FY21 Engagement Survey: Top 3 UXR team actions to take for FY22

Background

As a result of the FY21 Engagement Survey, discussions were held to gather feedback on actions that should be taken as we enter FY22. The results of those interviews are captured in this issue, as themes.

This issue defines those themes in more detail and describes the actions the team will take in FY22. The purpose of this effort is to improve in these areas within the fiscal year. The UX Research team will decide, together, on the suggested plans to take for each theme.

Themes (as of 2021-04-13)

1) Career opportunities

Issues:

  • There isn’t formality around growth opportunities. Ex: Growth opportunities/projects aren't documented or kept track of as part of an individual plan.
  • Lack of latitude for opportunities - also applies at the company level (Adam: this may be out of scope for now)

**Suggested plan to take: (as of 2021-04-13) **

  • STEP 1: Put formal development plans in place for each Researcher.
  • STEP 2: Identify/create growth opportunities that align with individual career goals.
  • STEP 3: Define goals with measures for success.
  • STEP 4: Execute on the activity/opportunity
  • STEP 5: At the conclusion of the opportunity, we will reflect/self-evaluate on how the opportunity went. Were goals met? What could've gone better?
  • STEP 6: Repeat Steps 2-5 as needed.

Notes

  • The above process should be able fit within a 30% project or even research conducted within a Researchers' Stage Group.
  • The above process can also be applicable for growth opportunities.
  • Strive for identification and completion of at least one growth opportunity a quarter (can accomplish more)

2) Conducting research (team contributor: @alasch)

Issues:

  • The consulting model hinders Researchers conducting research. Designers and PMs are starting to improve their research knowledge and are relying less on Researchers. However, it will never be fully hands-off.
  • Because Researchers aren’t conducting enough research themselves, career development can be negatively impacted
  • There can be challenges around the prioritization of new work

**Suggested actions we can take: (as of 2021-04-13) **

  • Prioritization of research projects across stage groups. This can be difficult and there are different ways to achieve this. Work with Adam to start. Make this more explicit in the the job responsibilities (Adam: DONE)
  • Carve out time for Researchers to conduct their own research. This is where the 30% approach gives Researchers the opportunity to conduct research they feel they should go after.
  • Adam can help with prioritizing and saying no if lack of time for a 30% is a problem. Better yet, document how to handle that so Researchers can self-serve in saying no. We can also put a lightweight process in place to understand what gets dropped when new requests come in.

3) More team collaboration (team contributor: @asmolinski2 )

Issues:

  • For Researchers, there’s a lack of cross stage opportunities
  • Presently, it feels very siloed
  • Working together also means we can learn from each other
  • Depending on career goals, a lack of Researcher collaboration could mean that we're missing opportunities for growth

**Suggested actions we can take: (as of 2021-04-13) **

  • Get to know each other
    • Meet in groups of 3 for a month (march)
    • Minimum of one 30 min meeting a week
    • Switch groups and repeat for the next month
  • Research pairing
    • Each researcher will partner with a fellow researcher on 2 cross-stage research projects each year
Edited by Adam Smolinski