Unannounced Mixed Reality Enterprise App
Senior UX Designer - 2019
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Research and build a new Enterprise product for the Hololens 2.
Role . Senior UX Designer Team . 5 Design, 6 Engineering, 1 PM Date . November 2018 - April 2019 Brief Microsoft Mixed Reality identified a product area for a cross-discipline team to explore with a prototype and proof of concept. Research the solution area directly with customers and researchers. Design, build and demonstrate the value of Mixed Reality on the Hololens to internal decision makers. |
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Background
Contraints .
The design team was challenged by multiple technological and organisational restraints throughout development.
The design team was challenged by multiple technological and organisational restraints throughout development.
- The initial prototype had to be delivered in the space of 6 weeks
- Resources for engineering were restricted - only 3 engineers were working on the architecture of the application throughout
- We had limited access to customers and research resources in the initial 6 week development cycle.
- The app needed to integrate with Dynamics 365 Finance and Operations - a complex enterprise operations, logistics and finance management package that the team had no previous knowledge of
Goals .
- Develop a proof of concept to secure further product funding
- Research, select and design a user-centered app for one of the relevant personas
- Research and develop personas, scenarios and user flows for continuing development of the app
Role and Responsibilities
UX Design
- Research and design audio and voice UX
- Research D365 Finance and Operations workflows and champion integration and user journey between the HL app and F&O
- Produce wireframes for analytics and data reporting
- Collaborate with engineers to execute designs
- Communicate with Leadership on all levels to Microsoft CEO to demonstrate value of application
- Communicate with partnered internal team - F&O
Design Process
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Research
Exploring a new product opportunity area meant that research was critical to understanding the needs of our potential users, and how the app would be the most beneficial to their workflows. In the first phase of development (November-December), we did not have time to travel for customer visits and no local customers, so we had to rely on the footage captured by previous teams, as well as internal resources to synthesise scenarios, personas and user journeys for the product. There was also a significant research conducted on the technology landscape to understand competitors in the Voice UX space. |
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Design
After this initial research phase, the team conducted a 2 day brainstorming workshop to gather ideas that responded to the established user pain points. Initial design was highly collaborative, focussing on the ideal user flow. At this time, I was able to collaborate and develop audio and Voice UX assets for our ideal user flow for implementation when the core user flow was ready.
While the core user flow was being developed, I championed the user flow for the integration between our application and D365 Finance and Operations. This involved working with the F&O team to understand the F&O application and relevant user flows, developing documentation to represent this flow, and ensuring that our MR app's flow integrated and augmented the F&O flow.
After this initial research phase, the team conducted a 2 day brainstorming workshop to gather ideas that responded to the established user pain points. Initial design was highly collaborative, focussing on the ideal user flow. At this time, I was able to collaborate and develop audio and Voice UX assets for our ideal user flow for implementation when the core user flow was ready.
While the core user flow was being developed, I championed the user flow for the integration between our application and D365 Finance and Operations. This involved working with the F&O team to understand the F&O application and relevant user flows, developing documentation to represent this flow, and ensuring that our MR app's flow integrated and augmented the F&O flow.
Demonstration
The phase of the app that I was working in had a major goal of securing funding for future development. This was executed through a series of demonstrations for all levels of leadership up to the Microsoft CEO. This process involved refining the prototype, collaborating on the script and learning and delivering the script.
The phase of the app that I was working in had a major goal of securing funding for future development. This was executed through a series of demonstrations for all levels of leadership up to the Microsoft CEO. This process involved refining the prototype, collaborating on the script and learning and delivering the script.
Scale and Further Research
After the demonstration phase and the product was funded, we scaled the focus of the app to consider additional personas and user flows. This meant that we executed a number of customer and partner visits to gather more information about additional customer and industry workflows. My role in this process was leading the customer understanding - re-writing the personasand user flows in greater detail across a wider set of users in our target scenario. From this, I drafted the customer pain points and needs relevant to the product.
After the demonstration phase and the product was funded, we scaled the focus of the app to consider additional personas and user flows. This meant that we executed a number of customer and partner visits to gather more information about additional customer and industry workflows. My role in this process was leading the customer understanding - re-writing the personasand user flows in greater detail across a wider set of users in our target scenario. From this, I drafted the customer pain points and needs relevant to the product.
Results - UX Design
Design Artifacts
The product is still in development, however I have moved to work on a different product. The resources and artifacts I developed are critical as UX Research assets.
Outcomes and Next Steps
The project is in continued incubation, and will be announced in the coming months.
The product is still in development, however I have moved to work on a different product. The resources and artifacts I developed are critical as UX Research assets.
Outcomes and Next Steps
The project is in continued incubation, and will be announced in the coming months.
