My role on the Get Prepared app was officially in the capacity of Senior Digital Producer, but over the project it expanded greatly into being a UX researcher conducting contextual interviews and synthesising insights, a UX designer developing prototypes for testing, and a champion for the voice of the user while leading our user testing to validate our thinking.
From the beginning of this project, I constantly extended beyond my default responsibilities. I was a critical contributor to the securing of shared value partnerships with key funders, a constant presence in user research, prototyping and testing, and a cross-functional marketer and promoter of the end product.
This project was a case study in the risk mitigation benefits of human-centred design methodologies. Earlier efforts had prioritised feasibility and viability considerations without consideration of user needs, and led to severe inefficiencies. As I oversaw the pivot to more user-centred approaches, not only
An MVP version of the app in use.
The idea of a mobile app to inspire Australians to prepare for, respond to and recover from emergencies had long been imagined by senior stakeholders at Australian Red Cross. When I began as Digital Producer in late 2014, the work had already begun under the codename RediZone. I was tasked with leading the project into a discovery phase with a development partner, based on the extensive brief that had previously been created with various consultants, experts and practitioners in the Emergency Services and Digital Production teams at the organisation.
One crucial thing was missing, however.
No one had thought to ask what the users wanted.
My job quickly became an exercise in diplomacy, working to protect the investment Australian Red Cross had already made in the project, while paving the way for an improved approach moving forward.
Two crucial things threatened to derail the project at the outset. The project stakeholders had chosen their development partner poorly, and the project had been allowed to progress based solely on the expertise of staff without any validation with users.
On the first point, the project very quickly became a project management challenge. The development partner deliberately dishonoured a signed memorandum of understanding regarding project requirements and budget. It took a great deal of effort and diplomacy in trust-building and relationship management by myself to allow us to exit the agency agreement with a handover of all work completed at the end of the discovery phase for the originally agreed price.
On the second point, it took a new partnership with Insurance Australia Group (IAG) to reset the course.
While the discovery phase performed by the chosen agency may have been comprehensive, the results meant little without any user research, feedback or validation.
After successfully navigating an exit on the previous development agreement, my next task was to offer just the right amount of value to a potential new partner.
Following the learnings of the initial "discovery phase", the Australian Red Cross Corporate Partnerships team briefed me on a new opportunity. We were to propose a multi-year, lucrative corporate partnership to Insurance Australia Group (IAG) under the principles of a shared value agreement. In early 2016, I presented the current state of the RediZone project to senior decision makers as part of the pitch for the partnership. Crucial to this presentation was my intimate understanding of how we might leverage anonymised data captured by the app to inform IAG business decisions in their efforts to build resilient communities through the use of their products. It became quickly apparent that I would need to ensure that we were able to offer real value to IAG's business while protecting the data and identities of our planned users. My advice on what we might offer struck the balance between these two concerns. The pitch was successful, and Australian Red Cross and IAG entered into a 10 year partnership to enhance emergency preparedness for Australians.
Starting the next phase with user research, I took on the role of researcher and interviewer, conducting contextual inquiry sessions in the homes of real Australians.