IT4U Catalog Consolidation

Introduction

Our UX Enhancement team, comprised of offshore developers and a nearshore design team, was tasked with improving the IT4U customer-facing portal at NextEra Energy. Ourprimary objectives were to promote self-service, personalize user experiences, and streamline the IT ticket submission process. Webegan by conductingan NPS survey to capture baseline user sentiments, using this data to measure progress throughout the project.

Personalization

During the Discovery phase, we developed persona cards for five distinct personas representing NextEra Energy's 15,000+ employees and contractors. These personas included office staff, executives, plant workers, field operatives, and customer service representatives. After conducting over 100 user interviews, it became clear that each persona required tailored approaches on the portal.

In the Design stage, I guided the team through a process of divergence and convergence, where we created prototypes tailored to each persona and then harmonized these designs to incorporate standard features and design patterns. Using UXPin, we created sharable design patterns, enhancing uniformity and reducing the need for custom code in the application.

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Card Sorting

To advance our goal of self-service, we addressed the challenge of reducing the overwhelming 400+ catalog items to about 50. Userfeedback highlighted difficulties in navigating and searching the IT4U portal. UsingOptimalSort for card sorting, we categorized the items into seven main groups and developed 3-6 action and service-based items for each category, facilitating a more intuitive search experience.

Catalog Reduction

After card sorting, we focused on creating a predictable and efficient system for generating high-quality outputs within a tight timeframe of two Program Increments (PIs). Ideveloped a UXPin template and guidelines that reduced the design time for custom catalog prototypes from two weeks to just one day.Thisaimed to boost theportal'ssearchability and usability by at least 50%, improving the IT4U NPS score.

Team Lead

I managed two daily standups: one with four offshore developers and another with five UX designers. Myfocus was on reinforcing company safety, aligning with project goals, and coaching on design and coding best practices. Asignificant challenge was managing team turnover and efficiently onboarding new designers and developers amid tight deadlines.

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Service Blueprint

As the company shifted towards building custom applications to reduce development costs, our Enterprise Design team underwent a service blueprint course by NN/g. I facilitated NextEra Energy's first-ever Service Blueprint workshop for the IT4U lead team. This workshop fostered collaboration, mapped out current and future states of the catalog request process, identified critical pain points, and created visual representations of customer journeys and process bottlenecks.

The following month, I conducted a Service Blueprint training session during the UX Monthly Knowledge Share, attended by over 20 members of the NextEra design team.

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The IT4U Catalog Consolidation project achieved significant results:

• Improved Portal Usability: The consolidation of catalog items led to a 50% improvement in portal usability and searchability.
• Increased User Satisfaction: The NPS score showed a marked improvement, reflecting enhanced user satisfaction with the IT ticket submission process.
• Efficient Design Process: The UXPin template and guidelines reduced design time for custom catalog prototypes from two weeks to one day.
• Enhanced Navigation: The new categorized structure made it easier for users to find relevant services, improving their overall experience.
• Successful Team Management: Despite team turnover, efficient onboarding and management practices ensured project deadlines were met.
• Effective Training and Collaboration: The service blueprint workshops and training sessions promoted a collaborative environment and provided valuable insights into improving the IT4U portal.

These outcomes highlight the successful implementation and positive impact of the IT4U Catalog Consolidation project, fulfilling NextEra Energy’s objectives and significantly enhancing the user experience.