Executive Report Information Prioritization
Problem
Members of the Business Analytics (BA) team needed to determine information priorities for the 4-week report they provided to the Executive Team. The BA Team hoped to eliminate the paper report and move to an entirely digital system of reports.
My Role
I served as a User Experience researcher to the BA Team. The BA team manager and a Business Analyst asked for research on the Executive Report. I met with Stakeholders, determined research priorities, scheduled Executive participants, and led the team in finding insights from the interviews.
UX Disciplines: Facilitation, User Research, Writing for UX.
Deliverables: User Interviews and collaboratively-surfaced findings.
Approach
Asking probing questions to BA team members, I found that they did not have clarity on Executive Report information priority or if there was information missing. They didn't know if Executives used the analytics provided or if any analytics were missing from the time-consuming-to-create report.
I consulted with the BA team to gain an understanding of the most valuable information they could receive from the research, then visually explained 8 methods for testing the report, explaining the differences and outcomes of each.
Members of the Business Analytics (BA) team needed to determine information priorities for the 4-week report they provided to the Executive Team. The BA Team hoped to eliminate the paper report and move to an entirely digital system of reports.
My Role
I served as a User Experience researcher to the BA Team. The BA team manager and a Business Analyst asked for research on the Executive Report. I met with Stakeholders, determined research priorities, scheduled Executive participants, and led the team in finding insights from the interviews.
UX Disciplines: Facilitation, User Research, Writing for UX.
Deliverables: User Interviews and collaboratively-surfaced findings.
Approach
Asking probing questions to BA team members, I found that they did not have clarity on Executive Report information priority or if there was information missing. They didn't know if Executives used the analytics provided or if any analytics were missing from the time-consuming-to-create report.
I consulted with the BA team to gain an understanding of the most valuable information they could receive from the research, then visually explained 8 methods for testing the report, explaining the differences and outcomes of each.
Whiteboard illustrating 8 possible research methods for determining Executive Report information priorities.
The team decided that a Usability Test was the most feasible and would provide the highest value. The whiteboard research discussion enabled us to pinpoint the research focus for the Executive Report Usability Test:
I crafted a Usability Test to focus on these outcomes. Each Executive participant would walk through the test, explaining which pages they used and why, then dot-vote elements of the reports most meaningful to them.
I scheduled interviews with Executives and BA team observers, juggled room assignments, and debriefed with the BA team following each Usability Test session. We discussed report Information Architecture and Information Design as they impacted the work of the Executives.
After all the test sessions were complete, I met with the Business Analytics Team to discuss Executive Report information priorities and design.
- Prioritize information in the Executive Report
- Identify decision-making criteria
- Identify missing information in the Executive Report
I crafted a Usability Test to focus on these outcomes. Each Executive participant would walk through the test, explaining which pages they used and why, then dot-vote elements of the reports most meaningful to them.
I scheduled interviews with Executives and BA team observers, juggled room assignments, and debriefed with the BA team following each Usability Test session. We discussed report Information Architecture and Information Design as they impacted the work of the Executives.
After all the test sessions were complete, I met with the Business Analytics Team to discuss Executive Report information priorities and design.
Whiteboard after completed Usability Testing and debrief sessions.
Results
Surprising to the entire Business Analytics Team
Lessons Learned
Surprising to the entire Business Analytics Team
- Some Executives do not reference the Executive Report at all
- Some reports were completely unused or irrelevant
- Executives misunderstood some charts
- Executives lacked clarity regarding the meaning of some other information
- Executives do not discuss the Executive Report, except if an Executive brings up a single report
- The most important data piece was the notes of a Business Analyst which explained why: Why are we having this business problem? What does this trend mean? etc.
- Some Executives do not use digital reports
Lessons Learned
- The Business Analytics Team assumed that Executives read the packet together and found common relevance in some reports. This is not true.
- Executives may misunderstand data when visual hierarchy is missing or the information is not effectively designed.
- Executives are eager for actionable information that will help them make wise decisions for both business and customer.