Advice from the trenches: Know your target users’ jobs-to-be-done to drive Jira Align adoption

Emma Murphy October 30, 2020

All too often, when internal tools teams go about implementing a new tool, they measure their success by whether they’ve granted all the eligible users the access they need and maybe by whether they trained them on the tool’s basic features and functionality. Then, it’s onto the next. They leave it to the users to connect the dots and figure out how they can apply the tool to make their workday easier. Consequently, tool adoption and satisfaction can suffer. And all the work put into implementation and training is wasted, if users reject the tool.

Fidelity's approach: As a member of Fidelity Investments’ Digital Workplace team, I’d like to share how we’re flipping this common approach on its head and rolling out Jira Align in a user-centered way. Through cultivating a deep understanding of what our target users are trying to accomplish, we are able to help them see how they can use Jira Align to achieve their goals. My hope is that sharing more about our approach might inspire and help you with your own rollout.

Getting started: We started by identifying the outcomes we hoped to achieve as an implementation team and metrics we could use to gauge our success. We decided to use tool adoption and active usage, as well as on-boarding experience and tool satisfaction measures. We knew this would challenge us because, as is the case with many SaaS products, the customer (purchaser) of Jira Align is not the end user. Fidelity decided to purchase Jira Align for a number of excellent business reasons, which did not include because those who will be the end users of the tool were signaling that they have a problem or need and wanted Jira Align as their solution. How then could my team get target users to embrace a tool they didn’t ask for - and one with a steep learning curve to boot?  

Jobs-to-be-done: We conducted in-depth interviews with Fidelity associates to understand their jobs-to-be-done. For those not already familiar with jobs-to-be-done, it’s a framework for innovation. In a nutshell, a job-to-be-done is something a consumer is trying to accomplish. And, usually, there are several different products or services the consumer can “hire” to help them achieve their goal.

Finding our window of opportunity: We asked our interviewees about what they’re trying to achieve in their day-to-day. And, we asked them to plot each “job” on a two-by-two grid, according to how important it is that they be able to accomplish the job and how satisfied they are with their ability to accomplish it today. We zeroed in on the high-importance, low-satisfaction jobs. The low-satisfaction ratings told us associates didn’t already have a solution they felt helped them get the job done well. Here was our window of opportunity! If we could demonstrate how Jira Align could help them accomplish their high-importance jobs better than existing solutions, then we could start winning over our target users’ hearts and minds.

How we executed: With this knowledge and strategy in place, we began to develop training materials, which we framed to start with target users’ jobs-to-be-done and then detail the steps they need to follow in Jira Align to accomplish each job. For example, a scrum of scrums master wants to link together work that multiple squads need to do to deliver value, so she can monitor if all the squads are collectively on track to deliver what they planned to on time. She can accomplish this by creating a Release Vehicle, asking the squad leaders (i.e. product owners) to tag the epics and stories with the release, and then using the Roadmaps view filtered by release.  

 

Image description: We documented the information requirements in a Word doc, which we handed off to an instructional designer to transform into a digestible, end-user-facing resource.

Link together work raw info screen grab.png

 

Concept testing: We pressure-tested rough, early drafts of the materials with target users to learn whether the way we were framing the information resonated – whether we should continue down the path we were on or if we needed to pivot. Associates’ eyes lit up when they saw the content. They were hungry for it. They asked, “Can I use this now?”

 

Image description: The designer transformed the Word doc into an interactive eLearning.

Link together work eLearning screen grab.png

 

Image description: Clicking on the "cards" flips them to reveal...

Link together work eLearning screen grab_2.png

 

In conclusion: By starting with what the user is trying to accomplish, by meeting them where they are, we made the information immediately relatable and applicable. Target users instantly understood how Jira Align can help them accomplish the things they need to in their role and what concrete steps they needed to take in the tool.

 

About the author:

Emma Murphy is a user experience researcher and member of Fidelity Investment’s Digital Workplace team, which ensures Fidelity associates have an integrated, engaging digital experience along with the tools, training and support to do their best work.

1 comment

Ania Mangi
Atlassian Team
Atlassian Team members are employees working across the company in a wide variety of roles.
October 30, 2020

Thank you for this post, Emma. What a unique and thoughtful way to engage individuals and address their needs..then providing a path to get there. Brilliant. 

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Emma Murphy October 30, 2020

Thanks, Ania :)

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