Ford Motor Company

Problem: COVID-19 hit the world hard in 2020. We were forced to all quarantine and manage working remotely. As a product team who works very closely together in a collaborative environment, we had to figure out how to simulate the office environment at home.

Actions: As a designer there was a lot less hands-on activities (e.g. whiteboards and sticky notes). We transitioned to using digital collaboration tools to mimic whiteboards. Our team used web-cams as much as possibily to feel the human connection. This helped bridge the gap in meetings where reading body language was helpful. Usabilty testing went fully remote.

Results: I have proven to be just as much, if not more, productive at home using these tools than I was in the office. When usability testing was required, it was more convenient for participants to join through a call versus coming in-person to our lab in the office.

Lessons Learned: The pandemic opened my eyes to the opportunities available for teams who are wiling to pivot. I became much more confident in myself as a designer. I started to take much more ownership of my work as the designers on my team had to divide and conquer work.