This semester, I’ll be working with Sounding Board, a start up that offers scalable coaching services to corporate clients. In addition to matching leadership coaches to coachees, the company operates a leader development platform that allows coachees to focus on specific leadership capabilities (e.g. execution, time management, executive presence), set goals, track their progress, and report progress/results to their managers.
The results of Sounding Board’s recent research—coupled with the desires of internal stakeholders—have led the UX team to turn its focus to the manager’s journey. A coachee’s manager helps define their coaching experience; managers choose which leadership skills/capabilities a coachee should focus on, engage with the coachee throughout their journey, and assess improvements in coachees’ skills afterwards. Given the importance of their role in the coaching process, Sounding Board aims to create an intuitive, efficient, and meaningful experience for managers. Under the guidance of Sounding Board’s UX researcher, Juan Cespedes, I will be focusing on conducting UX research in order to improve the manager’s experience.