Bespeak
After years of leading design & development teams I took on this role as Product Manager for a Learning Experience Platform (LXP). Defining user needs from a UX perspective and determine business goals. I was tasked with completely rebuilding an outdated, buggy platform. What eventually led to a Dutch Interactive Award.
In addition to managing the platform's development, I made strategic decisions regarding pricing, led and coached the design and development team, and guided the shift toward working in an agile environment while implementing design thinking.
My Responsibilities
Product strategy
Determine the portal's direction from a UX perspective, focusing on what will benefit the user most while ensuring the solution is future-proof
Design Thinking
Applied Design Sprint methods to discover simple solutions for complex processes
Coached designers in Figma & DLS
The designers needed a clear way of working with industry-standard tools. I set up the DLS and developed it together with the design team
Stakeholder management
In a non-product environment, it was sometimes challenging to get everyone on board. This made it even more important to keep all departments updated
SOME OF THE SUCCESs
Launched new platform under 1.5 years
The platform's development had always been driven by client requests. My responsibility was to rebuild the platform for universal use, ensuring that minimal requirements were consistently met
Implemented new pricing strategy
With the new universal platform and continuous development, we also needed a new pricing strategy. We implemented a pay-per-user model
Implemented Design Thinking & Agile way of working
Design thinking and agile methods integrated in our daily culture, not only for the LXP but also for content development by educationalists
The platform needed a clear vision for coming years. And a solid base to build on
Bespeak was a content-heavy organization, well-known for its excellent learning modules for MBO and retail organizations. However, the digital product did not match this quality; it was a fragmented, non-modular system.
I was tasked with developing a clear vision for the product. Based on my experience, I determined that a white-label, easily maintainable product was essential for scalability. We aimed to use proven techniques and minimize custom code, resulting in a multi-language, multi-themed base.
From a design perspective, the product needed to be intuitive, engaging, and accessible across all platforms. To identify user needs, I set up research methods involving clients, educational professionals, and sales teams. Some of the methods used included
-
Business Model Canvas
-
Growth Experience Canvas
-
Personas
-
SWOT Analysis
-
Design Sprints
The result
A product roadmap with clear vision and milestones
LITTLE MORE
DETAIL
We needed to push many features, so we opted to launch them as MVPs (Minimum Viable Products).
I was responsible to ensure that the essential features of the old platform were available at the new one. After carefully consulting with clients, users, educators, and stakeholders, I planned the release of each feature.
Some features were either scratched or pushed back, and all were split into stages (MVP, up to par, best). We aimed to upgrade the design and UX of each feature, using various techniques to achieve this
-
Customer Journey Mapping
-
Design Sprints
-
Prototyping
-
User testing
-
Design patterns
The result
Released MVP in less than a year
LITTLE MORE
DETAIL
