Our client is a startup that has developed a unique mobile scanning technology which can be used to deliver and authenticate tickets, coupons, loyalty identities and payment credentials to any type of mobile device, including feature phones.
With a highly mobile, international team and a complex product that is rapidly gaining market traction, they had a problem… When there are a few people in your business who know EVERYTHING and you’re growing EVERY DAY, how do you onboard staff, customers and users onto a product is evolving at lightning speed?
Phew! That’s a big issue, but not an uncommon one in startups. Founders are experts in every aspect of the product but as the company grows that knowledge doesn’t always transfer in full. However, if there are only a handful of people in your organisation that can easily explain the complexities of your product then scaling successfully will be a struggle. Our client knew this.
Before tackling the front end or customer experience side of this coin, Kickstand focussed the attention internally. With a wealth of knowledge already within the business we began by getting everyone in a room – literally everyone in the business who was able to attend – to start mapping out a service blueprint.
This is a diagram that maps the relationship between all aspects of a service. Backend technology, hardware, people and process visualised within the timeline of a customer journey. It shows who does what and when.
Kickstand’s independent facilitation of a workshop like this means everyone has the opportunity to help uncover hidden assumptions and areas of uncertainty without judgement. The act of mapping this out within a group produces a few “ah-ha” moments from the newer members of the team. “Ohhhhh that’s what that does!”
With the workshop complete and all the mints and red frogs eaten, Kickstand distilled the notes and observations into a strategic plan of attack for a shared Knowledge Base. This would be a single online source of information relating to the service for both customers and staff to become familiar with the most up to date product information.
Armed with mints, red frogs AND fantales we again tapped into the project’s greatest resource – the team.
Kickstand facilitated a card sorting workshop, in person for the Sydney team and online for staff based overseas. The format is simple, writing on cards the answer to two key questions:
Together we can then experiment with different ways of grouping these questions and discuss why some groupings might work better than others.
All this shuffling, talking and eating lollies provide Kickstand with bounty of material to craft into a detailed information architecture, visual design and content for the Knowledge Base that will grow and evolve with the team.
Now as new staff members and customers come on board there is a place where they can easily reference everything from hardware installation to API documentation and where to get the best laksa for lunch.
“The team at Kickstand Design have brought professionalism and clarity to all of the projects we have worked on. Their ability to facilitate workshops, engage team members and conduct independent research has brought a fresh perspective to our product development. Kickstand Design has been kicking goals for us since their very first project and we continue to use them on a regular basis.”
Sean Edmiston - CTO, bCODE
