Bondo
Bondo
Good relationships foster stronger bonds and ultimately help individuals grow. In the context of organisations this could mean the difference between a really effective team versus an unproductive workforce.
CHALLENGES
Starting a new job can be difficult and overwhelming at times. There can be a lot of information to absorb and getting to know fellow team members can sometimes be a bit daunting and tricky.
DURATION
3 weeks
PROJECT TOOLS
Adobe XD, Illustrator, Powerpoint
Client
Personal project - Suely Lu
The goal
How do we bridge the gap of when a new person starts a job before they start adding value to the organisation?
How do we make the process of getting started and becoming familiar with the organisation easier and ensure it is a personable experience?
1. DISCOVERY AND RESEARCH
Competitor research
Based off this problem I wanted to solve I looked into what technology was already in this ‘onboarding/induction space’ and thought about how my solution would differentiate. The applications vary in scope with some solutions focusing on specific industries such as teaching. While others are fully integrated systems that covers everything from online forms to communication ecosystems.
USER RESEARCH
But what do users actually wants? Before I was able to define my problem space clearly I needed to do some research about the main issues concerning the onboarding process and if my assumptions were valid.
USER INSIGHTS
2. DEFINE
KEY INSIGHTS
A lot of places don’t have an onboarding process.
When they do its mainly just basic documentation and meet and greet and quick office tour which is not necessarily followed through.
For those that did have an effective onboarding process - they were generally relaxed and allowed the new started to go at their own pace with a buddy or someone to shadow.
KEY PAIN POINTS
- Lack of open feedback channels - employees felt they needed to wait until their scheduled reviews to give feedback.
- Lack of guidance and support from direct managers - Expectations and goals were not clear.
- Manual process - some places had a process in place, but it wasn't really followed - maybe because it had become outdated.
PERSONA
User Journey
MINIMAL VIABLE PRODUCT (MVP)
From my research I brainstormed features that would best improve the user's onboarding experience. Based off the MVP I determined that I would build the following features:
Onboarding checklist - at glance to see how the user was progressing
Interact feature - paired up with buddies to help mentor and provide support
Documentation - easily available and displays what has been updated or is unread
Office Map - to locate resources and staff offices/tables
Help and support - a place to provide feedback and ask questions as you or anonymously
3. DESIGN
PAPER PROTOTYPE
Initial designs were drawn up on paper and prototyped on Pop App. Usability testing was conducted with the paper wireframes in order to get feedback from users before digitising the prototype on Adobe XD.
DIGITAL PROTOTYPE
Usability testing objectives
- Overally usability - is the application easy to navigate through
Content layout and hierachy - could users find what they were looking for
Findability and discoverbilitity of content - is the information in a logical location and labelled effectively
Usability testing results
Additional usability testing feedback from introverted personalities
Really honing in on the content - One tester upon viewing the checklist said they wouldn’t want to have lunch on the first day. Perhaps first week?
It is important to get an introduction to the app when first starting to understand the benefits and features
I got users asking for more features - such as a hierachy map so they knew who to ask questions for specific items
4. Results
For the end of this project I produced a mobile application prototype in MVP stage and research findings on employee onboarding experiences.
5. Future recommendations
- More usability testing and research
- Adding in a staff hierarchy organisational chart
- Calendar link to ical to help with organising meetings
- Key people to meet
- HR/Management staff - log in and access
- Status feature - busy or available
TAKEAWAYS
Bondo focuses on nurturing relationships and improving channels of communication. The onboarding process is more than one day and carries onto the rest of the employee’s job journey. I hope through Bondo people like Alison (my persona) can experience a more personable onboarding journey as they progress through their careers.
KEY LEARNINGS
Working on personal projects it can often be difficult to prioritise what specific goals we want the user to achieve. Problems that exist also do not exist in isolation and through research you will often find people already trying to solve the problem. This can be deflating at times, however, it is important to find points of differentiation and areas of improvement from existing products to create something new that provides value.
