Although research has shown that analytics systems that are designed with the user in mind lead to greater confidence in the decisions being made, user-centric design is often an afterthought. Edgar Kautzner, Managing Consultant at Minerra discusses a successful approach that Minerra took with a large, multi-divisional organisation in the USA. They were able to significantly increase user adoption of the analytics functionality by delivering an outcome with a very strong focus on usability and user experience. The project was also underpinned by a sophisticated data warehouse automation mechanism. The solution delivered a level of decision support not previously seen in the sector, and won an award for innovation. The presentation was delivered at the Melbourne Business Analytics Conference on Thursday 13th of June, 2017. A video of the presentation can be found on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0raamq0Pqps&t=3s

1. Presentation by:
Edgar Kautzner, Managing Consultant, Minerra
Delivering decision support through user-centric design
13th July, 2017
Melbourne Business AnalyticsConference
Centre for Business Analytics, Melbourne Business School

2. Minerra
Delivering decision support through user-
centric design
Edgar Kautzner, Managing Consultant

3. Access
Unlock the power
of your data
Understand
Make sense of your
data
Decide
Use your data to
inform decision-
making
About Minerra
• Training and mentoring
• Analytics as a service –
outsourced analytics
function
• Analytics report /
dashboard development
• Analytics architecture
consulting & design review
• Data integration and
preparation
• Data warehouse design &
delivery through data
warehouse automation

4. Setting the scene
Large, multi-divisional
organisation in USA
• 25+ divisions
• 100K+ employees
• Nationwide reach
Online recruitment
system processed
1 million job
applications annually
The system couldn’t
cope with demand or
user requirements
Adoption of recruitment
BI system was very low.
• Very poor user
perception

5. The Solution

6. The Solution
■ Complete re-build of recruitment BI system
– Using decision-centric design and right-service principles
■ Redesigned to match the recruitment process
– Rather than the recruitment system data structures
■ Data warehouse automation technology was used
– To quickly implement changing data and business logic requirements
■ Frequently required reports and dashboards were pre-built
– Appropriate filters were provided to maximise flexibility and utility
■ A recruitment analytics team was formed from recruitment specialists from within the business

7. Project Outcomes
■ Users loved it!!
– The recruitment analytics team were
converted from strong detractors to
enthusiastic champions
■ The system delivered an unprecedented level of fit
and sophistication
■ 2,000 regular users of the BI system
■ Won an award for technology innovation in the
sector

8. Business Benefits
■ Tighter linking of HR goals with strategic goals
– Demographics of workforce to match demographics of USA
■ Significant recruitment cost savings
– Reduction in time to hire
– Sourcing strategies optimised
– Significant improvements to recruitment process
– Tighter control of bulk recruitment campaigns

9. Key Learnings
■ Always start from the decision requirements of the users
– Decision-centric design of the data structures
– User-centric design of the interface
■ Use data warehouse automation!
– BI requirements ALWAYS change and evolve (and this is a good thing!)
– Set yourself up to deploy these changes RAPIDLY
■ Usability and user experience is paramount
– Use right-service BI principles
■ Design for scale and flexibility

10. enquiries@minerra.net
www.minerra.net
Thank you for your time
and attendance.