Streamlining Client Information Access for Consultants

Redesign Accenture's Internal Knowledge Exchange System

My Role

Lead UX Researcher

Duration

August - December 2024

Team

Maggie Garratt @ Accenture

JingYan Xu, Hanna Fu, Umme Ammara, LuYao Ma @ Georgia Tech

Skill

Interviews

Surveys

Affinity Mapping

Task Analysis

Usability Testing

Problem Space

Current Problem

Fragmented and uncentralized client information causes inefficiencies and duplicated work

Current Solution

Tools like Knowledge Exchange (KX System) exist but are underutilized due to difficulty of use

Target Audience

Consultants and teams within Accenture seeking streamlined client research through better tool

Accenture consultants partner with clients from diverse industries, requiring them to rapidly understand up-to-date client details, industry landscapes, and competitor insights.

Accenture divisions currently lack a centralized, unified tool for accessing and sharing client information. This fragmented approach forces consultants to spend excessive time on manual searches and struggle to connect with colleagues with relevant client experience, and this often leads to duplicated work.

The Problem Statement

How might we help consultants quickly and efficiently find and share relevant client information?

The Final Solution

We redesigned Knowledge Exchange (KX) into a user-friendly platform with enhanced AI-powered search, Expert Search, and streamlined filters to help consultants quickly access relevant client information.

Improved documenting features, including simplified scrubbing and autofilled upload details, reduce effort and save time. These updates enable faster, more effective collaboration and insights delivery.

Process

Research Questions

To address the challenges consultants face with knowledge management systems, we began by exploring the problem space, stakeholder needs, and existing solutions. This involved conducting a literature review using Google Scholar, engaging in weekly stakeholder meetings, and performing a competitive analysis of similar tools on the market.

Stakeholder Analysis

Our stakeholders were categorized into internal and external groups, further divided into managers and end-users.

We prioritized Accenture consultants who rely on KX daily as the primary focus of our research and design, with the needs of expert users considered secondary.

Competitive Analysis

We conducted a competitive analysis of market products to identify commonly valued features and gaps, focusing on tools frequently used by Accenture consultants

Based on our problem space and background, 4 main research questions were cultivated:

Primary Research Methods

Survey

We received survey responses from 14 consultants of varied experience levels and divisions at Accenture. By asking quantifiable questions, we gauged user needs and preferences, providing quantitative support to supplement our qualitative insights.

Information Goal

Understand consultants' experiences with sharing and retrieving client information.
Identify tools and resources used for accessing client information.
Uncover pain points in the current workflows, particularly during client onboarding.
Gauge satisfaction with current processes for information sharing and retrieval.

Method Justification

The survey method allowed us to:

Quickly gather broad insights from a large group of consulting professionals, providing an overview of practices in information sharing.
Ensure consistent question presentation and reduce response bias through anonymous submissions.
Use survey data as a screening tool to identify participants for follow-up interviews, enabling deeper exploration.

Limitations

Limited ability to follow up or delve into specific responses, resulting in less contextual depth.
Potential selection bias due to self-reported responses.
Small sample size of 14 responses due to the niche focus on consultants, which limited the breadth of insights.

Method Detail

Questions centered around:

Consultants' demographic and professional context.
Methods for gathering client information.
Tools and resources consultants use for client research.
Common challenges in information sharing, retrieval, and storage.

Recruitment: in-person visits (Accenture office), private messaging, posting on consultant channel, email lists

Quantitative data: generated Google Survey report w/ graph visualizations, descriptive statistics for all rating + demographic questions

50% of respondents somewhat disagree that they can easily find necessary client information

42.8% of respondents somewhat agree that they often need to redo research due to unclear or unshared client information

Semi-structured Interview

We conducted 8 semi-structured interviews with Accenture consultants, representing various job levels and roles. By interviewing these experts, we gained a comprehensive view of the overarching user journey, the diversity in onboarding workflows, and key pain points and insights related to Accenture's current tool systems.

Information Goal

Capture expert narratives of consultants’ experiences and workflows
Identify key challenges in retrieving and sharing information during client onboarding.
Understand user dynamics, including background, motivations, challenges, and values.

Method Justification

This approach allowed for:

Gain direct insights into Accenture consultants’ workflows and tool usage
Allow in-depth discussion/elaboration and flexibility for follow-up questions
Gather detailed reasoning on challenges and preferences for process improvement
Able to conduct some interviews in person at Accenture’s Atlanta office, enabling direct, context-rich insights from consultants in their work environment.

Limitation

We relied solely on verbal descriptions of workflows, as there was no direct observation component.

Method Detail

Conducted online and in-person interviews with consultants across divisions and geographic locations.

Interview: 1 hour each

6 interviews were conducted remotely, and 2 were conducted in person at Accenture’s Atlanta office.

Recruitment: email listing, private message

Generated affinity map to analyze the stakeholder interview data.

Used Affinity Map Method

Generated the sticky notes from the transcript from the recording.

Sorted the notes into top-level categories then sorted each of those categories into subcategories.

Comparative Analysis

We conducted a comprehensive comparative analysis of tools used by Accenture consultants to gather client information, focusing on both high-level and platform-specific insights.

This dual approach allowed us to assess strengths and weaknesses across tools, guiding design decisions for an improved Knowledge Management (KM) platform. Due to limited access to KX, our analysis was based on observed functionality, features, and comparisons with open-source knowledge management systems.

Information Goals

Identify strengths and weaknesses in tools for client research, networking, and information sharing.
Compare Knowledge Exchange (KX) with other KM platforms to pinpoint best practices and areas for improvement.
Inform design decisions and prioritize features for an enhanced KM system.

Method Justification

The method allowed us to:

Analyzing current tools provided insight into core strengths and limitations, informing initial design directions.
Using KX as a benchmark against other platforms highlighted unique features and potential areas for differentiation.

Limitations

Limited access to certain proprietary tools restricted the ability to conduct a complete analysis.
Confidentiality constraints prevented us from observing tool usage in consultants' real-world contexts.
Analysis was limited to select platforms, potentially excluding features from broader KM systems.

Method Detail

Evaluated tools for specific features, such as search, retrieval, and collaboration, across three platforms identified in our high-level analysis.

Procedures

Reviewed interview notes to gain insights on consultants’ tool usage.
Developed a comparative table for functionality and created workflow diagrams to visualize support for consultant tasks.
Analyzed how information is organized and shared across platforms, identifying distinctive features and enhancements for KX.

Comparative Analysis Findings

Research Finding

After collecting and analyzing data from each method, we integrated data from our various methods to synthesize and consolidate key findings. We ranked all our findings from high to low based on their reliability, validation, and relevance to our project direction. 8 high-level findings emerged as most critical, reflecting recurring themes across multiple research methods and aligning closely with our project goals.

User Journey Map

Based on our research findings, we created a user journey map to visualize the onboarding process consultants undergo with new clients. This journey map outlines key stages, actions, emotions, and pain points, providing a comprehensive view of the consultant experience.

This research artifact helps to identify opportunities for a more streamlined process, improved internal tools for information gathering, and a centralized platform to enhance efficiency and reduce frustration.

Persona

To ground our design process in evidence-based, user-centered insights, we developed two key personas representing consultants at different levels within Accenture: an entry-level consultant and a managerial-level consultant. These personas highlight the distinct needs, challenges, and workflows of consultants at different stages in their careers, guiding us toward targeted, user-specific solutions.

Iterative Design and Feedback

To begin the ideation process, we collaboratively explored the worst ideas to challenge assumptions, then used the Crazy 8 method for rapid idea generation. With a clearer direction, we outlined our user flow and visualized it through sketches, low-fidelity, and high-fidelity wireframes. At each stage, we incorporated feedback from users and industry experts, using mid-fidelity feedback to refine both low- and high-fidelity iterations, ensuring an optimized design process.

To make sure our designs were always in sync with users, our process underwent 3 iterations of ideation and user feedback.

Ideation

We worked collaboratively on the ideation process. First, we used the Crazy 8 method to generate better ideas. Then, we grouped these ideas into four main design concepts. Using impact/effort analysis and feedback from our industry shepherd, we shortlisted two design concepts.

Based on these concepts, we brainstormed user stories based on the two shortlisted design concepts and identified six key user flows to guide our desig.

Sketches

In the sketching phase, we translated ideas into visual representations based on the six key user flows, ensuring each sketch covered at least one flow. This process led to the development of four main user flows.

We evaluated these sketches with 4 users, 3 new participants and our industry shepherd, to get feedback on our initial designs. We walked users through our ideas and asked them about their impressions, confusions, and perceived benefits and concerns for each design.

Low-Fidelity Wireframes

We developed our second iteration of ideas by incorporating the feedback from the sketches to generate more detailed wireframes. These were adjusted to incorporate user suggestions and preferences from the sketch evaluation phase while focusing more on information architecture and layout.

Wireframes Feedback

We evaluated the wireframes with 3 Accenture consultants, including 1 industry shepherd. We focused on presenting the designs without explanation, providing only task-based guidance and asking users to infer the functionality of features to assess the system’s usability and intuitiveness.

Information Goal

Method Detail

Optimized Feedback

Prototype

The third iteration of our design was a high-fidelity prototype, developed in Figma. On the platform, users can search for past client deliverables, find relevant colleagues, and upload project deliverables to the Knowledge Exchange (KX) system.

Our design enhances the KX experience by streamlining internal information sharing between consultants, making it easier to find and contribute relevant client insights.

Prototype Features

Our high-fidelity, interactive prototype addressed all of our identified user needs and design implications. Derived from our high-fidelity wireframes, here are visual explanations of how our prototype implements each design implication