Project Synopsis
Employer: BetterUp
We evaluated relevant past work on mental models* to unify the company’s understanding of how we generate ideas.
*A representation of how something works. Mental models influence how we approach and solve problems and help shape behavior. Mental models are so fundamental to understanding the world that people are often unaware of them.
Project role
I reviewed 50 documents, presentations, and digital whiteboards related to mental models from the past 24 months.
Tactics
UX Research
Enterprise search and discovery research
Affinity mapping
UX audit
Design principle development
Strategy
Process improvement development
Ideation principle development
Presentation
Jobs to be done development
Contributions
Value delivered
600+ employees gained access to meta, tactical insights regarding what ideas we have come up with already, the success rate of those ideas, and what efforts will lead to dead-ends
“Wow, what a strategic gift you shared. Thank you! I think what resonates for me is we have a language and canonical examples of mental models from BetterUp past which is worth this team studying so we learn from our past efforts and have an opinionated view of what worked/didn’t work and why.”
Personal takeaways
Siloes and echo chambers are dangerous and can prevent organizations from reaching their full potential.
A UX researcher’s job is to deliver hard truths even if the news may be difficult for some (i.e., emphatic no, we should not do x anymore, or give a heavy critique).
Leadership ears perk up when you tell them what we need to start, stop, and continue, and have strong analysis to support your conclusions.