Researching design solutions for change management in the construction industry
Viewpoint develops leading cloud-based software platforms in the construction industry. I designed and executed a research study on change management widgets as part of the product development process for Viewpoint One, which combines Trimble ERP offerings with Viewpoint's Team and Field products. They needed direction on widget design and functionality for the Viewpoint One workspace, so I conducted user interviews and tests with low- and mid-fidelity widget mockups. Much of my work for this project is protected by an NDA, so visual artifacts used during the study and detailed findings are not included.
Research Question:
How might we design widgets that meet our primary users needs?
10 Weeks
Internship
My Role: UX Research
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Widget Design
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Design a widget framework that progressively discloses information depending on widget size and user type.
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User Groups
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Determine user goals and requirements for a change management widget by role and job title
Research & Process
User Interviews Lo-Fi Testing Prioritization Matrix Mid-Fi Testing
User Interviews
Semi-structured user interviews enabled me to create detailed user stories that the UX team could use as a tool to refer to for multiple projects, and helped me quickly learn about the problem space.
12
Semi-structured User Interviews
7
Participants
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User Story Example
As a... PM and trainer that wears many hats,
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I want to... quickly compare the dollar value of pending and declined change orders to the contract value of each project
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so that... I know which task and role to start with that day.
Other Findings
Main goals for project managers and general contractors:
Send reminders
Sync information with other ERPs
Push completed change orders to accountants.
Usability Testing & Prioritization Matrix
4
Lo-Fi Wireframes
6
Participants
8.5
Test Hours Transcribed & Coded
First,
In order to dig deeper into what each user needed by role and job title, I conducted semi-structured usability tests with low-fidelity widget wireframes and aggregated the transcripts.
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Then,
I analyzed the transcripts for salient quotes according to the following themes: workflows, goals/motivations, pain points, triggers and actions, joy, and role-specific data.
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Finally,
I plugged the data into an adapted prioritization matrix. Using a custom framework gave me insight into which pieces of data were most and least valuable to the user by job type. Instead of assigning data to a scale for low versus high effort as a traditional prioritization matrix calls for, I assessed the degree to which the data point was dependent on role and job title.
Findings
There was a clear consensus across roles and job titles on which type of information was most valuable on a change management widget. Additionally, I found that the users expected widgets to enable certain appropriate workflows depending on the state of valuable information.
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Usability Testing with Mid-Fidelity Prototypes
Requirements for PMs and Accountants
Additional questions arose that I wanted to explore through user testing with mid-fidelity prototypes with the primary user groups (accountants and project managers). The main questions were around labels used to describe cost and revenue, and other high-value information that was competing for space with the most valuable piece of information.
Main Findings
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They need to quickly know how many days overdue an order is, and the color and shape of the information is an important consideration
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They want cost to reflect the actual AND committed costs , with a breakdown in hidden view
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Users were split on whether earned dollars should reflect actual revenue OR production revenue
Next Steps
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Research on widget workflows according to the state of high-value information and role/job title
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Explore optimal ratio of information to calls-to-action on change management widgets
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Socialize user stories internally
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A/B testing with next iteration of mid-fidelity prototypes