My work as a design researcher/strategist. This includes projects where I played multiple hats, including design research. Emphasis is on the way research tangibles are catalysts for teams to make decisions at different points in the design process.

1. ARIANA KOBLITZ
design researcher
portfolio: approach to uncovering, exploring and tackling needs*
*need: verb, can be explicit / implicit. requires interpretation design better experiences | akoblitz.com
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2. Fun facts:
a third culture millennial
Stanford taught
design consultancy trained
in-house honed
The end user is at the core of
everything I do. I believe
experience extends beyond
digital, and in user research
that creates an impact
beyond incremental
improvement.
Research is a way to communicate throughout the life of a project, (between teammates, different
disciplines, different types of stakeholders, etc) as we identify a behavior worth changing and
come up with a new experience that works for the end users.
I’m a design researcher. I help dig up, connect the dots on, and
answer questions related to:
It’s not linear, but
organizational management
hasn’t really caught on to that
yet. In a perfect world, needs
feasibility are weighted
more, with business simply
giving the go ahead to try.
But that isn’t how internal (or
arguably market) forces allow
progress.
a project’s process is the means by which
all 3 priorities are kept in mind.
HI!
design better experiences | akoblitz.com | ARIANA KOBLITZ march 2016
experience
feasibilitybusiness
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3. exploring empathetically
iterating
creatively
refining
rationally
(Damien Newman’s squiggle
lives on…)
In a perfect world we’d
simply go out into the world
with real users and then let
gut inspiration do their
magic. Design research (
processes) exist to aid in
identifying new patterns,
break stereotypes assist
with sidestepping bias, and
convincing each other the
powers that be to take the
risk ( fail systematically)
Case studies showcase how I’ve used whats in our toolbox of methodologies:
design process via needfinding:
observations
interpretations
solutions
directions
Abstract
Concrete
Analysis Synthesis
journey mapping articulating design principles
ethnographic research
assumptions
mapping
user narrative building
narrative of product
experience
defining MVPdefining product ecosystem
usability testing
prototype
testing
competitive
analysis
identifying
Elizabeth Sanders’ Convivial
Toolbox is a favorite
treasure trove of other
additions to tools,
methodologies and
activities.
design better experiences | akoblitz.com | ARIANA KOBLITZ march 2016
Case studies span:
Education sector / tech space
International development / agriculture business
Health industry / disease management
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4. BlueRidge Labs, an incubator focused on
gathering entrepreneurs with an eye to
solving the needs of those most
overlooked by technology. I worked as a
designer in residence, supporting Margo
Wright and her team throughout the initial
3 months to demo day.
GOAL: EMPOWER STUDENTS ON FINANCIAL AID
TOWARDS COLLEGE GRADUATION
Of the 57%1
of first-generation students that graduate, only 11%2
are first-
generation, low-income*— Yenko set out to change that. The habits that
ensure passing grades are habits many first-generation college students
simply never learned. Personal development is a long road and personal
counseling has a proven track record. We wanted to find a way to scale this
type of effect to reach all the students in need.
*source: 1: http://www.cic.edu/Research-and-Data/Making-the-Case/Pages/First-Generation-Students-Graduation-Rates.aspx
2: http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED504448.pdf
This is when I was at:
design better experiences | akoblitz.com | ARIANA KOBLITZ march 2016
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5. How do first generation, low-income students prepare
for class work and retain their financial aid?
Students walked us through their day to day, juggling school, job(s) and
often extensive family responsibilities
interview activities: define “time”, “helpful”,
and what course planning looks like
map of student study experience
School resources are not clear to students, especially given the limited amount of
time they spend on campus.
design better experiences | akoblitz.com | ARIANA KOBLITZ march 2016
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6. How might students better manage their financial aid?
map of data ecosystem
students + bridged gap in information + directed suggestions = planned
actions
Translating research findings into a user behavior flow helped make the connection
between qualitative research and design elements more tangible.
An insight we had:
information of what’s needed to keep financial aid is not making its way to
students, resulting in losing eligibility.
App flow — from most necessary out to nice to haves, future features
design better experiences | akoblitz.com | ARIANA KOBLITZ march 2016
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7. What keeps students engaged in a digital study aid?
The road to a first design that did not try and cram every single wishful nice-
to-have was a constant back and forth between having an idea, and asking
whether that idea is, in fact, grounded in an insight we had from students.
!
We introduced an early prototype to two Brooklyn English college courses,
and touched base with the students regularly.
Yenko founder Margo Wright storyboarding, realizing it’s back to the drawing
board for a particular interaction
Design principles at work:
tie daily work to longer-term goals
visualize changes to facilitate decision making
tie intangibles (study habits) to tangibles (grades)
design better experiences | akoblitz.com | ARIANA KOBLITZ march 2016
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8. InCompass, a design
consultancy in Phnom Penh
that partners with
international foundations as
well as local organizations,
supporting introducing new
technology and services
through a design research
approach.
GOAL: EMPOWER FARMERS
WHO TAKE ON THEIR FUTURE
Lors Thmey is a subsidiary of iDE, a social enterprise focused on market-based solutions that empower
communities around the world to generate value and invest themselves out of poverty. Lors Thmey
hired inCompass to work with farmers recruited to promote new technologies, who have trouble
introducing drip irrigation kits in rural villages. How do these recruits guarantee a return on
investments which are perceived as risky by their peers?
I’d like to think that my 8
months in Cambodia was
more than white guilt. It was
an opportunity to learn from
those who have persevered,
and are recreating a world
for themselves.
This is when I was at:
design better experiences | akoblitz.com | ARIANA KOBLITZ march 2016
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9. How might farmers adopt new technology?
We spent 2 months meeting with members of villages in two different provinces
and multiple villages. We heard from farmers, their families, as well as other roles
in the villages (such as the village chief, and vendors at markets).
!
Project plan included going out into the field a second time, presenting farm
equipment along with programs / messaging ideas generated in earlier synthesis.
!
Beyond selling product, Lors Thmey’s underlying mission is capacity building in
Cambodian rural farm communities. Ravaged by a decade of the Khmer Rouge,
the country is learning how to walk again
Nadia runs an interview at a farmers’ home
Synthesis with business advisors, Cambodians
who are trained in new farm technology
Project plan
design better experiences | akoblitz.com | ARIANA KOBLITZ march 2016
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10. How can business advisors serve early adopters?
Driving insights:
There was no one best path to purchase. what provided proof of ROI to
some appeared a waste to others
Barriers to farmers purchasing and seeing a return on their investment
included a perceived challenge with the increased produce that resulted
from these improved farming techniques
in-person sorting activity to hear the why behind the choice
frameworks used in strategy presentation
design better experiences | akoblitz.com | ARIANA KOBLITZ march 2016
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11. Lors Thmey invited inCompass to strategic board meetings to expand the role description of farm
business advisors to include post-harvest sales channel development / infrastructure.
How can we socialize ideas in a de-centralized organization?
design better experiences | akoblitz.com | ARIANA KOBLITZ march 2016
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12. GOAL: EMPOWER HIV PATIENTS
TO LIVE WITH THEIR DISEASE
design better experiences | akoblitz.com | ARIANA KOBLITZ march 2016
Design Concepts, a design
consultancy out of Madison,
WI.
This is when I was at:
It was hard not to walk into
this project with the cynical
biases against pharmaceutical
companies front and center.
The folks we worked with, who
traveled with us and sat with
us as they listened to patients’
stories, blew me away. They
had been there in the 80s and
90s, saw the impact this type
of medication was able to
have. They were driven, truly,
by the patients who now have
increasing access to
treatment.
A pharmaceutical company has had an HIV pill on the market for over a decade. Chemically, nothing
will change. Their particular configuration, they knew, is good for certain patient profiles and segments.
Their sales reports showed, however, that physicians were not prescribing their medication necessarily
by those segments.
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13. How can patients better connect with medication that,
medically speaking, best serves them?
medication: pills
patient typephysician’s office
Decision:
physicians and patients both have strong
influence on the ultimate decision
medical “best fits” are not the only, or the
highest, priority
Education
spheres of influence exist in a patient’s
history, community, social circles
competing messages in clinics, doctor’s
offices
Sales
physicians have seen HIV morph over
the years, have their own strongly held
beliefs about what types of medication
works best for different patients
Fun fact:
I got to make use of my
mother tongue! While I
traveled to the US cities for
the interviews, a couple
interviews in Germany needed
a German moderator. I was
more than happy to oblige
remotely.
Maintenance
Adherence is the biggest issue —
it is important physicians, nurses
better understand root causes
Experience
patients have a vastly different
experience of HIV, depending on their
ecosystem of support (or lack of one)
and their previous experience with HIV/
AIDS
Reputation
Taxonomy of side effects is a clear distinction patents learn over time
It is difficult to ask a patient break from that mental model
We spoke to patients, physicians, and nurses in 4 countries (US, Mexico, Germany and France) over the course of a month. Interviews
focused on the life of an HIV patient more generally, diving into how a patient thinks about making decisions related to their disease, how
other aspects of the lives have changed, and what their relationship with their physician / primary medical advisor is.
design better experiences | akoblitz.com | ARIANA KOBLITZ march 2016
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14. How can a pharmaceutical company play a role, as it is
a third party not directly involved?
In an industry as complex and as entrenched as this, it was imperative we included the business and
institutional knowledge of the folks we were going to ultimately present to.
Agenda — and impact
Storytelling: videos of all three interview groups
Directors began citing quotes they’d heard in the field to
further flesh out and ground activities later
Friction mapping: pointed collecting of insights related to pain points
During later brainstorms friction points were brought in
organically, to help articulate how a given idea would solve one
or multiple issues
Agents were able to give insight as to the back-office processes
that resulted in certain administrative pain points
Agents were able to connect the dots between assumptions
they were making in their role and the reality of patient’s lives
and decision-making
Directed ideating with larger thematic buckets we had prepared
during initial interview synthesis
those who had been out in the field with us / listened into
interviews brought along the debrief exercise sheets we had
provided and were able to make use of thought starters they
had jotted down
design better experiences | akoblitz.com | ARIANA KOBLITZ march 2016
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schematic of 2-day
workshop with
stakeholders at the
pharmaceutical
company

15. How might a patient learn about and become an expert in disease management?
due to NDA confidentiality, schematic of delivered patient experience of living with HIV
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16. Let’s play!
ariansky@gmail.com
design better experiences | akoblitz.com | ARIANA KOBLITZ march 2016
check out akoblitz.com for:
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design manifesto
Check out my LinkedIn for a
full download on where I’ve
worked
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