Case Study: How Home Depot Embraced Data-Driven Design for Enhanced Operational Efficiency

Background

Within the Enterprise User Experience Group at Home Depot, the Design Ops team plays a crucial role in supporting product teams and designers. They manage key operational pillars: design systems, accessibility, knowledge management, design tools governance, and onboarding processes. Despite their broad impact, the team identified a need to better utilize data to refine design operations and enhance product development.

Challenge

The primary challenge faced by the team centered around the underutilization of data, which limited their ability to improve design operations effectively. Key areas of focus included:

• Defining vital metrics for Design Ops and effectively measuring them.
• Assisting product teams in leveraging data to enhance user experience.
• Utilizing data to refine areas such as documentation, time investment, and cross-functional work.
• Enhancing the efficiency of design systems through data analysis.

These challenges restricted the team’s capacity to fully support product teams and optimize design processes across the organization.

Solution

To address these gaps, members of the Design Ops team enrolled in Designlab’s Data-Driven Design course. The course helped to cultivate a culture of data proficiency within the team, empowering them to model and propagate data-informed practices throughout the organization.

Educational Focus

The course covered several critical competencies:

• Building an Analytics Pipeline: Understanding which data is important and the rationale behind it.
• Data Capture and Management: Learning to consistently track and update data over time.
• Data Utilization: Gaining comfort with harvesting, assessing, and using data for decision-making.
• Data Types: Understanding the distinctions between qualitative and quantitative data and their applications.

Mentorship and Peer Interaction

Engagement with a knowledgeable mentor and peers from diverse backgrounds provided new insights and perspectives, enhancing the team’s learning experience.

"I enjoyed the variety of backgrounds, organizations, and roles that people were in within our peer group," said Ben Judy, Senior Manager of Design Operations at Home Depot. "It was nice to get outside of the norm for us and our team, and learn from other people across the industry."

Key Takeaways

Home Depot's participation in Designlab's Data-Driven Design course resulted in multiple benefits for the Home Depot Design Ops team:

• Improved Data Utilization: The team developed a clearer understanding of how to select and use metrics that align with their strategic goals, especially in managing design systems and onboarding processes.
• Enhanced Team Collaboration: The course fostered a shared purpose among the team members, enabling them to collaboratively digest and discuss the material, which led to deeper insights and more effective implementation.
• Effective Data Presentation: Insights on storytelling with data and tailoring presentations for various audiences helped team members better communicate data-driven decisions.
• Cultural Shift: The training initiated a shift towards a more data-informed approach within the team, influencing broader organizational practices.

Additionally, the team utilized a digital whiteboard throughout the course to compile learnings and questions, which has since been shared with the wider organization. This resource continues to guide other teams in adopting similar data-driven practices, ensuring sustained benefits from their educational experience.

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