Optum Integrity One · Research strategy · Redesign in development
When I began working with Integrity One, the legacy product had little direct feedback from the people using it.
The redesign presented an opportunity to change that relationship. There would be decisions to make throughout development, and I wanted recurring feedback from real users to help guide them.
Establishing that approach required support from the people making product decisions. My first task was to explain why ongoing research belonged in the redesign and help stakeholders understand what committing to it would involve.
Building support for a different way of working
I drew on an approach I had used at Chase and brought it into an in-person workshop.
The workshop gave me a setting to explain the benefits and tradeoffs of making direct user feedback a recurring part of the design process. I wanted stakeholders to understand both the value of the approach and what it would mean for how the team worked.
That shared understanding mattered. Recurring research needs a continuing place in the design process. Establishing support for it meant giving stakeholders a clear reason to make room for user feedback as the redesign progressed.
The discussion helped build that support. Stakeholders trusted the direction and gave our team room to take it forward. We had a shared basis for bringing users into the work, with an understanding of why the approach mattered and what it involved.
Turning support into a research direction
With that support established, I set the high-level approach and directed the research team to develop a plan for recurring user feedback.
My role was to establish the direction: keep the people who would use the product connected to the redesign throughout its development. The research team’s role was to translate that direction into a plan and carry the work forward.
That division of responsibility gave the team a clear purpose while leaving room for their research expertise to shape the approach.
The intent was to create an ongoing connection to users. As the product changed, the team would continue gathering feedback that could inform the decisions ahead.
Keeping users connected to decisions
Our research team now gets ongoing feedback on changes large and small.
That continuity is an important change from where we started. User feedback has a recurring place in the work, giving the team a way to stay connected to the people who will use the product as the redesign develops.
It also gives individual design decisions a useful context. A change may be substantial or relatively small, but it still becomes part of someone’s experience. Recurring research creates opportunities to hear from users throughout that progression.
The approach keeps the relationship active. As the team continues to develop the product, users continue to have a place in the conversation.
Earning greater trust in the team
As the work progressed, confidence in the redesign grew.
Stakeholders developed greater trust in our team. They brought us into more decisions and gave us more say in the product’s direction.
For me, that was a meaningful leadership outcome. The research approach helped establish confidence in how the team worked, and that confidence supported a larger role in product decisions.
The workshop helped secure the initial support. Setting a clear direction gave the research team a basis for moving forward. The ongoing work then helped strengthen the trust stakeholders placed in us.
A stronger basis for the work ahead
The redesign is still in development. The change so far is in how we work and the relationships supporting that work.
We have an ongoing connection to real users. The research team gathers recurring feedback as the product develops. Stakeholders have greater confidence in the redesign and give our team a more trusted role in shaping its direction.
That is the foundation I wanted to establish: a redesign informed by the people who will use it, supported by stakeholders who understand the approach, and carried forward by a team trusted to contribute to product decisions.