Identifying Design/Research Ops Improvements
With the onboarding of a new Human Centered Design (HCD) team to the IDDOC 4i project mid-contract, it became necessary to realign the project’s focus and establish a clear plan for effectively integrating research and design into the process workflow. To support this transition, the HCD and Product Management (PM) teams facilitated a collaborative workshop with key stakeholders from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI). Participants included Business Owners, the Office of Technology, Product Owners, and Technical Teams.
The primary objective of the workshop was to develop a comprehensive understanding of the current state of the 4i platform’s processes and lifecycle. This included identifying existing challenges, surfacing opportunities for improvement, and co-creating a shared vision for the platform’s future.
During the session, participants engaged in a series of structured, interactive activities aimed at promoting team alignment, streamlining workflows, addressing key design challenges, and collaboratively envisioning the next phase of the product.
Several key themes emerged from these discussions, including needs for:
Improved communication and cross-program collaboration
Visibility into the HCD team’s work
Earlier, more proactive research and incorporation of feedback from the Accountable Care Organization users and CMS users
Implementation of Improvements
In response to the needs identified in the workshop, the HCD and PM teams collaborated to establish appropriate cadences for discovery, exploration, development, and evaluation—ensuring these efforts aligned with SAFe Agile Program Increment (PI) timelines.
It was agreed that discovery and design activities should begin at least one to two PIs in advance of technical development. This lead time allows for requirements to be thoroughly defined, validated, and approved before engineering work begins. As a result, the HCD team developed its own roadmap, effectively shifting key activities earlier in the timeline to better support the broader development lifecycle.
The two sprints leading up to PI Planning are critical for HCD. During this period, the team gathers insights and inputs necessary for effective planning, working closely with PMs to identify and prioritize work based on feedback from Business Owners, Product Owners, Technical Teams, and findings from HCD research sessions. Prior to PI Planning, the team facilitates a session with all stakeholders to evaluate proposed features by level of effort, criticality, and timeline.
Once features are identified and prioritized for the upcoming PIs, HCD initiates Pre-PI Planning. Work is categorized into three tiers:
High Priority: To be completed in the upcoming PI
Medium Priority: Targeted for the next 2–3 PIs
Low Priority: Long-term or strategic initiatives
From there, the team decomposes larger features into actionable user stories, develops preliminary research plans, estimates story points, evaluates team capacity, and drafts acceptance criteria. These stories are tentatively assigned across the six sprints within the PI, with the understanding that final scope and estimates will be confirmed during sprint planning.
Overview of our HCD Process
In addition to implementing process improvements, the HCD team also took the initiative to educate the CMMI team on the product design process. This effort aimed to set clear expectations around the various phases of design and research, including estimated timelines, key activities, and points at which stakeholder input is essential. The team presented and reviewed this information collaboratively with CMMI in an interactive session to ensure shared understanding and alignment moving forward.
