Daiverse – unified global team management Application (WIP)
DAI is a global development organization dedicated to creating a more livable world by addressing social and economic challenges through innovative solutions. Since 1970, they have worked with diverse clients in over 150 countries.
Currently, DAI is modernizing its applications and corporate infrastructure to deliver complex global development projects. The teams at DAI use around 10-13 different applications (e.g., SharePoint, Tammis, Oracle) for documentation and collaboration. They need a simple, user-friendly system that provides key project information in a single dashboard, eliminating the need to search multiple systems.
RCG Consulting has the opportunity to assist DAI in developing a new unified application for global team management. The project began in June 2023 and is expected to continue for over two years. At the early stage, we are focused on developing MVP1, with an emphasis on desktop design, as over 90% of DAI users work primarily on desktops and laptops.
This project is a WIP with a 2-year timeline.
DATE
September 2023 -
Present
MY ROLE
UI/UX Designer
TEAM
UX Designers
UX Researcher
Product managers
SMEs
Engineering & Data team
DELIVERABLES
Personas, Journey maps, Application prototypes, Design system
Dashboard*
*All data used in the design has been replaced with fictional data due to the NDA requirements of this project.
Finance Overview*
*All data used in the design has been replaced with fictional data due to the NDA requirements of this project.
Workplan Center*
*All data used in the design has been replaced with fictional data due to the NDA requirements of this project.
MEET THE USERS
Through stakeholder and user interviews, we conducted a thorough analysis and identified six key users who are crucial to the project. These users were selected based on their expertise, influence, and direct involvement in the solution:
Project IT
Project Manager
HR Staff
Chief of Party (COP)
Technical Staff
Finance/Ops
*Due to NDA requirements, the illustrated images are presented in smaller sizes.
User interviews
We began by conducting virtual workshops with 21 users, including the Chief of Party (COP), Portfolio Director, Project Manager, Technical Staff, Finance/Ops, Project IT, Regional IT, and HR. Our goal was to identify pain points in the current system. We used the Empathy Mapping* method to gather comprehensive data from these stakeholders.
*Due to NDA requirements, the illustrated images are presented in smaller sizes.
Wireframes
AGGREGATING FEEDBACK
We gathered all the pain points and converted them into "How Might We" statements to emphasize the problem rather than the solution.
Then, we conducted affinity mapping to group these pain points and findings into specific themes and categories, including 9 different themes:*
1. Single source of truth (Data)
2. How to get my job done
3. Project & Contract management
4. Activity & Resource management
5. Startup
6. Progress tracking & Status
7. Knowledge management,
8. Training
9. Recruitment
*Due to NDA requirements, the illustrated images are presented in smaller sizes.
PREPARING USER JOURNEY MAPPING
We constructed three weeks of intensive sessions with users to identify each activity at every stage, understand their current processes, and explore potential "How Might We" opportunities. We also created a customized Journey map template for DAI users. Here are 2 examples of the 2 user journeys of 2 personas: COP and Director of Finances/Ops.*
*Due to NDA requirements, the illustrated images are presented in smaller sizes.
PRIORITIZATION MATRIX
After grouping the pain points and duplicate concerns from different users, we met with the SMEs to prioritize the scope. We finalized the areas that needed to be addressed for the Proof of Concept, including 5 categories that were identified in the Affinity mapping stage: Activity & Resource management, How to get my job done, Progress & Project Tracking, Project & Contract management, Single source of truth - Data (Partial).
*Due to NDA requirements, the illustrated images are presented in smaller sizes.
BUILDING WIREFRAMES
Focusing on solving the problems for the main prioritized areas that were identified in the Prioritization stage, we sketched the initial drafts and wireframes for the application.
*Due to NDA requirements, the illustrated images are presented in smaller sizes.
Usability Testing
Research goals: Determine if the new application helps address the ‘How might we’ statements.
We interviewed the same group of users from the initial research stage, focusing on feedback from 4 COPs in this round. We gathered all the feedback and iterated on the wireframes for MVP1.
The results were highly positive. All users agreed that the application would save time by consolidating multiple systems into a single unified platform, and increase productivity and task completion rates.
This positive feedback gave us the green light to proceed to the next stage of designing Daiverse – Unified global management application.
Design system
In this project, I am also in charge of defining the brand identity for the application, refining the UI design, creating a component library, and develping the Daiverse design system. Here’s the link to how I've developed the design system for Daiverse application.