USER EXPERIENCE STRATEGY AND DISCOVERY
Data Story Definition
Define themes that connect organizational strategy with metrics and measures to aid in the determination of outcomes and insights.
Program Goal
Enable workforce organizations to articulate meaningful, comparable impact despite fragmented data systems, varying levels of data maturity, and limited aggregation opportunities.
My Role
UX researcher and strategist responsible for discovery, framework design, and co-leading the development of a shared data storytelling model used to surface cross-regional insights.
Key Insights
Comparable impact could not be achieved through data standardization alone—shared understanding and narrative structure were equally critical.
While workforce boards collected similar categories of data, differences in systems, processes, and data literacy limited aggregation. Designing a data storytelling framework allowed the team to identify meaningful intersections across disparate data sets and surface insights without forcing false equivalence.
Impact
Enabled multi-regional insight generation despite partial and uneven data
Provided workforce boards with a shared language for articulating impact
Informed a set of strategic themes and questions used to query aggregated data
Shifted the project from “normalizing data” to “designing for interpretation and meaning”
My Challenge
Work with small cohorts of regional workforce boards to identify shared value across highly variable data systems—and design a framework that could surface cross-regional outcomes without compromising data integrity or governance constraints.
Users
Primary users: Regional workforce boards participating in cohort pilots.
Secondary audiences: Policymakers, funders, and community stakeholders via public-facing data stories.
Scope and Constraints
Two-year pilot with a small, evolving team
Data governance agreements limiting access and aggregation
Significant variation in tools, processes, and data literacy across cohorts
Limited availability and capacity of participating organizations
My Process
Conducted discovery sessions and interviews with cohort participants to understand data systems, practices, and constraints
Co-led qualitative interviews with a BI Analyst to assess data maturity and comparability
Identified and proposed a unified set of metrics and measures, refining them collaboratively with cohorts
Co-created a data storytelling framework to define meaningful intersections across metrics
Led development of a data story grid that translated shared data into strategic questions and narratives
Organizations
JFFLabs, Brighthive, Google.org (funder)
My Role
UX Researcher and Strategist
Date / Duration
Sept 2020 - July 2022
Determining a System for Strategic Metrics
In 2022, the newly established New York State Office of Strategic Workforce Development (OSWD) engaged HR&A and Jobs for the Future to provide guidance on creating a statewide strategic development framework, including a set of uniform metrics and measures of success.
Program Goal
Establish a foundational system of strategic metrics and data storytelling practices to support OSWD’s long-term effectiveness and alignment with New York State priorities.
My Role
UX researcher and strategist responsible for co-developing an initial metrics framework, designing a data storytelling approach, and facilitating working sessions with OSWD leadership to enable adoption and ongoing use.
Key Insight
Strategic metrics are only as strong as the strategy they are anchored to—and timing matters as much as structure.
While the project produced a viable foundation of strategic data stories and metrics, we learned that sequencing the workstreams differently—allowing OSWD more time to fully articulate its strategic perspective before formalizing metrics—would have strengthened alignment and outcomes.
This insight highlighted the importance of designing not just what systems exist, but when they are introduced.
Impact
Provided OSWD with a foundational set of strategic data stories and metrics
Equipped leadership with a repeatable method for generating and refining data stories
Helped position the new office for early success despite limited availability and evolving partnerships
Informed future approaches to sequencing strategy and measurement work in early-stage organizations
My Challenge
Support the formation of a newly created state office by designing an initial system of metrics and data storytelling—despite incomplete strategy definition, limited stakeholder availability, and partnerships still in development.
Users
Primary stakeholders: New York State Office of Strategic Workforce Development and Office of the Governor
Constraints
New organization with evolving mandate
Limited stakeholder availability
In-state partnerships not yet fully formed
Tight project timeline
My Process
Partnered with HR&A to align workstream planning and timelines
Reviewed OSWD’s mandate and the Governor’s strategic priorities to ground metric development
Collaborated with a JFF BI Analyst to translate strategic priorities into an initial data story question set
Led facilitated working sessions with OSWD to refine, validate, and expand data story questions
Enabled offline iteration and conducted follow-up sessions to finalize a set of reusable strategic data stories
Organizations
JFF, HR&A
My Role
UX Researcher and Strategist
Date / Duration
Sept 2022 - May 2023
