Yaya

2023

Strategising a design agency

Research

Strategy

“If you could run my business, what would you do?”

Snapshot of project

Info

Yaya is an award winning digital design agency that experienced fast growth in 2 years, delivered high quality work and launched an academy program to level up their designers.

Challenge

With this fast growth, they were looking to know what was the state of their current company and what areas need improvement.

Solution

Two key areas needed improvement which was the businesses structure and communication. Under these two areas, we proposed four different solutions and since this project have launched a new website re-design, two sales campaign and a new development structure.

My Role

Research

Data Analysis

Ideation / Strategy

Project Management

Stakeholder Management

Key Result

New business strategy

New direction

Client

Yaya

What's the context?

At Yaya, my boss and I often discussed about how to run the company and initiatives I implemented. Around my first-year mark, during one of our talks, he asked, "What if you could run Yaya?". I sprang into action and teamed up with another designer. I set up meetings with stakeholders and scrutinized the business model.

Post-it notes and theme analysis of stakeholder interviews

Insight #1

Business stakeholders were concerned about Yaya's culture, internal processes and employee lifecycle.

Insight #2

Looking at the business model, the areas to look further into were revenue streams, channel, customer segment and value proposition.

What about the research?

After planning the next 3 weeks, I divided the work with another designer and set up recurring check-in to ensure the project run smoothly

For this project, we did:
- Performed data analysis of Yaya's service and client account performance
- Interview and mapped client's journey
- Interview and mapped employee development
- Coded and analysed employee interview
- Reviewed finances, performed "Hygiene and Health" workshop and more

Insight #3

The worst performing services we're UI/UX and the best clients were consistently mid-size financial and tech companies

Insight #4

The highest point of friction for clients were at the start of the journey and they're possible improvements during the negotiation phase

Insight #5

Senior designer and director development have dropped in recent year and junior designers are being under-utilised

Insight #6

Employees biggest concerns were around development, culture change and the direction/communication at Yaya

What is the priority?

We translated all the research into 200+ post-it notes, each brimming with unique insights. Through theme analysis, we distilled these into 50 themes. With stakeholder input and research in mind, we prioritized these themes, ultimately selecting around 8 to pursue further.

Next up, we dove into numerous ideation sessions, using dot voting to cherry-pick the top ideas for each theme. Once selected, each idea received a full action plan, complete with a timeline and a designated task owner.

What’s the final solution?

We delivered the research, insights, and action plans to all stakeholders, receiving a highly positive response. Most of our recommendations were accepted and implemented. Yaya then rebranded, refocused on their target audience, launched a new website, initiated two client-friendly sales campaigns, established a growth-oriented development structure for employees, and more.

Other work

Increasing adoption of a planning tool

Creating a brand that sticks with users