H-E-B DesignOps | Data-Informed Designer Onboarding

Confluence webpage titled Digital Design and UX (DUX) with an introduction text and a black-and-white cartoon mascot of a donut named Dunkie holding a basketball card.

An audit of internal documentation was conducted, covering over 20 different documents.

Diagram titled 'New Hire common characteristics' showing connections among new hires based on emotional disposition and guidance needs with colorful labeled nodes and interaction lines.

After interviews, new hire data was compiled to find common patterns across experiences.

Eight circular avatars of diverse cartoon faces labeled as Optimist, Delegator, Investigator, Pacifist, Helper, Guide, Teacher, and Coach on a dark background.

A total of 11 archetypes were generated to capture the diverse onboarding experiences. 8 shown above.

Flowchart depicting a new hire onboarding process with steps including information overload, meetings with manager and onboarding buddy, onboarding guide, confluence resource review, admin tasks, and healthcare selections.

Each lane contained various interactions, areas of improvement, and archetype emotions.

A detailed service blueprint diagram displaying new hire and manager archetypes, artifacts, actions, and stages including front and back stage activities, with icons and text boxes connected by lines.

The final service blueprint covering the onboarding experience from day one to six months after hire.

Elevating Designer Onboarding Through Qualitative Research and Service Blueprinting

H-E-B Digital Design Operations, 2022

Over a 10‑week internship with the Design Operations team, I contributed to building a research‑backed tool designed to reveal pain points and opportunity areas across the designer onboarding journey.

Creating consistency

The Design and UX space at H-E-B Digital was growing rapidly. The team that you joined determined the onboarding experience you had, which left some feeling overwhelmed and others underwhelmed. For hiring managers, onboarding a designer was difficult with the lack of proper resources.

How can we ensure a positive experience for everyone involved in onboarding? Highlighting problem areas in our process through a data-backed service blueprint. This tool created would serve as the backbone for improving the designer experience and set a precedent for future phase work. Now, onboarding is standardized across all teams including documentation and communication standards.

Understanding onboarding

A 20+ document internal documentation audit was conducted which would inform the interview guides. A total of 17 new hire interviews were conducted in one week to meet project deadlines. This data was then synthesized by the team to inform both the service blueprint and archetypes. A total of 11 archetypes were derived from the data which would be overlayed onto the service blueprint to capture the emotional experience of onboarding.

Visualizing the research

The service blueprint provides a visual map of how a process works by connecting what the user experience with the behind-the-scenes processes that support it. I assisted in mapping out documentation, events, and new hire interactions based off the research conducted. The result is a full onboarding overview from day one to 6 months of working.

Impact

A total of 12 in‑scope opportunities and 3 out‑of‑scope opportunities were identified, shaping the Design Operations focus for the next several years. With more than 55% of the Design organization made up of new hires at the time, this work played a direct role in shaping their onboarding and overall experience.