User Research (discovery research) for a complete product suite
Construction
From Factory Floor to Digital Future: Leading User Research for Global Construction Materials Digital Transformation
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In-depth Interviews
Usability testing
Ideation, Co Creation & Product vision Workshops
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Atlassian Suite
Tablaeu
Google Analytics
Miro
Trello
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My role focused on generating actionable insights to guide product and design teams through this transformation, ensuring that digital solutions would effectively serve user needs while maintaining the company's market leadership position.
The company aimed to optimize production plant operations through digital transformation, focusing on employee workflow efficiency and productivity enhancement.
Our research centered on understanding daily operational challenges, workflow inefficiencies, and digital adoption barriers within production facilities. With four distinct products in the company's suite, our research needed to inform a unified product vision and cohesive user experience strategy.
I led user research initiatives for a global construction materials provider during their digital transformation journey. The company aimed to revolutionize their traditional business model by developing in-house IT capabilities and digitizing their product and service offerings.
As research lead, I bridged the gap between traditional construction industry practices and digital innovation opportunities. This dual focus enabled our teams to design solutions that resonated with both existing workflows and future digital aspirations.
Using a combination of research methodologies, I provided strategic insights that directly informed product development and design decisions. This research-driven approach ensured that our digital transformation efforts were grounded in real user needs and industry contexts.
Project Plan
Project Goals
Research track definition and planning
Role & Responsibilities Led comprehensive research initiatives across four active products, managing discovery research, behavioral analysis, insight communication, and usability testing. Primary focus areas included user story development and concept validation.
Research Structure Organized research tracks into three strategic timelines:
Short-term (3 months): Quick-win opportunities and immediate improvements
Mid-range (1-2 quarters): Complex investigations requiring additional resources
Long-term (6+ months): Strategic initiatives needing extensive stakeholder involvement
Remote Collaboration Implemented centralized documentation through Trello and Miro boards, establishing single sources of truth for research artifacts, analysis, and team communications. This streamlined remote collaboration and ensured consistent insight sharing across teams.
Execution
Research streams definition and planning
Our research methodology followed a structured three-phase approach, ensuring consistent insight delivery and product development alignment across all product streams.
Phase I: Discovery & Analysis through stakeholder interviews and analysis, we identified core user needs that informed user story creation and product backlog prioritization, enabling targeted design mockups.
Phase II Concept Validation, we documented key assumptions, conducted usability testing, and managed design iterations to continuously improve both concepts and functionality based on user feedback.
Phase III Documentation of the final insights were integrated into the research track calendar, creating a sustainable cycle of research-driven development across all product streams.
Product Streams
There are 4 products that required discovery research. Without going into too many details, the streams were focused on the primary aspects of material production:
Phase I
Discover & Analysis
Participant Recruitment Each research round included a minimum of five participants, with a structured two-week recruitment process including initial outreach, follow-up confirmation, privacy agreements, and agenda distribution.
Collaborative Interview Preparation Interview guidelines were developed iteratively with input from key stakeholders, including Product Owners, Requirement Engineers, and Designers, ensuring comprehensive coverage of all relevant inquiry areas.
Analysis Methodology We employed a rigorous thematic analysis approach:
Interview transcription and initial analysis
Collaboration with subject matter experts
Theme categorization and pattern identification
Supplementary data collection when needed (e.g., follow-up surveys)
Insight Communication Key findings were synthesized and presented to stakeholders, directly informing subsequent research and design iterations. This ensured continuous alignment between research insights and product development.
User stories creation, backlog refinement and concept creation
Research-Driven Prioritization Our research insights directly informed user story creation and backlog organization. Through developer evaluation, we identified technical dependencies and framework requirements, enabling efficient implementation planning.
Design Implementation Working collaboratively with designers and Product Owners, we translated research insights into testable wireframes. This approach ensured rapid iteration and validation of design solutions while maintaining alignment with user needs and technical constraints.
Phase II
Documentation
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Usability Testing Framework We maintained a focused testing approach with five participants per round, following research best practices for optimal insight generation. Our structured recruitment process included advance notifications, privacy agreements, and clear session agendas.
Hypothesis-Driven Testing Our test design methodology centered on validating specific assumptions:
Team assumptions were systematically documented
Test scenarios were crafted to address specific hypotheses
Tasks were designed to reflect real-world user contexts
Think-aloud protocol revealed user thought processes
A hypothesis that users could efficiently locate and utilize new report features would be tested through contextual tasks like shift handover documentation. This approach allowed us to validate assumptions about feature discoverability and workflow integration while observing natural user behavior.
Design Iterations
Results Analysis Using thematic analysis, we organized usability test findings according to their corresponding hypotheses. This process yielded actionable design guidelines based on direct user feedback and behavioral observations.
Insight Implementation Key findings were synthesized and presented to stakeholders, directly informing design iterations. This cyclical process of testing, analysis, sharing, and redesign typically required 2-3 rounds to achieve optimal solutions.
Phase III
Final Team presentation
The research track culminated in an expanded stakeholder meeting, bringing together Product Owners, design teams, and data teams across product suites. This session served as a critical alignment point for cross-functional teams.
Presentation Structure
Comprehensive research journey overview
Summary of key insights from all research phases
Validation of final design concepts and prototypes
90-minute format allowing for thorough discussion
Collaborative planning for next steps
This comprehensive research initiative across four product streams successfully guided our client's digital transformation journey from traditional construction materials to innovative digital solutions. Through structured research tracks and iterative testing, we delivered actionable insights that directly informed product development while ensuring solutions remained grounded in real user needs. This systematic approach not only improved production plant efficiency but also established a sustainable framework for continuous research-driven development, setting a foundation for the company's evolution into a digitally-enabled industry leader.