Case Study
As part of the new branding application for a software company Aamplify was charged to research how the client used documentation to interact in the marketplace, how employees used documentation and how customers obtained and interacted with documentation. The aim of the project was to provide insights into how documentation could be redesigned, creating a better client experience, reflecting the quality of the work the client performed.
I was the main researcher on this project supported by one person in the New Zealand office.
The client
A New Zealand IT company specialising in software for legacy systems with a workforce of about 200 throughout Australia and NZ.
Project duration
One month
Skills
Research and interviews
Presentation of project to Stakeholders
Creating illustrations for presentation
Tools
Illustrator
INdesign
Powerpoint
The challenge
Changing the way the client presents communication would help to portray the client as a flexible and adaptable organisation with the ability to think outside the box and solve problems - combining best practice with innovative thinking.
Fear of change, trust in new processes and worries around risk, coupled with the fact that every stakeholder will have their own expectations, made managing expectations a crucial part of the project.
Key stakeholders included:
Internal stakeholders: Practice leads, Solution Directors, Sales people and Bid Managers
External stakeholders: Clients with projects where UX has played a rol
We needed to transform documentation from a linear and traditional approach to a more flexible method. This would make documentation engaging and user friendly, changing the way company staff approach prospects and clients from start to finish.
Our Approach
In order to succeed with this project we needed to explore the following:
How the client presents itself in current documentation
Understand challenges around the use of current documentation
Looking at use cases around Statement of Work (SOW)
Interviewing staff across the company
Researching alternative online best practice solutions for creating business templates.
Collecting the information needed were achieved through the following steps:
Competitor benchmarking
Expert reviews: Evaluate existing documentation
Stakeholder interviews to understand the various competing interests – both internal and external.
Interviews exposed pain points with existing methodology and company procedures, challenges around implementing tools and processes but also presented valuable solutions suggested by interviewees.
Ideation
Main takeaways from each interview were written on post-it’s to analyse and identify recurring topics from interviewees.
Key documents and journeys maps
Comparing documentation such as Statements of Work (SOW), RFP’s (Tenders), Proposals and Presentations helped us to find similarities in how content was created and presented.
To help understand pain points we created a journey map for each document illustrating the flow of the document through the company. This pinpointed problem areas where documents deviated from standard company templates and procedures and where possible solutions could be implemented.
Insights
We interviewed 14 internal stakeholders across Australia and New Zealand; Platform Managers, Practice Leads, Account Directors, Marketing and Consultants and our findings revealed the following concerns -
Refresh current templates
Create a standard induction process
Established a collaborative environment
Tools are not used to their full potential
Standardise a methodology practice around process and document creation
Mobile Office options: Limited access to alternative devices may limit the way documentation is created and presented
Create a quality assurance position responsible for documentation
“I use Google Docs to collaborate, and then whack the finished project into Microsoft Office (offline). It would be better of course just to use one tool through out, hence whilst it kills me to recommend something by Microsoft, even Office 365 would be an improvement on that process”
CONCLUSION
9 of the 14 people interviewed had no problem with the visual representation of current documentation so training and support will be essential to change
People will not adopt a new way of creating documentation until the process of creating this documentation is addressed and simplified
Implementing any new methods of documentation creation will just be patching an underlying problem of company culture; resistance to anything new because people do not believe it will help them do a better job
NEXT STEPS
Mandatory induction process which covers the sales and branding experience the client wants to have
Appoint a “quality assurance owner” outside the Senior Executive Team to review documentation quality and professionalism
Implement a collaborative storage space, upgrade key tools that addresses the concerns revealed in this research to engage everyone to engage with processes in the same way
Make more assessable and enforce a methodology to improve process and documentation
Investigate content creation via existing software and other automation tools
Investigate mobile office options; tools that work on any device and reduce reliance on paper
Reinvent current templates to raise the bar from a competitive standpoint by reducing emphasis on text and increase usage of visual assets to better explain and sell the proposition to prospects
RECOMMENDATION
Addressing the problem of redesigning current documentation will be subject to the implementation of suggested changes in “Next steps”. We recommend implementing as much of the above before looking at reinventing the current documentation. The project might be simpler and more cost effective than initially thought allowing the company to focus their resources on more innovative solutions around documentation.