My master thesis
As the final project of my master's degree in "Digital Management," I focused my research on optimizing the effectiveness of in-house design teams within large tech companies. The insights I gained from my research have helped Swisscom's Design team in refining their workflow, ensuring greater efficiency, and aligning with the demands of an agile environment.
Master's Degree in Digital Management @ Hyper Island London
Graduation Juli 2022
Grade: Distinction
Abstract
For the past several years, managers have included designers and innovators in strategic discussions about the products and services that companies will eventually deliver. In today's complex and rapidly evolving digital experiences market, design has become the critical link between customers and their products and services. This evolution has led to more companies building and managing their in-house design and innovation teams instead of relying on agencies and consultancies. Unfortunately, diving deeper into the world of in-house design and innovation teams, it seems like many companies may not understand how to get the most out of their investment, leading to ineffective teams and stressed employees.
This Master Thesis aims to determine how in-house design teams can operate optimally and additionally seeks to find a team structure that could be modelled by the user interface and experience design teams at Swisscom. The research relies primarily on the results of interviews with professional experts and findings from the academic and professional literature. Based on qualitative research and professional literature, I framed several best practices that I validated with Swisscom employees and formulated into managerial implications.
My Process
I started my process with some internal research at Swisscom, during which I tried to find out what problems arise during the development process of new features and products among designers and their stakeholders. After that, I interviewed several people from seven different companies to find out if their experiences matched those at Swisscom. From the interviews, I formulated a set of eleven best practices, which I presented within Swisscom.
