Summary

As a product strategist and service designer, I had the privilege of facilitating a workshop for an internal team tasked with creating a transformative path to establish a dashboard rooted in the insights of Veteran Journey Maps. Our journey commenced with a meticulous plan outlined in three phases. In the initial Discovery and Planning phase, we immersed ourselves in past journey maps, engaging stakeholders from the VA Veterans Experience Team to define user personas and pinpoint key moments that matter. With a human-centric lens, we aimed to ensure that the dashboard would resonate deeply with the lived experiences of veterans. Moving into the Prototype Development and Validation phase, we consolidated insights gathered and embarked on developing a prototype that seamlessly integrated journey maps with relevant data. Fostering collaboration and empathy, we ensured that each visualization was actionable and resonant. Additionally, we laid the groundwork for service blueprinting to ensure data currency and user feedback collection. Finally, in the Dual Use Applications phase, we expanded our horizons beyond military contexts, enhancing data exploration and user experiences. Through stakeholder engagement and compliance assurance, we ensured the scalability and versatility of our technology for broader impact across various sectors. Our journey culminated in the creation of a human-centered dashboard poised to redefine the VA's approach to veteran service provision, driving tangible improvements in experiences while prioritizing the human element at its core.

Background

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has embarked on a transformative journey to enhance the experiences of veterans interacting with its services. Recognizing the complexity of understanding and addressing the needs of over 20 million potential veterans, the VA has embraced Human-Centered Design (HCD) methodology to gain deep insights into veterans' life journeys. This initiative has led to the creation of the Veteran Journey Map, marking a shift from a system-centered to a user-centered approach.

Building on this success, the VA proceeded to develop specific Journey Maps, such as the Patient Experience Journey Map, to identify critical moments in veterans' interactions with healthcare services. The Survivor Journey Map, ensures VA’s alignment with providing services that survivors need the most. The map highlights nine life stages that survivors may encounter, including preparing with caregiver services, memorializing with VA’s burial services, remembering their loved one, and continuing to cope with the loss of their family member while supporting their own mental health needs. And finally, with the Journey of VA employee map, they delved into examining the backstage to analyze the process of delivering services. These maps have provided valuable insights into veterans' experiences, driving innovative improvements within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA).

These efforts have led to the implementation of several key programs. The Own the Moment (OTM) training, completed by over 86,000 VA employees, focuses on fostering emotional connections with Veterans to ensure a positive customer service experience. The Red Coat Ambassador Program, present in almost all VA Medical Centers, employs volunteers and employees outfitted in recognizable red coats or vests to welcome and aid Veterans and caregivers upon arrival. Walking the Post (WECARE Rounding), a leadership practice, facilitates relationship-building between patients and employees, ensuring consistent care and gathering feedback for continuous improvement. Additionally, insights from the journey maps have influenced the development of survey questions used in VA's VSignals customer feedback program, ensuring that inquiries are relevant and meaningful to Veterans' concerns.

Project Overview

As a product strategist, the mission is to embark on the research and development journey aimed at crafting an actionable tool, resembling a dashboard, leveraging the comprehensive journey maps meticulously curated by the Veteran Affairs (VA) department. Facilitating the conversation to outline the three phases with the team required a blend of leadership, collaboration, and strategic planning. Our primary objective was to leverage the comprehensive data within the Journeys of Veterans Map, spanning ten pivotal life stages, to develop a visualization model that effectively reveals these moments for actionable insights. Organized into three distinct phases, these stages outline the evolving goals and aspirations of veterans. Additionally, above the objective to devise a means to visualize, model, and understand these moments effectively to generate actionable, person-centric data, we aim to pioneer technology that seamlessly integrates the Service Member/Veteran Journey Map with real-time data, enabling rapid comprehension and profound exploration for enhanced strategic insights and actionable decisions, prioritizing the human experience throughout the process.

Summary of Strategy Plan Developed

Phase I: Discovery and Planning In this phase, our objectives were to lay the groundwork by deeply understanding past journey maps and insights, engaging stakeholders, defining user personas, and identifying key moments that matter. We reviewed journey maps, engaged stakeholders like the VA Veterans Experience Team, defined user personas, determined data requirements, and provided a high-level plan for prototype implementation, ensuring alignment with human-centric objectives.

Phase II: Prototype Development and Validation Building upon Phase I insights, our objectives shifted towards developing and refining a prototype that integrates journey maps with metadata and data products. We consolidated insights gathered in Phase I to inform prototype development, initiated prototype development, integrated it for a single user group, and fostered a collaborative environment for generating actionable data visualizations imbued with empathy. Additionally, we established a blueprint connecting front-end users with back-end service providers to ensure data currency and user feedback collection.

Phase III: Dual Use Applications Expanding the application beyond military contexts, we explored broader applications of the technology developed in Phases I and II. This phase focused on enhancing data exploration, improving user experiences, ensuring compliance with relevant standards and regulations, and ensuring scalability and versatility for diverse applications. Continuous improvement was emphasized through gathering user feedback and refining the dashboard to drive tangible improvements in user experiences.

Our journey towards crafting a human-centered dashboard rooted in Veteran Journey Maps is set to redefine the VA's approach to veteran service provision. By bridging qualitative research with actionable data visualization, our project empowers stakeholders with the tools for informed decision-making while prioritizing the human element. Together, we aim to drive tangible improvements in veteran experiences across various touchpoints, ensuring that every interaction with the VA is meaningful and impactful.