AT A GLANCE: MANAGING GLOBAL SCALE PROJECTS

Interaction design for a project management dashboard concept for Chevron

For our two week engagement with Chevron, we were tasked with finding a solution to their project management problem. With hundreds of projects going on simultaneously in different regions across the globe, elevating real time information - from high-level summaries to project-specific production numbers - created a major challenge for regional leaders. Chevron leadership needed a way to quickly access information and manage projects in a seamless, unified experience.

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Building a foundation of understanding

Even with a limited amount of time, we took the first week to gain as much understanding of the client and their needs as we could. We conducted multiple stakeholder interviews, took an audit of current processes and systems, and began to identify the scope of the problem we would be solving for.

We built two personas to identify the main two users of the platform. These two user types gave us direction in how to split the groups and gather insights during our workshop.

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Gather the right people, find the right solutions

We asked 20 leaders and users in Chevron to come together for an 5 hour workshop. During our time together we used three activities to help draw out current frustrations and ideate around potential solutions. We worked through:

1) Needs Identification

2) “Ideation Briefs” Creation

3) Concept Visualization

Many of the Chevron leaders had never been in an environment like that and talked about how eye opening it was to hear perspectives from other colleagues and alternate departments within the organization.

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Finding new flows for pipeline management

With one week to deliver a concept, our team took our workshops inputs back to our offices and began to dig up insights. The information on day to day processes and current systems, we were able to surface commonalities and best management practices from across the different departments.

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With limited time, what are the fastest and most efficient methods for gaining understanding of the industry, user, and problem?

Chevron Pipeline and Power was an entirely new world for me. From acronyms and industry specific vernacular, our team had to find ways to quickly immerse ourselves into the minds and the day to days of oil and gas professionals. We used stakeholder interviews, documentation audits, and competitive analysis to gain a foundation, but it was the half-day workshop that gave us the connection and immersion we needed to wrap our minds around their needs. Getting an afternoon with 20 key leaders, although ideal, is not always an available option and has prompted me to think of ways I could gain similar understandings with new and unique methods.