Virtual Onboarding Hub
MGM resorts x scad pro project
SCAD Pro was a collaborative design studio that connected current and future art and design professionals with business leaders to find creative and inventive solutions to real-world challenges. I was honored to have been selected as one of the team members for the 23” spring SCAD Pro X MGM International Resorts project.
MGM Resorts International commissioned SCAD Pro to undertake a transformative project, delving deeper into a specific subject area. The objective was to create an immersive onboarding experience to enhance remote employee satisfaction and streamline the current onboarding process. This collaborative endeavor represents an exciting opportunity to innovate in remote employee's onboarding experience.
Time frame
March 2023 - June 2023 (10 weeks)
Tools
Figma, Miro, Figma jam, Illustration, Unreal 4, Maya
Project role
School Sponsored Project
/ UX Director
Deliverables
Interaction Design: UI library, Prototype
UX/UI design: User Research, System design
Virtual Hub Demo
Game Development: Working Demo
outcome
Research
Background Context
SCAD Pro, a collaborative design studio, connects art and design professionals with business leaders to tackle real-world challenges. MGM International Resorts approached SCAD Pro with a specific inquiry.
Following the impact of COVID-19, MGM significantly expanded its remote workforce, with remote employees now constituting 30% of their staff. However, remote workers' sense of belonging and team connection dwindled, resulting in a higher quit rate after the two-year mark. These challenges were particularly evident during the onboarding process, as highlighted by survey feedback.
As a result, MGM sought an analysis to pinpoint the root causes of these issues and identify effective solutions that highlight the necessity of change for the remote onboarding process; this initiative aims to address the challenges remote workers face and enhance their overall experience within the organization.
Problem Overview
Problem
Onboarding Process Confusion: Current remote onboarding processes often confuse and disorient employees.
Lack of New Employee Support: Inadequate support for new remote hires leads to low engagement and satisfaction.
Managerial Dependency: Heavy reliance on managerial abilities results in limited and incomplete onboarding experiences.
Proposed Solutions
Improve the program's online presence and service delivery by redesigning the website for better user experience.
Create more opportunities for social interaction and community building within the online platform.
Build features that allow parents to see the progress status in real-time to make them feel the program is transparent and trustworthy
Research Method
To develop a thorough grasp of the current issues and the client's requirements, we analyzed survey results covering the initial 10 to 50 days of employee onboarding, conducted individual interviews with stakeholders and performed competitive analyses of existing solutions in the market.
Interview
Conducted four interviews with stakeholders to identify existing problems and possible solutions.
Survey
We analyzed MGM's 10-day and 50-day onboarding survey results to uncover current system issues.
Competitive analysis
We conducted a competitive analysis of six virtual office programs and ten onboarding management systems.
Research Highlight
Interview Highlights
Survey Analysis
We analyzed the results of 10-day and 50-day onboarding surveys provided by MGM. Once new employees commence the onboarding process, they are required to complete both the 10-day and 50-day surveys. When we first looked into these results, we were only able to see how many individuals answered "yes" to various questions. However, we took a different approach by examining the responses where employees answered "no" to survey questions. By shifting our focus to negative feedback, we gained a more comprehensive understanding of the onboarding challenges.
We mapped out all the important numbers we found, and this map allowed us to visualize how all the current onboarding problems are interconnected.
Addressing one issue effectively required consideration of its impact on others; this holistic perspective allowed us to develop more comprehensive solutions, ultimately improving the overall onboarding experience.
Competitive Analysis
To develop a thorough grasp of the current issues and the client's requirements, we conducted individual interviews, performed competitive analyses of existing solutions in the market, and analyzed survey results covering the initial 10 to 50 days of employee onboarding.
Research Findings
These onboarding problems are interconnected; no single problem can be solved without addressing
the others.
Research Insights
Inadequate communication between managers and new hires leads to confusion and disorientation.
The lack of a structure results in an inconsistent process reliant on the manager's ability.
Insufficient support for new employees causes a lack of engagement and satisfaction.
Lack of understanding from the manager about supporting new employee development.
Time constraints and competing priorities, where the manager may be too busy with other responsibilities, leads to a limited or incomplete experience for the new employee.
Development
Developing Solutions
With a deeper understanding of users' sentiments regarding potential borrowing and shopping within Farm-hand, I recognized the significance of defining the target audience and crafting the user persona based on these insights. This approach guides my design decisions as we progress through the development process.
Employee’s Experience
Immersive Virtual
On-boarding hub
Top Consideration
Getting More Engagement
Offering Personalized On-boarding
Direct Feedback & Communication
Building Connection with Team
Top Consideration
Increase Work Efficiency
Customizable Home Screen
Easy Data Tracking & Analysis
Improve Communication
Manager’s Experience
Streamlined onboarding tracking website
Developing Solutions
Experience Flow & User Journey
Creating an overall experience flow, from pre-boarding status to the end of the onboarding process, revealed the points where current problems arise. Additionally, this flow map helps us develop more holistic problem solutions, even as we develop two different design concepts.
Developing Solutions
User Flow
Before designing the virtual space, we mapped out the user flow for employees' experiences. This process helps us define what needs to be included in the space, make decisions regarding the hierarchy of the interface, and determine where we can integrate gamification features within our virtual environment.
We are collaborating closely with an interior designer and a game designer to ensure a seamless user experience within the space. By integrating MGM's properties into the virtual environment, new employees can gain a sense of the brand's heritage while they complete their onboarding.
Space Design
Wireframe
/ UI development
Creating rapid sketches for interface enabled us to gain a better understanding of the layout of our service's key features in virtual space.
Additionally, we conducted user testing during the low-fidelity stage. By studying how users interacted with the screen, we discovered the need to readjust the size of each top interface element and be mindful of how much screen real estate we were using, especially since we opted for a layover UI style.
Manager’s Experience
User Flow
When we first proposed the need for a manager's tracking website, the client pointed out that if it were located separately from their employee management system, it would be even harder to manage everything. That's why we decided to include an access link within the Workday platform, which MGM HR and managers are already using.
Rapid Sketching Wireframe
Given our lack of prior experience with management services, we sought inspiration from existing services during our competitive analysis. This led me to conduct rapid sketching to identify effective design patterns. Through this exploration, I discovered that the optimal approach involved well-structured components with generous white space and consistent design patterns tailored to information browsing and navigating the onboarding plan builder.
UI style guide
Since MGM didn’t have specific guide line for their web experiences, we developed the UI style guide. We aimed to maintain MGM's values and brand identity throughout the entire experience.
After developing the style guidelines for the user experience, we applied them to both the employee's space and the manager's site to ensure consistent experiences for employees.
Final Design
Employee Experience Feature Highlights
We've implemented several major UX approaches aimed at enhancing the onboarding experience for new remote hires.
On-boarding tracking website
Manager's Experience Feature Highlights
Lesson Learned
Gaining a Fresh Perspective on Data Analysis: I discovered the power of approaching data analysis from a new angle through this project. Instead of relying solely on existing results, we flipped the data, revealing fresh insights and areas of opportunity.
Embracing Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration: Collaborating with game developers emphasized the importance of working across disciplines. As the UX lead, I honed my skills in communication and teamwork, realizing the value of diverse perspectives from professionals in different fields.
Creating a UI Library for Game Development: Building a UI library for game development was a new challenge. Ensuring developers could seamlessly implement the components we designed required effective communication and documentation, a valuable skill for future projects.