VLAIO

Training and coaching on UX research and design

VLAIO is an agency of the Flemish Government focusing on Innovation and Entrepreneurship. VLAIO’s “Data and Internal Innovation” department (D&II) is responsible for the continuous renewal of the agency’s processes, tools, and products. It wanted to work in a more user-oriented manner and asked Namahn for guidance, in the form of training and coaching sessions in UX research and design. 

ClientSectorLAnguageTeam
VLAIO (Flemish Government)PublicDutch  Project manager, two design teachers and coaches  

Approach

Namahn first organized a general introduction training course about Design Thinking, in the form of two halve day sessions, for a larger group of VLAIO team members with little or no experience in UX research and design.

Working in break-out groups during the Design Thinking introduction training at the Namahn Design Studio.

The introduction course was followed by a series of eight expert sessions about carefully selected topics related to UX research and design, for a smaller group of selected VLAIO team members. The topics for the eight sessions were:

  • Co-creation, framing and reframing – how to start a UX project and get everyone on board
  • User research: quantitative techniques – surveys
  • User research: qualitative techniques – in-depth interviews
  • User research: personas, scenarios, and user journey maps
  • Conceptual design: from first sketch to digital format, design principles, and design patterns
  • Detailed design of forms, lists, and tables in applications
  • Preparing, facilitating, and processing usability tests
  • How to embed UX research and design in the organization
Designing a concept during one of the expert sessions.

During the expert sessions we used one VLAIO exercise case ensuring continuity throughout the sessions and allowing the participants to apply the acquired knowledge and skills immediately to one of their own applications.

“Namahn put together for us a dynamic training series of ten half-day lessons on UX research and design, with a balanced mix of theory and practice, and plenty of room for questions and exchange. They used a VLAIO internal application as an exercise case throughout the series. It was nice that we could apply the tools we were learning to our own screens and user interfaces.”

Laurence Verheijen, Business Analyst at VLAIO

In the last part of the project, we guided some of the training participants in applying the UX methodology to three specific projects they were working on. As part of this coaching effort, Namahn created a script or manual guiding VLAIO team members in applying UX research and design to their work. The script helps them to make the right choices in the approach to follow, an approach that can range from small ad hoc UX efforts to the full application of the UX methodology.

Visual that goes with the script to choose the right approach for UX research and design.

Result

With the training sessions, training material, coaching efforts and the practical script, VLAIO now has all the handles to gradually embed UX research and design in its daily work and processes.