The LXD Process

- Empathize

- Define

- Ideate

Advanced AI

New Manager Onboarding program

During the Learning Experience Design class, I was partnered up with the incredibly talented, creative, and now great friend: Sam Wilson.

 For this particular project, Sam and I were tasked with crafting an onboarding program for new people managers. We faced no budget constraints and minimal guidelines. Our sole focus was addressing the issues new managers could face and ensure they have a supportive start through which they are equipped for their new role.

We adopted the Design Thinking model from Stanford University as our primary approach, guiding us through the five core stages: understanding our audience (Empathize), clarifying the problem (Define), brainstorming ideas (Ideate), creating a low and high fidelity preliminary model (Prototype), and evaluation of the designs (Test).

The Empathize stage is a fundamental part of the Learning Experience Design process. During this phase we zoomed in specifically on the onboarding of new managers. It began with understanding the unique needs and experiences of those joining a new organization, starting in a new role, and getting settled in and add value operationally as quickly as possible.

Through interviews, surveys, observations, and immersive engagement, our team approached the specific challenges and opportunities from the new manager's perspective, as well as their direct and indirect stakeholders, and network. This initial stage is about more than finding immediate solutions; it's about comprehending the core of the issue through a human-centric lens, paving the way for targeted and effective design and development.

In the Define stage of our new manager onboarding program, we transitioned from broad observations to clear and actionable problem statements. After immersing ourselves into the challenges and opportunities during the Empathize stage, we synthesize our insights into a focused understanding of the core challenges they'll face and support they need.

This stage is about narrowing down the vast information gathered and pinpointing the real needs of these individuals, their teams and organization. By framing the problem in human-centric terms, we set the direction for the managers, empowering them to approach their new roles with clarity and purpose. It's a tailored process that helps translate empathy into action, ensuring that the strategies developed are relevant, innovative, and aligned with the unique dynamics of their leadership environment.

During the Ideate stage of our onboarding program for new managers, creativity takes center stage. After defining the problems, we were encouraged to brainstorm a wide array of innovative solutions without judgment or constraint. It's a stage where out-of-the-box thinking is not only welcomed but actively nurtured. We immerse ourselves with the necessary techniques and challenge each other to go beyond the expected and accepted, to ensure a rich, diverse set of ideas, fostering an environment where creativity flourishes. This approach enables us as the design team to approach this training program with a fresh perspective and readiness to explore unconventional solutions tailored to this unique group of people, teams, and organizational needs.

The Prototype stage of our training program turns the creative ideas into tangible solutions. It's a time for experimentation, where our design team builds simple and low-fidelity versions of their concepts to see how they might work in the real world. Through hands-on activities and collaborative workshops, we create prototypes that we can test and iterate on quickly. This stage allows our design team, as well as the client, to understand the potential and limitations of the generated ideas without heavy investment. It's about embracing a "deploy fast, learn quickly" philosophy that fosters resilience, adaptability, and innovation in training.

The final stage, Testing, is where the rubber meets the road in our new manager onboarding program. We guide our client through a structured process to validate our prototypes by engaging them, and other real users, gathering feedback, and assessing the success and shortcomings of the solutions. Through guided evaluation methods, our stakeholders learn how to discern what works, what doesn't, and where improvements can be made. This stage builds on the iterative nature of the Design Thinking process, allowing our design teams and clients to refine their ideas continually. By embracing an attitude of continuous learning and improvement, we equip organizations with the ability to adapt, innovate, and build effective programs.

Related Projects