In the first semester in HCIM program at UMD, our team analyzed IQ Solutions call center  and warehouse employees’ working experience. Our goal was to reduce the complexity and improve the effectiveness of work flows in IQ Solutions. We learned their business structures and conducted several contextual interviews with their employees. With the data condensed into an affinity diagram, we developed two different models to illustrate two essential aspects of the employees’ working experience: sequential workflows and collaboration between stakeholders. We eventually passed those insights along with a few design solutions to the client and the design team to help them build a user-friendly system

Background

IQ Solutions is a full-service firm that specializes in public health communications and health information technology. One of their primary functions is facilitating live, person-to-person assistance, in both English and Spanish on behalf of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) through their custom-built Information Resource Center (IRC) platform. IQ’s employees primarily communicate with individuals who are suffering from an illness/disease looking for resources, clinicians or "intermediaries," and researchers. IQ also have a small portion of employees in the warehouse, sending publications to the public and managing exhibit materials

The Objective

The goal of the INST 710 research team was to assess business needs and individual requirements, model a modern IRC solution, and potentially provide a roadmap with recommendations on a new platform. The following questions were explored by our research team:

• How can IQ’s inquiry system for phone, email and chat communication be streamlined?
• How can the new IRC system and privacy regulations be appropriately interwoven?
• How do the employees use the system?
• How does the current system hinder or slow down the call process?
• What tasks can be achieved using the current system?
• How does the system affect the call center employees’ ability to empathize?

The results from our research will be passed to the design team to use as they finish the UX redesign in the next year. To facilitate their work as a team, we need to have a clear and comprehensive report.

Methodologies

Overall Study Design

We conducted contextual interviews with the IQ Solutions Call Center and warehouse employees to learn about user requirements, come up with affinity diagrams, and subsequently help us build the sequence and collaboration models.

Contextual Inquiry

Each interview lasted 45-60 minutes, with the interviewer asking the employees to sit with the system, and observing them as they go through their daily tasks. We probed the user about their actions or decisions. This helped us fully understand the requirements of the system, the various user tasks, and any other obstacles not made apparent in the initial meetings. An interpretation session was held after each round of interviews. We interpreted our data from the interviews, making notes that were then used in the development of the affinity diagram and the experience models

Participant Summary

Result

Affinity Diagram

This diagram acts as a collection of all raw data (yellow notes) gathered during the contextual interviews. The yellow notes are broken down into various categorical levels by grouping similar actions and “I” statements together. The green notes at the top of the diagram tell the “big picture” story so that those who didn’t participate in a contextual interview or interpretation session can easily latch onto the project and make meaningful contributions. The green notes also encompass the blue and pink categories beneath them. The purpose of the Affinity Diagram is to make sense of all data collected and display it in a way that is collaborative, fluid and is the basis for the experience models which will illustrate the findings in a more cohesive manner.

Sequence Model

The Sequence model attempts to capture users’ actions while doing a task. It helps define the scenarios in which the product will be used. The Sequence Model for IQ has been broken down into two main segments or “workflows.” The first details the process of setting up for work, completing an inquiry and interacting with the system to provide resolutions for the inquirers’ requests. The second details the process of receiving orders for publications or exhibit items that must be shipped out to the stakeholders from the warehouse.

Collaboration Model

This model will demonstrate the collaboration between various entities (i.e. call center employees, warehouse employees, managers). This model will reveal how the people in the user’s world communicate and coordinate tasks within an ideal IRC system.

Findings

Presentation

After completing the Experience Models, we presented our findings to employees at IQ Solutions Call Center. During the session, attendees participated in a “Wall Walk.” The Wall Walk immersed attendees in our data illustrated in the Affinity, Collaboration, and Sequence models, and allowed them to provide feedback and design ideas for potential solutions. We had distributed sticky notes to each attendee to allowfor them to post their feedback and ideas on each model. We also provided a document detailing our team’s initial breakdown of the primary challenges faced, as well as solutions for these challenges, which acted as a reference for inspiration.

Solution Suggestions

The primary objective of this project was exploratory, and our report focused on insights for the in-house design experts. However, we also sketched up a few design solutions that may inspire the in-house team.