From communication to collaboration.

The opportunity

The National Association of Corporate Directors wanted to turn its internal social portal into a place where corporate directors could share insights, knowledge, and best practices. The aim was to make communication channels more useful for peer-to-peer collaboration.

At the time described in the original case study, NACD’s network included more than 24,000 individuals, 1,750+ boards, and more than 20 chapters across 35 locations. It brought more than four decades of governance education and thought leadership to its work helping boards improve performance, make strategic decisions, and create long-term value.

Fractional leadership and delivery

Through fractional leadership and advisory, Patrick led the research, design, and development of the digital community experience. The work supported an organization whose member value included partnership, education, credentialing, and access to other directors’ experience.

The product challenge was to connect that mission with an experience directors could use to collaborate and navigate governance issues together.

Researching members’ tasks

Patrick applied mixed-method research and customer journey mapping to understand members’ task-based goals. That work informed improvements to collaboration and helped identify how the platform could better support the activities members came to accomplish.

Designing participation and knowledge sharing

The resulting work included gamification, social collaboration, and improved visibility of the knowledge base. The objective was to help members find useful information, share expertise, and engage with the network through the digital platform.

Proactive membership features and social channels also supported the relationship between the organization and its members.

Creating an operating model

Patrick guided senior leadership in developing an Agile and Lean UX program model for global product-development strategy. The work established operating practices for research, reporting, analysis, and continuous improvement, allowing the experience to evolve around member needs.

The outcome

The original case study reports improved engagement and member experience, together with increased adoption and retention through social channels and proactive membership features.

The engagement connected member research with collaboration features and an ongoing product-development model for the organization.