Siemens: Internal Business Process Optimization Project
Disclaimer: Due to confidentiality, I am not permitted to disclose certain information, nor show my final deliverables.
Role: User Experience Intern, full remote
Tools: Excel, Power Automate, Figma
Timeline: May 2024 - August 2024
Skills: Interviews, Journey Mapping, Excel, Process Design
Overview: Stepped-into my team’s problem space and delivered efficient process solutions that address real stakeholder needs.
Empathize
Define
Ideate
Prototype
Test
Understanding the problem space
Conducted 6 stakeholder interviews, generating 4 personas to understand the core issues my team was facing.
Journey Mapping
Using my interview notes, I mapped each persona’s experience the problem, visualizing their processes in a digestible way. My journey maps included:
High-level activities
Low-level sub-tasks
Technology being used
Level of frustration
Evidence from interviews
Empathize
Define
Ideate
Prototype
Test
Pain Point Prioritization
From my my journey maps, I identified every pain point and used the MoSCoW method to prioritize pain points based on stakeholder feedback, how beneficial a solution would be to the team, and how much time would be required to develop a solution.
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Empathize
Define
Ideate
Prototype
Test
Ideating solutions
For each must-have pain point, I ideated as many potential ways to solve the problem, and prototyped best ideas based on stakeholder feedback, cost, time to design, and quality.
ust haves
M
S
hould haves
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Prototyping and testing ideas
While prototyping, I would frequently look for feedback on my work to ensure my solutions were aligned with my team’s needs. For hi-fi prototypes, I tested usability with stakeholders to identify usability flaws, and adjusted my prototypes accordingly.
3 Final Deliverables
Automated Spreadsheet: Using Visual Basic code, I built a scalable excel spreadsheet to automate tasks for my team, improving workflow efficiency for my team.
Automated Web Portal: Designed a Sharepoint site that connects the UX team with customers, supporting automation through Microsoft Power Automate flows.
Event Sign-up page: Created a webpage for stakeholders to sign-up for event time slots, supporting process automation, conditional logic, and scheduling integrations.
What I Learned
It’s okay to “fail”. When seemingly good ideas receive negative feedback and get scrapped, I interpreted this as a learning opportunity to better understand the team’s needs and approach a better solution.
Avoid solution-first thinking. Taking time early in the project to empathize with stakeholders to understand the problem space was crucial to generating sound ideas and delivering solutions that properly address everyone’s pain points.
Time-management. Midway through the internship, I had to put this project on the backburner for ~4 weeks to prioritize tasks for my other project. Consistent communication on timelines and tasks with my mentor and manager kept this project on the rails and on-time, even with the significant loss of time.
