BW

BenWillis

Designs

BW

BenWillis

Designs

BW

BenWillis

Designs

Experiences

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Case Studies

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Artifacts

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Eye Candy

Detailed Case Study:
Deviations

3 months to research a large feature enhancement to a complicated manufacturing product.

Problem

As Lead UX Designer, Manager, and Strategist, I redesigned deviation handling in batch record creation, simplifying a complex process. I collaborated with stakeholders to refine workflows, developed intuitive interfaces, and worked with developers to ensure seamless implementation. The result was a streamlined, error-resistant system that improved efficiency and compliance.

Solution

○ Member of the executive team of a subsidiary created to drive manufacturing excellence and lead the company by example.

○ Led internal and external generative contextual research at 4 manufacturing sites across the US and Puerto Rico.

○ Supported small elite dev team with qualitative data, personas, workflows, requirements, prototypes and QA.


Role

UX Manager & Strategist

UX Researcher

Cross-Team workshops, generative research, personas, workflows, prototypes, user validation

Step 0. People & The Plan...

I know design thinking has 6 steps.  I like to distill it into 4 steps, further defined by a problem space and a solution space.

As UX designers we love research.  Jared Spool states it perfectly.

Business objective:

How to document a problem in a manufacturing environment?

A batch record is where all information on a manufacturing lot is recorded. 

The Stakeholders...  

"People over process."

The Stakeholders...  

"People over process."

The Experience Plan

A good experience plan is essential to align the level of effort to the problem & scope.

Step 1: Discover Phase

A good experience plan is essential to align the level of effort to the problem & scope.

Workshops

Let's get it all out on the table. Step 1, document business objectives and assumptions.

Problem & Hypothesis

With assumed information, we can align on the problem & hypothesis.

Create a space to collaborate

Whether in a conference room, FIGJAM, or Miro. 

Internal Research

Before involving users, let's use internal SMEs to kick the tires of our research study.

eth·no·graph·ic 

The study of people in their own environment through the use of methods such as participant observation and face-to-face interviewing.

Our favorite, face-time with users.  In this case, 4 cities in 4 weeks.

External Research - Plan Ahead to Trend 

Without trended data, we're just another opinion.

Step 2: Define Phase

Goal: Understand the validated problem

Persona

Love 'em or hate 'em.  I good problem starts with good characters.  

Journey Maps

My favorite way to display synthesized research data.  Vectors of emotion are genius.

The Learnings

Data showed we had three problems to solve, not just 1.

Step 3: Design Phase

Goal:  Identify the optimal solution.

This quote forever changed me as a designer.
White-boarding

Expo marker might be my favorite tool.  It's definitely the cheapest and fastest prototyping and collaboration tool.

Workflow Diagram

Let's make my whiteboard easier to understand. 

3 small initiatives rather than one big one giving users value faster

Information Architecture

Let's continue to refine the solution.

Step 4: Delivery Phase

Goal: Get the optimal solution in the hands of the engineers.

The Tools

What's in the toolbag?

Validate the Solution
The Script

I've been lucky enough to be mentored by some really good researchers.  

Because we did our homework, research was quick and easy.

Synthesis & Marketing

Too often overlooked.

Success…