Unboxing the Technical Onboarding Journey: Generative Research

I worked with our UX Researcher to conduct generative research to uncover insights about Technical Onboarding. We applied the Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) framework to the research.

Context:

Skillsoft is an EdTech company that produces learning management system software and content. The target audience is Fortune 1000 Enterprise clients that span multiple industries.
Their primary product is the Percipio Platform that contains all learning content and allows customers to create customizable learning journeys.

Role:

Sr. Product Designer Manager: I worked with our UX Researcher to drive the research study from start to read out.

Partner:

1 UX Researcher
1 Product Designer

Stakeholders:

VP of Product

Challenge:

Onboarding had been identified as the number one priority for our teams to support based on sales surveys and customer calls. We needed to better understand the market needs in the space to help us identify opportunities.

Research & Problem Definition

The research process started by a Hypothesis Alignment workshop with cross-functional stakeholders across Product, UX, Research, Eng Leadership. The goal of the workshop was to ensure we’re all aligned on top research questions we wanted to uncover with this study.

Participant Recruitment

Based on hypothesis, we narrowed down recruitment criteria to Managers or Directors of T&D L&D programs at large companies.
Looked at customer industry breakdown to narrow down which types of companies to target.

Interviews & Synthesis

Time period: 2 weeks
8 Interviews
US-based employees
Companies: Consultancies, Tech companies
Roles included HR, Engineering Director, Managers, Technical Trainer

Learnings: Technical Onboarding Jobs to Be Done

There are distinctions between the onboarding process in consultancies: length of time, roles, tools, etc.
There is no “one size fits all” onboarding journey process or toolbox
Identified 4 phases/steps in a typical onboarding process
Cohorting is done at a large scale
Feedback and progress on key metrics
Tools that integrate nicely are prioritized over others

Outcome: Insights shared with Percipio Product team and used in the development of Learning Programs (released Fall 2023). Learning programs allow admins to create customizable learning journeys on any topic, set up specific cohorts and follow progress.