Throughout the Discover Phase, I drive global research by leveraging qualitative and quantitative approaches alike.

My qualitative approach is informed through both primary and secondary research. Initially I kick-off research by working closely with business stakeholders, diving into brand research, conducting internal workshops and at times running with ‘’working’’ hypothesis. Next I follow-up with recruitment, dive into participant selection and conduct interviews. At times I even go out into the field for direct observation.

My quantitative approach is also informed through both primary and secondary research; as well as a close working relationship with data scientists, access to rich analytics, surveys, recruitment efforts and the participants themselves. With this method I aim to quantify attitudes, behaviors, opinions, and key challenges.

With the collective knowledge of these inputs, I am able to synthesize and identify key opportunities, form predictions, discover patterns, determine averages and a clear path forward. This phase sets us up for success in the Discover, Identify, Pilot, Develop, and Scale phases.

To extend upon consumer research and drive the transition from the Discover Phase to the Identify Phase, I go deeper into brand research.

I inform this process by establishing benchmarks, conducting comparative and competitive analysis, tapping into consumer insights, as well as ecosystem and opportunity mapping, to identify potential experience and platform strategies.

When benchmarking I’m looking for best-in-class examples, respective to the brand’s industry and well beyond. Through this process, I also look at the deltas across existing digital experience(s). This helps me to better establish and round out consumer context and expectation.

To build on this further, I define the experience strategy. I work to ensure that the overall experience between brand and end-user is aligned to a common narrative, across all touchpoints. This includes brand principle/value definition, planning, measurement and governance of the overall brand and product experience.

Cumulatively these processes help me to tease out and identify ways to position or reposition a brand such that it owns or continues to own a truly unique and highly valuable position in the heart of its consumer.

Continuing in the Identify Phase and directly informed by both research and brand strategy, I apply the knowledge gained to drive product innovation.

In general, the product strategy work I drive shares a majority of the same principles as brand strategy. I look at consumer research, dive into market segments, perform benchmarking, conduct comparative and competitive audits, drive north star visioning and define key macro product features with an understanding of the wider ecosystem and opportunity areas.

Further I fine-tune product strategy by working closely with the market insights gleaned thus far and key stakeholders to define product positioning, coupled with emerging tech. More recently a majority of my product strategy work has become heavily based on the presence of algorithms. This variable factors into the near-term and long-term product vision, directly informing the (product) roadmap.

Brand Strategy: In the context of brand strategy, the way I drive experience strategy is from the position of how the brand is experienced by consumers across all touchpoints. This includes the emotional and psychological aspects of brand interaction, whether through marketing, the purchase process, product usage, customer service, or digital engagement. The goal is to create a cohesive and positive brand experience which resonates with the consumer, ultimately building brand loyalty and ideally consumer advocacy. My process involves defining or refining brand principles and values, planning how these principles are communicated and measured, as well as governing the overall brand experience to ensure consistency and alignment with brand narrative.

Product and Service Strategy: When considering product and product strategy, my approach to experience strategy focuses on the user's interaction with the product or service, both digital and physical. I am concerned with the design, functionality, usability, and overall value the product or service provides to the consumer. I aim to ensure that every aspect of the product or service aligns with consumers' needs and the brand's promise, creating a seamless and satisfying experience. This strategy often includes mapping out the product or service features, as well as defining new and emerging technologies which will drive the product or service experience (such as algorithms). Ultimately I’m working to understand how a product or service fits into the consumer's lifestyle or work life.

Moving into the Pilot Phase and building upon research and strategy, I look deeper and collectively at the visible and invisible processes, structures, technologies and people which help drive and deliver an overall brand and product experience.

I identify these via mapping consumer journeys, crafting value flows, defining the service blueprint, mapping and evolving a brand’s ecosystem. Next, I expand upon the opportunity spaces initially identified.

I use the service blueprint to identify and map all enabling data, technologies, partners, people and processes required to bring a future product or service vision to life. This is a high-level visual overview which seeks to identify dependencies and connect all touchpoints to track the (product) MVP.

Beyond identifying key services within the brand ecosystem, I work to expand upon the opportunities areas as well.

Collectively these processes and deliverables help me to shift into more of a systems thinker, aligning consumer needs with business goals. They help me resolve challenges, operational inefficiencies and clarify a meaningful and ultimately a profitable way forward.

Continuing along the Pilot Phase and building off Service Design, I leverage experience design to define and build digital experiences, upon the strategy and service design insights gleaned. This is the aspect of my work which is more concerned with physical and interactive experiences.

In this function I am particularly responsible for advocating for the solution as well as understanding problems and needs from the lens of the consumer. This consumer is initially identified in the Research Phase and typically evolves into a key persona or archetype.

Next I audit the existing product experience. For this I map the current (web, app or embedded product) state to gain a comprehensive overview. This helps inform the design, structure and opportunities of a possible future version(s) which I explore in the product design phase.

And when looking further and planning for the scale phase, I socialize the RoX (or Return on Experience) topic. This involves planning and development of a robust analytics foundation within a web, app or product experience. One which allows me to continually cluster consumer data in meaningful ways.

I use this data to identify key levers which enable me to methodically and efficiently evolve the experience. The goal is to accurately reach the clients’ targets while simultaneously measuring the impact of every investment; thereby allowing me to connect investment with growth.

Staying in the Pilot Phase and building off of the knowledge acquired through the service and experience design work, I drive product design.

My initial concerns of connecting the digital and physical experiences (mentioned in the experience design phase) now go much deeper. Here I really dig into the design details. I work to visualize the core experience while also defining how the potential solution scales across various web, app and product applications.

To drive the product design phase I start initially with wireframe development, supported by user-testing. Wireframes and testing inform the interactive prototypes which I use for further testing and feedback.

Once the core or base design solution is established and stabilized, I adapt it to each platform required. This process of adaptation also informs the development of a universal design library. And to be mindful not to design in a silo, I seek feedback from engineering. This helps me to ground the solution(s) I propose in reality. Lean documentation, UX QA, and A/B testing help to further ensure product design success. Ultimately this sets us up for success in the Scale Phase.