"I'm already using this material in my own workplace and passing it on to other people."
- CXi Certificate Participant
Project Type:
A multi-year contract to design and implement comprehensive educational experiences for VA employees and leaders leveraging a unique combination of Human-Centered Design (HCD) and Adult Learning (ADDIE).
The Team:
I have served as the Technical Subject Matter Expert (SME) since the project’s inception in 2021. I partner with approximately 17 contract team members from two different companies, along with countless leaders and staff in the Veterans Experience Office (VEO) with expertise in service design, instructional design, training delivery, and strategic communications.
Overview:
What if there was one place VA employees could go, regardless of their knowledge of Customer Experience (CX) and Human-Centered Design (HCD), to learn skills, practice them, and gain access to a community of experienced CX Designers?
Our team's collaborative efforts across the VACXi work streams are empowering VA employees with essential CX and HCD skills and mindsets and driving a culture of customer-centricity. ​
We conducted extensive discovery and design to develop, refine, and implement multiple types of learning experiences, delivered both virtually and in-person to meet the diverse needs of VA employees of all levels. The comprehensive program includes a CX Certificate training, CX for Leaders course, Fellowship, and online resources, including on-demand videos.
The Big Idea
Challenge:
The team observed 3 distinct challenges. First, VA employees have varying levels of understanding of Customer Experience (CX) and Human-Centered Design (HCD) principles, as well as different approaches to problem-solving and solution design. Second, external CX and HCD training explained the principles but failed to align with VA culture and lacked applicability to day-to-day work. And third, existing internal training used relevant examples but left employees uncertain about how to apply the concepts to daily work.
Solution:​
With a goal of empowering all VA employees to become change agents, the Veterans Experience Office (VEO) launched the Customer Experience Institute (VACXi) as the catalyst, accelerator, and educational resource for all things related to designing and delivering human-centered products and services.
Teaching and Empowering Employees
The Concept:
Our team partnered with VEO to create a transformative CX Certificate Program designed to address the varying levels of CX understanding among VA employees. The client aimed to create highly experiential courses where every learner was empowered with knowledge of HCD and CX best practices that could be applied immediately to their everyday work.
What We Did:
Through a series of co-design workshops, we developed clear learning objectives and a detailed CX Certificate Development Roadmap. The program's learning framework included seven highly experiential courses, each designed to ensure that learners could immediately apply their new knowledge to their work. We also created both low and high-fidelity prototypes, conducted a thorough pilot evaluation, refined the curriculum, and prepared implementation plans. Additionally, we facilitated a Train-the-Trainer bootcamp to empower facilitators with the necessary skills and knowledge to confidently deliver the courses.
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Results/Outcomes:
Through the pilot we successfully trained 20 employees, who provided positive feedback and rated the program an average of 9 out of 10 for likelihood to recommend. Participants appreciated the practical applicability of the content and the innovative visual branding.
Valuable lessons emerged from the pilot, leading to adjustments in the timing of the courses and highlighting the importance of group work, networking, and connectivity. Participants also identified the need for constructive feedback, coaching, and support for new tools like Mural.
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In the second year, we enhanced the Certificate Program by refining the curriculum based on participant feedback and optimizing content delivery for in-person sessions. We also tailored materials to better support facilitators. These improvements resulted in a more engaging and effective learning experience, a seamless transition to in-person sessions, and confident facilitators equipped for success.
Creating CX Champions
The Concept:
Following the successful launch of the CXI Certificate, VEO approached the team to develop customized training to address the unique learning needs of VA leaders. We know that leaders play an essential role as CX champions, encouraging teams to adopt CX mindsets and empowering them to create innovative solutions.
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What We Did:
In collaboration with VEO, we designed the CX Essentials for Leaders (CXEL) curriculum. Tailored specifically for VBA leaders, this program equips them with essential CX mindsets and skills.
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Results/Outcomes:
The program's success was evident as 71% of participants demonstrated behavior change within four weeks of the in-person sessions, showcasing the curriculum's immediate impact on leadership approaches. Our team's proprietary approach of curriculum development using a hybrid of instructional design (using the ADDIE model) + HCD was recognized by Training Magazine who invited our client to speak in a panel at their 2024 Training Magazine Conference and Expo.​
Continued Growth Through Real-World Experience
The Concept:
The Fellowship program was envisioned by VEO as a follow-on offering to its CX Certificate. This initiative aimed to provide VA employees with an opportunity to learn and practice CX and HCD skills through real-life projects, guided by expert coaches. The program was designed to help employees build confidence in the HCD process from start to finish, enabling them to lead CX projects successfully. Additionally, it aimed to create a community of experienced CX designers within VA.
What We Did:
We began with extensive analogous research across private industry and higher education. From this, we drafted four potential operating models, with VEO selecting the one that best aligned with their strategic goals for VACXi.
We created a low-fidelity prototype of a learning experience map, which outlined the steps a Fellow would take, detailing how sponsors might interact and the required supporting actions from VACXi and its coaches. For steps we were unsure of, we intentionally left them incomplete to incorporate feedback from potential participants.
We engaged others who ran existing VA HCD-focused Fellowship Programs to understand where our program fit within the existing ecosystem and how it could address unmet needs. This feedback helped us refine the low-fidelity prototype. We then tested it in several workshops with individuals representing target participants.
We then developed a high-fidelity Fellowship service blueprint, providing sufficient guidance to run a pilot. Finally, we successfully piloted the VACXi Fellowship Program, fostering innovative solutions from VA employees for projects of national importance.
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Results/Outcomes:
Through coaching, milestone-oriented workshops, and strategic collaboration with executive sponsors, we developed a cohort of seven VA employees into adept problem solvers capable of leading CX efforts within their areas of the organization. The program's outcomes included a refined program design, impactful solutions, and the addition of several practitioners to a growing community of CX advocates within VA.