Deloitte: Social Security Disability Journey Support
During my last Quarter at SCAD, I was picked to be a part of a project with Deloitte where we were tasked with reviewing opportunities in the Social Security ecosystem. Though the project proved to be a great success with the client, It challenged our team with a seemingly impossible task that pushed us to be better designers. Although the deliverables can not be published (They are NDA bound) they can be shared in an interview setting.
Meet Our Team
My Responsibilities
- Lead service designer and presenter for a collaboration with Deloitte and the Social Security Administration.
- Adapted the Double Dimond research methodology to research the experience of stakeholders and then provide actionable solutions.
- Lead all meetings and presentations with the client
- Co-Managed a team of eight CX, UX, Graphic Design, and Service Design students.
Outcomes
- The project resulted in the Social Security Administration and Deloitte moving forward with a pilot project based on our deliverables.
- Developed a comprehensive understanding of the service ecosystem and its greatest pain points.
- Created primary and secondary reports.
- Conducted three co-creation workshops and facilitated 14 one-on-one interviews with a variety of different stakeholders.
- Created service blueprints, journey maps, and a stakeholder map to develop a compelling narrative and achieve buy in from the client.
- Presented evidence-based recommendations for implementing new supports that connect stakeholders and reduce pain points for new claimants.
- Suggested changes to the website to allow for people who do not understand legal technical jargon to find what they are looking for.
- Developed materials to connect relevant stakeholders who previously had been left out of the Ecosystem.
Lessons Learned
- It is ok to change a team's structure. Planning is incredibly important, but so is being flexible and adjusting responsibilities to support team members.
- Get outside of your comfort zone. Sometimes you will need to learn new skills to best fill the needs of the project.
- Be self-assured in your value to the team. It’s easy to feel discouraged by critique, but it takes a culmination of different ideas and visions to create the best solutions.
