to another
Check out the new hire spectrum below, we split it up into sections based from patterns in our interviews.
Check out the hiring manager spectrum below, we split it up into sections based from patterns in our interviews.
A service blueprint is a diagram that visualizes the relationships and touchpoints in an experience involving people, technology, tools, and resources. It was created using information from sweeps week, audits of onboarding documents, and interviews with hiring managers and new hires.
A service blueprint is a detailed visual timeline, divided into rows with different sets of information.
Row 1 : Archetypes
Self explanatory
Row 2 : Areas of Opportunities + Ideas
Self explanatory
Row 3 : Artifacts
Physical & digital touchpoints our new hire experiences.
Row 4 : New Hire Actions
Journey of new hire as they become self-sufficient.
Row 5 : Front Stage
Actions that occur that new hires can view or interact with.
Row 6 : Back Stage
Behind the scenes action that supports front stage or the new hire.
Here is an example of how a blueprint can capture a moment in the onboarding process.
Adding archetypes to the service blueprint helps to understand how different behavioral patterns experience the onboarding process differently. The archetypes and service blueprint inform future onboarding projects, improving the process for new hires and their managers.
