Overview

Timing: 2024
Scale: 3 months

Problem

Persistent tension existed between corporate offices and manufacturing plants, with plant materials managers (PMMs) often feeling misunderstood by corporate leadership. When stakeholders proposed rolling out a corporate tool to PMMs, I advocated for research to validate whether this solution would genuinely address plant needs or risk deepening the disconnect.

Approach

• Stakeholder Alignment: Collaborated with product management to shift the focus from assumptions to evidence-based decision-making.

• Contextual Inquiry: Conducted in-person, moderated usability testing with PMMs at two manufacturing plants to foster trust and surface authentic feedback.

• Mixed Methods: Combined usability testing with observational research to uncover both functional and relational insights.

• Synthesis & Communication: Delivered clear, actionable findings to stakeholders, emphasizing both the tool’s redundancy and the unique value of real-time truck tracking data.

Impact

• Strategic Pivot: Research revealed the proposed rollout would have added little value; instead, PMMs received access to the most valuable feature through an existing tool, optimizing their workflow.

• Cost Savings: Prevented over 400 hours of unnecessary training and development, and redirected resources to high-impact improvements.

• Business Value: The new solution is projected to generate $1M in working capital reduction in FY 2025.

• Cultural Change: Demonstrated the power of early-stage user research, resulting in increased stakeholder buy-in and a stronger partnership between corporate and plant teams.

Key Skills Demonstrated:

• Leading end-to-end UX research initiatives

• Stakeholder management and advocacy

• In-person contextual research

• Synthesis of qualitative insights into strategic recommendations

• Driving organizational change through research

Diving Deeper

Approach

Collaborating with my product manager, I designed and led in-person, moderated usability testing at two manufacturing plants. By conducting contextual inquiry and usability sessions with PMMs, I gathered authentic feedback on the tool’s relevance, usability, and value, while also fostering trust and open communication between stakeholders.

Key Research Activities:

• Conducted on-site usability testing with real users in their work environment

• Identified both functional redundancies and unique value propositions

• Synthesized and presented actionable insights to stakeholders

Findings

• Redundancy: Most information in the tool was already accessible to PMMs, limiting its added value.

• Unique Value: Real-time truck tracking data was highly valued, reducing information retrieval from 12–48 hours to instant access, significantly improving workflow efficiency.

• Usability Issues: Several pain points hindered effective tool use, highlighting the need for design improvements.

• Stakeholder Learning: Observing research firsthand increased stakeholder appreciation for early-stage usability testing and user-centered design.

Impact

• Strategic Shift: Research findings led to a pivot, providing PMMs with only the most valuable feature via an existing tool, rather than a costly full-scale rollout.

• Cost Savings: Prevented over 400 hours of unnecessary training and development, and redirected resources to high-impact improvements.

• Business Value: The new solution is projected to generate $1M in working capital reduction in FY 2025.

• Research Advocacy: The project fostered greater stakeholder buy-in for UX research, resulting in more frequent and proactive engagement in future projects.