Lenovo

WHAT IS THE CHALLENGE

To overcome barriers of collaboration and communication at a distance.

WHY (PROBLEM SPACE)

• The way people work has changed as technology has emerged to accommodate virtual teamwork.
• Lenovo has teams in the US, Hong Kong, China, and Japan.

OUTCOME

Two recommendations to tackle the uncovered challenges.

• Empathy Map Workshop in response to the need for internal empathy building.
• Project Alignment Canvas to be used during project kick-off meetings, in response to the need for departmental alignment.

HOW

LEARNINGS

• Utilizing a priority scale: It was useful when interacting and co-creating with our client since I could see the research being validated and transitioning towards a design solution.
• Human connection: Personal and professional relationships have become more difficult to navigate in the age of constant connectivity and rapid project timelines.

CHALLENGES

• Consider the interaction between virtual and local teams. Brief actions as “having a team be on the same page” or a brief empathy reminder in the workplace can make a difference.

HIGHLIGHTS

Research question

How can we improve the collaboration at a distance between the teams of Lenovo experience?

We asked

• We visited the Lenovo headquarters in Morrisville, NC, and conducted individual in-person interviews with various members across +5 departments.

Skills/tasks

Mapped out secondary research, utilized sense-making processes, conducted interviews, diligent note-taking, transcribed interviews.

We heard

We need a common visual and spoken language that keeps us on the same page

We think having constant exposure to new knowledge is inspiring

We have weekly calls to avoid alienating teams in ongoing projects

Skills/tasks

Analyzed interview transcripts through affinity mapping, identified pain points, and opportunities, condensed research into criteria.

Design Criteria

Priority Scale

• To communicate with the client and understand their subjective prioritization of the pain points from the research.
• To measure the design solutions against this scale.

Skills/tasks

As a team developed the conceptual recommendations, ensured their relationship to the criteria and presented the design recommendations.

We delivered

Two recommendations to tackle the uncovered challenges:

What

A cross-departmental workshop

For who

Departments involved in the design process


Where

International design centers


Why

To boost empathy, personal relationships, and communication

What

A collaborative method

For who

Team members across departments

Where

Kick-off meeting

Why

To facilitate project goal alignment between departments

TEAM: 6 Design Management MFA Candidates.