BIG THOUGHT: DESIGNING AN ENGAGING ONBOARDING PROGRAM

As a full-time graduate student at SMU, I led a human-centered design project focused on improving the onboarding experience for Big Thought’s Site-Specific and HQ Staff. The project aimed to create an engaging, culturally aligned onboarding program that equips new hires—especially part-time Teaching Artists—with the tools and knowledge necessary to succeed in their roles.

Problem Statement

Big Thought, an education-focused nonprofit, relies on a diverse network of Teaching Artists and staff to deliver high-quality programming. However, the organization lacked a standardized onboarding experience, leading to inconsistencies in training, confusion among new hires, and challenges in aligning staff with Big Thought’s culture and expectations.

Key challenges included:
• Lack of a structured onboarding process, leading to confusion and inefficiencies.
• Inconsistent communication, making it difficult for new hires to understand expectations.
• Limited training time for part-time Teaching Artists, many of whom balance multiple jobs.
• Absence of centralized onboarding materials, leaving staff without clear reference points.

The project aimed to streamline the onboarding process, ensuring that all new hires—regardless of their role—felt prepared, confident, and connected to Big Thought’s mission.

Role & Collaborators

Role: Lead Designer & Researcher
• Conducted user research through focus groups, interviews, and observational studies.
• Designed a structured, culturally aligned onboarding tool tailored to Big Thought’s needs.
• Led prototyping and testing, iterating on feedback from Teaching Artists and staff.

Collaborators:
• Teaching Artists & Site-Specific Staff – Key stakeholders experiencing onboarding challenges.
• Big Thought HQ Staff – Provided insights into organizational culture and expectations.
• Design Team (Welcome Wizards) – Collaborated to develop and refine the onboarding solution.

Research Approach
To deeply understand the onboarding experience at Big Thought, the project utilized multiple research methods, including:
• Focus Groups & Interviews: Engaged with Teaching Artists and staff to uncover pain points.
• Observational Research: Studied how new hires navigated their first weeks on the job.
• Secondary Research: Examined best practices in organizational onboarding and cultural alignment.

Key Findings:
1. New hires lacked a clear onboarding roadmap, making it difficult to integrate smoothly.
2. Onboarding experiences varied widely, with some staff receiving minimal training.
3. Teaching Artists desired more community-building opportunities and peer support.
4. There was a need for a centralized resource to guide employees through onboarding.

From these insights, we framed our How Might We… statement:
How might we design an engaging onboarding program for Big Thought’s Site-Specific and HQ Staff that sets them up for success?

Process & Iteration

The project followed an iterative, user-centered design process, focusing on three key phases:
1. First Iteration: Developed an initial onboarding toolkit, gathering feedback from Teaching Artists.
2. Second Iteration: Refined the toolkit based on insights, introducing interactive elements and cultural alignment strategies.
3. Third Iteration: Finalized the onboarding system, ensuring it empowered new hires with clarity, autonomy, and a sense of belonging.

Final Design Solution: “Big Thought, Little Book”

The final solution was a structured onboarding resource—“Big Thought, Little Book”—designed to:
• Provide a consistent onboarding experience for all new hires.
• Align staff with Big Thought’s mission and values, ensuring cultural integration.
• Support Teaching Artists with clear expectations, training, and resources.
• Foster belonging and connection among new employees through storytelling and shared experiences.

Key Features:
✔ Culturally-aligned onboarding framework (anticipate, encounter, embed, exit).
✔ Clear process documentation to standardize training across locations.
✔ Feedback and iteration mechanisms for continuous improvement.
✔ A focus on amplifying Teaching Artists’ voices through collaborative input and shared ownership.

Impact & Key Outcomes
• Standardized onboarding across Big Thought, reducing confusion and inefficiencies.
• Improved retention and engagement among Teaching Artists and staff.
• Increased cultural alignment, ensuring that all employees felt connected to the organization’s mission.
• Positive feedback from new hires, highlighting increased clarity and confidence in their roles.

Lessons Learned & Reflection
• Consistency in communication is key—employees thrive when they have clear expectations and access to the right information.
• A strong onboarding process builds long-term organizational success by fostering belonging, alignment, and employee empowerment.

This project demonstrates my ability to apply design thinking, UX research, and service design to complex workforce challenges. It highlights my skills in strategic problem-solving, user-centered research, and iterative prototyping—critical competencies for roles in product design, UX, ed tech, and corporate social responsibility.