User Research Best Practices and Process Improvement.
Transforming commerce through empathy-driven decisions lies at the heart of our strategy at SAP Commerce. This core belief in user-centricity drives every initiative. As a UX Designer, I was tasked with standardizing and elevating our research practices to build a truly user-centric operating model across our global teams. My focus is on driving strategic initiatives that deliver direct business value.
In collaboration with a smart vocational student mentee, we step into the ambiguity and define a clear strategic direction. I spearheaded a cross-regional research initiative that went beyond simply conducting studies; the goal was to implement a process in alignment with SAP’s harmonized, user-centered operating model, a systemic change that would embed customer needs at the core of all decision-making.
This required:
Initiating a Global Audit: Leading internal interviews with designers, engineers, and product managers across regions to conduct a comprehensive audit of existing workflows, tools, and knowledge gaps.
Prioritizing Empathy over Action: Recognizing that organizational buy-in is key, we intentionally prioritized listening. This collaborative, high-touch approach was a critical leadership move that not only gathered actionable insights but also fostered stakeholder alignment and commitment from day one.
Process Improvement: Scaling Research with Actionable Framework
The core finding was that teams needed clarity: they were familiar with research methods but uncertain about when and how to apply them consistently. We developed and delivered a scalable, comprehensive Research Best Practice blueprint designed to solve this process gap:
The Tool Framework: A systematic framework categorizing tools into Explorative, Discovery, and Evaluative, providing a clear decision-tree for teams to select the appropriate method for their stage of work.
Actionable Resources: created and led the documentation of key guidelines for workshops (Jobs to be Done, Customer Discovery) and User Testing, detailing 'who' is responsible at each stage and the key metrics to consider.
Sustainability via Documentation: A crucial process improvement was standardizing the documentation of research insights, transforming one-off studies into accessible, long-term organizational knowledge. This phase is an ongoing effort.
Driving Adoption and Change Management
A process is only as good as its adoption. We designed and championed the rollout not just as a content dump, but as a robust change management initiative that required constant, transparent collaboration:
Cross-Functional Enablement: We hosted tailored enablement sessions and cross-regional workshops to share learnings, validate the new approach, and co-create resources, ensuring the framework was a shared asset.
Building a Feedback Culture: To ensure the process remained dynamic and relevant, I embedded a champion for continuous improvement by establishing an ongoing feedback loop. This invites teams to continuously shape the guidelines, solidifying long-term alignment and impact across the organization.
The ultimate outcome was a strengthened collaboration among UX, Engineering, and Product teams, an improved decision-making cadence driven by data, and a scalable research framework that directly contributed to the successful adoption of the new operating model and reduced re-work by 50%. This project exemplifies my ability to drive impactful, system-level change through strategic UX leadership and collaborative execution.
In Conclusion
Beyond the measurable success of adopting the operating model, the most impactful realization was the power of a strategic, collaborative approach to drive organizational change. By first prioritizing listening to internal pain points, we ensured the resulting framework was perceived as an organizational solution rather than a top-down mandate, thereby minimizing resistance.
This actionable, non-academic guidance, specifically the clarity on when and how to apply Explorative, Discovery, and Evaluative research, immediately streamlined the product cycle, leading to a documented reduction in 'uncertainty time' and mitigating the risk of building unvalidated features. Ultimately, this approach demonstrated that successful leadership in UX is about architecting scalable systems that enable teams to be efficient, collaborative, and consistently customer-focused. To ensure this longevity and relevance, sustainability will be maintained through knowledge-sharing sessions and quarterly surveys to collect continuous feedback and drive refinements.