End to end design
6 months
1 UXR, 3 designers
We're collaborating with Microsoft Research Group, whose mission is to apply advanced technologies like AI and ML to transform innovations into Microsoft products. However, it is challenging to translate technology advancements to innovation value offerings for end users. This leads to a slow innovation process and it has a high chance of failure.
We created Microsoft CoAgent, an AI-powered tool that streamlines cross-functional collaboration by automating the creation and revision of product specifications, enhancing productivity and alignment across teams.
We conducted 60-75 minute semi-structured interviews with 7 professionals, including researchers, designers, and project managers from Microsoft's innovation team, to understand their work and challenges in the innovation process.
The “Not Invented Here” Syndrome
"[...]projects that might be terminated due to their P&L evaluations, which often deem them too risky."
P6, Product Manager
Barriers to Advocating for User-Centric Design
"I am the only person who does what I do (jump in all different teams who need to consult with Human Centered Design Approach)."
P1, Researcher
Current Gaps in Team Diversity
"Users know what they want, but they don't know the best approach to get what they want. They come up with an idea, but it may not be a good one."
P7, Research engineer
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#Issue 1
Cross-team collaboration
We identified that more PMs are the decision-makers who own the product, and most issues are related to the communication and collaboration gap between PMs and UXRs. Therefore, we decided to focus on these two roles to narrow down the scope of our project.
Product manager
(PM)
1
Are forced to make assumptions about users without UXR validation, directly passing them to the engineering team
2
Struggle to access user experience research resources and leverage for impact
User Experience
Researcher (UXR)
1
Hard to track their impact on each project
2
Face challenges in translating user insights to PM feature prioritization for business impact
After narrowing the problem space with PM and UXR input, we designed the product from the PM's perspective as the decision-maker and product owner.
After validating our findings, we brainstormed design opportunities and chose to add a feature to Microsoft Copilot, integrating it into Word, a tool product managers often use for creating specs.
Challenges in making unvalidated assumptions about users
CoAgent could help translate complex PM requirements into UX deliverables.
Challenges in aligning user insights with business goals
CoAgent presents the business impact map with key insights and revenue data.
Challenges in creating actionable deliverables for PMs
CoAgent analyzes user data to visualize actionable user insights for decision makers.
To test our concepts, we developed a low-fidelity prototype and conducted usability testing with 1 PM, 1 UXR, and 3 general users, and we got these 3 main findings
P1, UX Researcher
“The tool should be more focused on UX outputs, such as user needs documents.”
P2, Product Manager
“It should be positioned from the PM's perspective, based on the product requirement document.”
Add Metric Examples & Chat Shortcuts for Clarity and Efficiency
P3, Engineer
“Provide example values for each metric in the template. Include shortcuts in the chat box instead of displaying everything directly.”
Before
Too many irrelevant features for the PM
Users think the feature should focus on the PM's perspective and common workflows, excluding elements like the user journey they don’t use.
After
PM-Centric Goal-Oriented PRD Template
The template is tailored to the PM's perspective, making the PRD more goal-oriented and providing a clear, structured guide.
Before
AI Chatbot Hinders Document View
The AI chatbot appearing in the center of the page makes it difficult for users to view their original document simultaneously.
After
Side AI Chatbot Improves Document View
Positioning the AI chatbot beside the product requirements document makes it easier for users to compare the content and ask questions to the AI.
Click the outcome image below to enlarge it and view the details.
Feature 1 - Assumption Generation
Problem
PMs often base user assumptions on marketing reports, risking misaligned product decisions.
Solution
CoAgent addresses this by generating data-driven assumptions from user insights. It processes user data collected by researchers to provide PMs with grounded, actionable insights.
Feature 2 - UX Metrics Visualization
Problem
UXR’s struggle to translate text-heavy findings into visual, actionable formats tailored to your needs as a PM
Solution
The feature analyzes user research to identify themes and motivations, converting them into actionable Jobs-to-Be-Done statements that link user needs to business goals for PMs.
Feature 3 - User Insights and Business Goal Mapping
Problem
PMs struggle to align user stories with business goals and find it hard to align with UXR's work.
Solution
This feature uses business goals, user insights, and data to create an actionable map, aligning user pain points with business impact and bridging goals to solutions.
We surveyed 20 Product Managers and 10 UXRs to gather feedback on CoAgent’s usability and its impact on cross-functional collaboration.
1
Enhanced Productivity
25%
reduced time spent drafting and revising specifications, saving about 5 hours per week per PM, based on surveys tracking hours before and after CoAgent implementation.
2
Improved Decision-Making
85%
of PMs reported greater confidence in decision-making. Measured by post-implementation surveys.
3
Collaboration and Alignment
32%
faster turnaround in finalizing project requirements. Compare project timelines from task management systems Asana before and after CoAgent’s integration.
We faced a broad project scope: accelerating innovation in Microsoft Research. While this gave us flexibility to focus on specific aspects during the design phase, it also presented challenges. Recruiting Microsoft-specific UXR’s and PMs for user research was difficult. However, conducting usability testing with our peers provided valuable perspectives that enriched our design process.
