A brief history of 2 years transformation

This product is the result of a rigorous and creative process that involves many stages of design thinking, research, failures and success. We applied various methods and tools to understand the needs and preferences of our users, to ideate and prototype possible solutions, and to test and refine them until we achieved our desired outcomes.

I joined GFK in the middle of big changes and as Lead product designer and a new pair of eyes and experience I was tasked to help redefine the vision of the product, bring new ideas and propose a new set of workflow methodologies to assist the design team and the Head of design.

Specifically, my role involved collaborating with cross-functional teams (Project managers, Developers, Data analysts and high-level representatives of other departments), helping the department mentioned to define the problems, solutionizing and creating prototypes, liaising with user researchers to test solutions and gathering feedback. I also implemented best practices and standards for design processes and deliverables. I enjoyed working in this challenging environment, sharing ideas and the opportunity to make a positive impact on the company's products and services.

At this company, I've handled various projects, from small designs to large-scale initiatives. While I can't list every task, I'd like to highlight some of the most challenging and rewarding ones like Forecasting

Forecasting with generative AI & machine learning

Forecasting is cutting-edge software that harnesses vast datasets (spanning the last 4 years) and employs machine learning to refine them, enabling future projections. Moreover, it offers a personalized interface tailored to users' backgrounds using AI, delivering insights, actionable recommendations, and next steps.

Although Forecasting was a new tool under development, it showed unexpectedly high interest from users. It was provided for free to multiple companies alongside other subscriptions. However, when GFK saw the opportunity, they made it an independent module-software that requires a subscription to activate withing the platform.

The problem was that the high bounce rate and the high interest rate were not correlated. My suggestion was to thoroughly investigate the issue by conducting user research to get human answers on what works, what doesn't, and what new functionality is needed.

The team

One of the initial challenges I faced was to overcome the communication barriers among the different departments. I realized that to achieve our common objective, we needed to work as a cohesive unit and share our ideas and feedback.

Therefore, I implemented some strategies to foster collaboration and trust among the team members, essential meetings that respect everyone's time and energy, transparency via having a common slack channels, set clear milestones and open honest feedback sessions. As a result, the departments became more unified and aligned with the same goal.

Phase 1

To initiate the project, I conducted several interviews alongside other researchers with different stakeholders to gain a comprehensive insight into the current situation - the pain points - and the key areas of improvement for enhancing our forecasting capabilities.

My strategy is to always put the user at ease, establish rapport and make the interview enjoyable like a casual conversation.

The interviews

By the end of the interviews, we had a clear vision of which direction we should head. All we needed was to apply our new knowledge in designs (wireframes, prototypes)

Phase 2

Personally working in multiple companies, I always advocate for involving some developers - and data scientists in this case - in the key meetings, rather than waiting until the final stages. This way, we can get their input, assess the viability of our concepts, the cost of the project and establish trust and alignment among the team, and make sure that we are on track.

Therefore, the second phase included mostly brainstorming, iterating and sharing ideas with other designers & internal stakeholders. In the end, I reached a point where the prototype I build in Figma was ready for quick validation with 2-3 clients.

The prototype

We were happy by the positive feedback we got from our initial prototype. It was designed to challenge the participants with realistic scenarios that required them to apply their analytical skills and creativity. For example, one of the questions asked them to predict how the market would behave in the next few months based on various factors and data sources and the user would alter the chart to match that scenario easily.

Our developers, who were already part of the planning and initial meetings, knew exactly what to do. They truly excelled at what appeared to be a daunting task, making it seem effortless.

Phase 3

After successful integration, the software seamlessly became a part of the platform, coexisting with the other software modules.

To promote the latest updates and encourage current users to subscribe to this new tool, we employed Shepherd JS—an introductory educational modal known for its high customizability. Additionally, we informed our Customer Success Managers (CSMs) about the significant release, empowering them to effectively upsell this innovative module.

Final platform UI The end

This project is a continuous process of improvement and innovation. We use Amplitude and Hotjar to collect user feedback and identify new challenges.

As the lead designer of the project, I was very pleased with the end results achieved. Despite some initial challenges, I managed to improve our workflow and mindset after I suggested changes that boosted productivity and also created an enjoyable user experience. I was curious to see how the software performed in practice after some time, I have included a report below with the findings. My metrics for success were subscription rates and customer satisfaction surveys (CSAT).

Stats of achievements