Project 3
Validation Research Overview 💡
Research Goals:
Understand the current Aspen City pilot from the perspectives of internal PBP stakeholders, the City (B2A), and businesses (B2B) for a comprehensive view
Compare past business parking solutions in Aspen with the current PBP solution
Use research findings to evaluate the scalability of the Aspen pilot to additional future markets
Context & Background: North America Sales was exploring new service offering “Rights & Rates” to cities, allowing them to resell/offer to local businesses for parking. An initial pilot was developed for the city it an essential location to research product feedback for potential widespread deployment. In order to fully grasp viability of product, it was essential to conduct indepths with the three unique targets.
Research Project: Rights & Rates Pilot Aspen
My Role: Lead UX Researcher
Project Goal: Assess effectiveness of prior Rights & Rates pilot in Aspen, while determining potential for broader scalability/implementation across North America
Methodological Approach:
Internal Stakeholders: I conducted one-hour interviews with PBP Sales Directors & Sales VPs to better grasp the fundamentals of internal workflows i.e. pains, gains and opportunities.
City of Aspen (B2A): I conducted an in-depth session with Aspen’s Programs Manager to fully comprehend internal workings from city’s perspective, probing on all feedback; be it positive or otherwise.
Businesses (B2B): I conducted an open-ended SurveyMonkey survey with eight fleet managers to understand the user experience on the users in the field and incorporate their precious feedback in the mix.
Time Frame: March to May 2022
Project 3
Validation Research Analysis 🧠
Analysis Tools Employed:
Note Taking Sheet: Integral for capturing detailed feedback during interviews with internal stakeholders, city officials, and business customers.
Business Team Participation: Collaborated closely with Sales and Clint Success teams to gather diverse perspectives and ensure comprehensive data collection.
Rough Sketches of Profiles (see images): By sketching out high-level attributes, primary concerns, job duties… I completed an initial analysis, identifying potential key findings before formal analysis.
Analysis:
Affinity Mapping (Miro): Used to segment feedback from different stakeholders, focusing on their specific concerns and experiences with the Rights & Rates solution.
Pain Point Analysis: Identified significant pain points related to operational inefficiencies and user satisfaction among business customers and city officials.
Workflow Recap & Process Mapping: Detailed mapping of the entire workflow, from initial contact to vehicle approval, highlighting areas for process improvement.
Feedback Synthesis: Consolidated feedback from internal stakeholders, city officials, and businesses into a cohesive analysis, identifying common themes and unique insights.
Visual Data Representation: Utilized visual tools to represent key findings and trends, ensuring clarity and ease of understanding for stakeholders long after my research involvement had come to an end.
Project 3
Validation Research Growth 🚀
Key Conclusions:
City of Aspen: City found the pilot beneficial and comparable in price to previous solutions, with significantly reduced man-hours required.
Business Satisfaction: While businesses appreciated improved parking coverage and customer support, satisfaction was mixed, with several expressing outright dissatisfaction mostly due to complexity app’s UI.
Operational Challenges: This precious research peeled back a hidden layer that our PBP Client Success team faced severe increased workload, mainly to keep B2A clients on track and satisfied, highlighting a critical need for process improvements.
Recommendations:
City Portal Access: I recommended granting Business Portal access to the City to manage vehicle approvals directly, in hopes of reducing PBP’s operational burden while also providing city with additional valuable data.
Improve Onboarding Experience: I identified a crucial need to streamline the onboarding process for businesses to enhance user satisfaction and reduce setup complexities.
Scalability Evaluation: I concluded that scalability was a lost cause due to fundamental operational challenges; the pilot was ultimately discontinued in Aspen within six months.
Personal Growth & Impact:
B2B & B2A Colaborations: This project enriched my experience in collaborating with city officials and additional stakeholders, highlighting the complexities and benefits of public-private partnerships.
Cross-Functional Collaboration: I worked closely with Salespeople, Business Managers, and Client Success teams, enhancing research outcomes and ensuring best alignment with business goals.
Overwhelming Value of Research: This project, despite its disappointing outcome, underscores the crucial role of “quick & dirty” yet rigorous research. By simply dedicating a couple sprints + cost of several participant incentives, a potentially much costlier full-scale rollout was avoided. Research like this truly highlights the indispensable need for validation prior to launch!
