THE ZENDA DIFFERENCE
We are fascinated with the way people work
We know that design is as important to defining how project teams come together to solve operational challenges as it is to tapping into a workforce to discover transformational insights.
We're pioneers, always have been
We were there in the earliest days of software development — designers pushing their way into the invention of business software and operating systems, before the birth of the personal computer. At the time, other designers didn't understand why we wanted to work in this space... and business and technology folks couldn't understand what a designer would add to their projects. Decades later, design and technology are inseparable.
Zenda designers are breaking ground again by expanding the influence of design beyond the computer screen — to the way we understand business operations and how we organize the event of work — people, technology, policy and data.
We see people where others see users
When you are a "UX designer" or a "UI designer" the world is full of users and design's influence is ultimately served up on a computer screen. We see things differently.
People exist in a context that may include technology, but is also likely to include other people, cultural influences, equipment, environmental factors, policies, procedures, information and other aspects of the work event. Zenda designers know that Work Design™ means shaping an event that is larger than a computer screen, and seeing people as more than users.
Measuring impact is a must
Zenda's client partners are bold. They choose to design business operations differently than they have been designed in the past — by placing designers at the center of their efforts. By defining quantifiable impact targets with our client partners, Zenda designers are delivering measurable effect to business operations and making our risk-taking partners their organization's latest impactful innovator.
OUR SERVICES
What We Do
Problem Validation
With fresh eyes, Zenda designers see into the white space of a work event. Workers often create subroutines (raise your hand if Excel is creating a compliance risk?) in order to get work done, masking underlying problems. Zenda deploys behavioral scientists and designers into the physical work environment to identify patterns of human behavior, to detect and define the root problems that cause process breaks. A deeper understanding of the human workforce driving your business, and their workarounds, provides an actionable roadmap - a transformation plan.
Operational Modeling - Design Driven Process Design
Zenda adds the missing human dimension to process and system modeling.
Model making is central to the design process. Beyond swim lanes, process flow diagrams and journey mapping, Zenda designers create a visual model which details all dimensions of your work environment in a single picture. Seeing the relationship among business processes, technology, data and the human workforce drives the discovery of opportunities, the identification of risks and the exploration of new operating strategies.
Our clients have never seen their operation like this before – a single expression of business operations that brings the multi-disciplinary team into a single, clear explanation of the multi-dimensional work event.
Digital Tool Design
The best digital experiences happen when designers focus on the person for whom a tool is intended. Zenda designers balance human insights with an appreciation for the capabilities and limitations of platforms and systems. We work side by side with technologists to make the most of each situation.
Our experience in software design extends back more than thirty years — before terms like UI, UX, XD were coined. Before they were called users, we knew them as people — human beings working in a human context.
Product Evaluation
Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) solutions are typically evaluated based on functionality, without an understanding of how the product will actually perform in the hands of employees. Effective use usually requires training and change management investment - and risk. Zenda brings new evaluation criteria into the COTS selection process, allowing our clients to mitigate the risks associated with excessive customization, inaccurate configuration and poor workforce adoption.
Our clients get greater value and better service from COTS vendors by bringing a concern for the human context of work to their platform purchase, configuration and adoption strategies.
Capability Building
Every project is an opportunity for our client partners to learn and grow. Working shoulder to shoulder with Zenda's designers provides clients with the unique opportunity to learn new skills and methods and to expand their ability to positively impact their own organization long into the future.
Every engagement is an opportunity for Zenda's client partners to transform how they understand problems, to discover opportunities and to explore solutions.
Increase the Consulting Firm's Value
Zenda's designers have worked shoulder to shoulder with the largest consulting firms out there — even those that have acquired and built their own design teams. Clients find Zenda designers a powerful bridge between their consulting partner's 'best practices' and their own company's unique challenges, opportunities, culture and workforce characteristics.
OUR METHODS
How We Do It
Leverage Client Expertise
"In what verticals are you specialized?"
We hear this a lot. Businesses are used to seeking guidance from consulting partners whose latest project has become their 'expertise' in that vertical. At Zenda, we know that our clients' experiences in their business makes them experts. We combine our expertise in understanding the human context of work with our clients' expertise in their business. This is a powerful combination.
We know that no two workforces are the same — even if they are direct competitors in the same vertical!
Our design team has paired with our client experts in verticals ranging from energy grid management and investment banking to food service, healthcare, government and more.
Plan, Observe, and Listen
Zenda's designers and behavioral scientists observe business operations to gain a clear understanding of both what workers are doing, and why? Zenda's fresh, objective perspective, paired with our clients' expertise, reveal insights and discoveries from within the context of work — reframing problems to create transformational opportunities.
Zenda's professionals deliver expanded opportunities to the creation of new business processes and systems.
Design (v.)
The foundation of everything we do at Zenda is design process — a centuries old method of problem definition, solution exploration, testing and execution — led by design professionals. Unlike popular and over-simplified Design Thinking trends Zenda's design professionals bring clients into a comprehensive design process that delivers tactical results.
Working with Zenda designers, the engagement may include:
- Contextual Inquiry / Ethnographic Research
- Behavioral / Cognitive Assessment
- Workshops and Co-design Sessions
- Agile / Rapid Solution Exploration
- Operation Modeling
- User Interface / Experience Design
- In-context and Lab-based Testing
HOW ZENDA ENGAGES
Flexible and Impactful
Design's role in the deployment of usable software within the business enterprise is well understood. Design's role in the evaluation and definition of enterprise operations is a new concept in many organizations. For this reason, we must be flexible in how we engage, and deliver value in every engagement.
- Let us earn your trust: Our longest client relationships began with small budgets and a promise to deliver impact. We'll work with you to identify a proof-of-concept and show you how we work and the value that designers can deliver.
- Jump right in: Whether the project is in planning stages or the train left the station months ago, Zenda's designers know how to employ the right techniques for every situation, to effectively bring client partners into their work and to deliver measurable impact.
- Teamwork: The best designers are great communicators who welcome the opportunity to unify disparate voices and agendas. Diverse client stakeholders, consulting partners and workforce members are welcome project partners and collaborators.
