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NewCo at IBM

Socio-technical Design

Guiding global IBM employees as they transition to IBM's spin-off company, NewCo, now known as Kyndryl.

Roles

Danielle Justilien
Project Manager, UX Design, Content design

Brittany Sgaliardich
UX Research, Content Design

Isaiah Guzman
Visual Design, UX Research

Swapna Patwardhan
UX Design, Visual Design

Nadia Madrigal
UX Research

Deliverables

Research report, MVP prototype, experience-based roadmap, final presentation

Tools

Mural, Figma Sketch, InVision, Pen & Paper

Time

6 Weeks

Project Overview

What better way to officially begin my career as a UX Designer other than at IBM's early-career design bootcamp, Patterns. As the premise of this program, about 50 IBM designers and I embarked on a 6-week journey to create solutions for some of IBM's most pressing design problems.

 

On team "Surf's Up", five of us Patternites aimed to tackle the challenge of supporting

IBM's Employee and Change Management teams through the process of transition 90,000 IBM employees to it's spinoff company. , it was most important that supportive digital platforms and processes were in place for transitioning employees. For us Patternites, this meant not only designing digital tools for employees to utilize, but also designing for the social, emotional, and physical well-being of transitioning employees - a socio-technical challenge our team was facing for the first time.

How might we create a cohesive, consistent, and delightful transition experience for NewCo employees that will support them through the transition process, giving them a single source of truth in order to maintain their service levels to clients, optimize offer acceptance, and foster engagement.

The Design Process

Our team took full advantage of IBM's Enterprise Design Thinking framework and the loop (pictured below) to understand employees current situation and envision for the future.

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As a part of the Patterns program, our design process also included weekly Playbacks, a time to bring stakeholders into the loop in a safe space to tell design stories and exchange feedback. In between playbacks, daily team stand-ups with dedicated stakeholders and our Cohort Coach, Mallory Frye, kept us moving toward daily progress.

Observe

Setting context

On October 8, 2020, IBM announced that the managed infrastructure services business of Global Technology Services (GTS-IS) will become an independent company, initially called “NewCo” and later known as Kyndryl.

NewCo, with the potential to be a global leader as the largest managed infrastructure services company in the world, had 4600 clients across 115 countries making up about $19 billion in business.

With that announcement, it became known that the IBMers that formed and supported the Global Technology Services business, or GTS-IS, and some Shared Services employees would be selected to transition to NewCo, and for most it would not be a choice. This meant that about 90,000 IBM employees across 570 unique job roles in 12 different countries now stood uncertain about the near future of their work lives.

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Research Snapshot

Objective

We aimed to understand the relationship people have to information streams and support systems during their transition to NewCo, with a focus on factors that contribute to a shared sense of control.

Goals

  • Build empathy with those affected by the transition from IBM to NewCo

  • Understand how employees interact with information streams and support systems that relate to NewCo

  • Identify what information and tools enable employees through transition over time

12

Sponsor user interviews

Our research began with 12 in-depth interviews with sponsor users. Our sponsor users included GTS-IS and Shared Services managers and employees who reflected the location, tenure, gender, and geographic mixes representative of the future NewCo employee base. 

3

Subject matter expert interviews

The remaining interviews involved IBM employee managers and one external consultant who shed light on the internal processes and needs behind spinning off a company.

400+

Employee comments

Using internal publisher pages for NewCo updates and announcements, we scoured hundreds of comments left by IBMers to collect real, candid feedback, responses, questions, and concerns to better understand  general feelings and thoughts about the coming changes.

Making sense of it all

We aimed to understand the relationship people have to information streams and support systems during their transition to NewCo, with a focus on factors that contribute to a shared sense of control.

Data wall

Assumptions & questions

After each interview, each of us added notable quotes, thoughts, and feedback to our data wall. Once interviews were complete, as a team, we sorted and grouped each note to inform our insights.

From our research insights, we also conducted a questions and assumptions exercise. This exercise allowed for us to bring our questions to internal stakeholders to get answers on outstanding questions about processes, tooling, and more before proceeding.

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Empathy maps

After each interview, each of us added notable quotes, thoughts, and feedback to our data wall. Once interviews were complete, as a team, we sorted and grouped each note to inform our insights.

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Needs statements

After each interview, each of us added notable quotes, thoughts, and feedback to our data wall. Once interviews were complete, as a team, we sorted and grouped each note to inform our insights.

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Reflect

Although we identified three different persona types through our research, due to time limitation, we proceeded with our persona that reflected the larger majority of transitioning employees, Keith.

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As-is Scenario

Starting with an as-is scenario activity in Mural, our team kept Keith's persona in mind as we mapped out what he would be thinking, feeling, and doing throughout the different phases of the NewCo transition.

Using that activity as a guiding point we created a detailed storyboard capturing key moments within the transition and Keith's experience up to the point of present time.

Insights & Opportunities

Starting with an as-is scenario activity in Mural, our team kept Keith's persona in mind as we mapped out what he would be thinking, feeling, and doing throughout the different phases of the NewCo transition.

Using that activity as a guiding point we created a detailed storyboard capturing key moments within the transition and Keith's experience up to the point of present time.

Insight #1

In the absence of information, employees can make negative assumptions about the future.

Opportunities

Transparent and direct communication from leadership

 

Insight into decision-making, timelines, and delays

Insight #2

Employees want to be made aware of critical information as soon and seamlessly as possible.

Opportunities

Centralized information translated across language and ability

Key questions addressed: benefits, pay, location, career development, timelines, systems

 

Clear and actionable steps for off and onboarding

Insight #3

People share nuanced and complicated reactions to the uncertainty introduced by NewCo.

Opportunities

Guardrails for leading and supporting team through uncertainty

 

Opportunities to connect with and learn from peers

 

Access to reliable information and escalation channels

Insight #4

The silver lining of unexpected change is the opportunity to improve upon the status quo.

Opportunities

Engagement in belief that employees form part of something groundbreaking

 

Attachment to NewCo vision and identity

 

Opportunities to voice ideas and concerns with ways to track action and progress

Hills

Information accessibility

Transitioning employees can readily access information relevant to their NewCo transition journey so they may maintain focus on clients and family.

Comunity engagement

Transitioning employees can connect with peers and contribute to the foundation of NewCo as soon as they learn they are part of the organization.

Formulating ideas

Content

Info architecture

Site map

Make

To-be scenario

Starting with an as-is scenario activity in Mural, our team kept Keith's persona in mind as we mapped out what he would be thinking, feeling, and doing throughout the different phases of the NewCo transition.

Using that activity as a guiding point we created a detailed storyboard capturing key moments within the transition and Keith's experience up to the point of present time.

Awesome wireframes design by Swapna Patwardhan

Testing, testing

Prototype

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Final playback

Patterns experience

Patterns review

DEFINE

Speedy Ideation

To quickly explore a variety of possible solutions, I utilized the Crazy 8s sketching method to generate ideas for each section of the app. This process was extremely helpful in pushing me to explore more unconventional ideas. After completing the exercise, I reviewed my sketches to choose which ones would make for the best user experience.

Click Image to Enlarge

Designing the Solution

Designing the MVP

By implementing the best options from the Crazy 8 sketches, pulling inspiration from competitors, and integrating the brand identity, I designed the prototype focused on the main features necessary for the MVP.

Click to view more details on the design