Topics that were addressed:

• Search experience
• Training material structured into Journeys, Paths, and Resources and how users interact with each
• New Hire Onboarding feature
• Q&A feature

Some key findings:

• Many users never go to recommended training since they never have training recommended to them
• Most of the participants do not use all three tiers (Journeys, Paths, and Resources)
• Many participants expressed the need to see material that is relevant to them and their role
• Would like more functionality within the Q&A section such as category finds it overwhelming
• Many found the Q&A section to be overwhelming and difficult to find answers to their questions
• Some expressed the need for more filtering capability in how training items are categorized
• Onboarding feature was not heavily used by most

Streamlining the Course Hierarchy

Data from surveys and user testing showed that users struggled with our complex, three-tier course organization: Journeys, Paths, and Resources

Most users did not understand the difference between a Path, which was a group of Resources, and a Journey, which was a group of Paths and/or Resources. They simply wanted to find training relevant to their specific jobs.

To alleviate the confusion of the three tiered grouping of training items, I recommended removing the top tier which stakeholders were hesitant to do. Additional user research helped guide the way towards a design that would address the user's needs and the stakeholder's concerns.

Reducing Friction in Q&A

Previously, users had to choose a category before viewing or searching any peer-to-peer job questions. This extra step blocked direct access to content which added friction so addressing the current experience with a user flow helped point out how this could be improved.

Boosting Peer Collaboration

Prior data along with user interviews showed that employees rarely shared or recommended training with each other. To align with the business goal of creating a collaborative learning environment, I documented the need to create a the sharing loop to encourage peer-to-peer recommendations.

Other Cross-Functional Activities

In addition to addressing the needs and concerns of the user from the conducted interviews, I continued working with the business on their goals. Through a shared FigJam file I shared with the team, I asked for any input on items such as inspirational designs that might translate, and to any specific feature ideas they may have. The FigJam board acted as sandbox where all members of the team could collaborate. This is also where I shared the friction points diagramed through the Navigation User Flow.

Defining with an Affinity Map

I defined the goals by gathering not only user feedback, but those needs requested by stakeholders and then organizing them into an affinity map to help sort through and identify what could be considered in scope.

Testing the Three-Tier Approach

Based on survey and user test results, my findings pointed to the need to re-think the way recommended courses were grouped. At the time, courses were organized into two tiers - there was the resource training item itself that may or may not be a part of a larger group of resources called a Path. That Path may or may not be a part of a larger group of Paths and/or Resources called a Journey. When asked, many users either didn’t search by those criteria, didn’t understand what the difference was between a Path and Journey and only tried to find training items that were relevant to their job.

I recommended removing the Journey tier from the experience which required that I present this approach by showing an existing view and revised view to demonstrate how the structure could be streamlined.

Designing for a Streamlined Two-Tier Approach

After presenting how the three tier structure creates clutter and confusion, I presented a two tiered approach of just Resources contained within Paths, but there was still some skepticism. The concern was how could those top level groupings of paths still be made available. I took an e-commerce approach and proposed a separate browse navigation structure by category using imagery where the user could still narrow down to Paths and then Resources, but the categories were not part of the search results. This provided visual interest with the different card treatment and lived outside of the search results, but was still that option for users who used Journeys to still access those categorized groups of resources.

Usability Testing

Maintaining the consistency of the AbbVie design system, I created various screens and prototypes for pages such as Home, Catalog, Q&A and the Profile page. I recruited users of DevU, some of which had participated in the inital user testing, to run through a number of tasks. Their feedback helped guide the rest of the experience and to make changes where there were signifcant findings.

What I Discovered

Key Finding
Most participants understood the new structure removing the top tier of Journeys, however some shared concern over the removal. This was not taken lightly and was addressed prior to the release.

Key Finding
Participants loved the move towards a sharing approach to DevU where a manager for example, could share a training item with a direct report, as well as the idea to save and provide reviews on courses. There was some concern about the validity of the reviews that might be written and that an approval process would avoid miscommunication.

Additional Findings
They also expressed the need to provide details on training material and for improved filter capabilities to help users in specific roles find relevant content.

Additional Findings
One recommendation to allow a user to sort content by the user's functional area was considered for a future release.

Addressing Multiple Conditions of the Design

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Addressing the Top Tier Removal

To address the concern of removing the highest tier from the search results within the Catalog, I proposed a way to find that top level category through a Category Search, similar to an e-commerce experience. This included AbbVie approved imagery to create a more engaging experience.

DevU Q&A

Users can either search through previous questions asked of subject matter experts, or submit a new question that would be available to all users once answered. Shown below is the the Q&A view of questions with answers that is searchable. A status of the response to the question is provided in the Q&A Tracker where a user can also ask a follow-up question.

Mobile Menu and Notifications

The mobile menu followed the desktop pattern to maintain consistency. From the menu, users needed the ability to open their notifications panel. I designed the notificaitons as a full screen modal to allow for easy viewing and interactions. There were tasks to present that consisted of required training and the notifications informed the user of content that had been shared, updates on Q&A topics and DevU recommended training. Presenting these two options in a tabbed view made it easy to quickly access both with the default tab of Tasks.