Onboarding design for high-pressure environments.

🎩 Role: User Experience & Service Designer Lead

✅ Task: Create a seamless onboarding process for the London Fire Brigade.

♥️ Client: Unblur->London Fire Brigade 2022.

💡 Keywords: Agile, Teamwork, Processes

Overview & context

We secured the Public Tender for the London Fire Brigade, which required rethinking how their team was trained and supported during a shift to digital tools.

I focused on the people-centric aspects of this transformation, helping the organization transition from analogue processes to a digital platform. This involved close collaboration with their project team—comprising members balancing this initiative alongside their regular duties—to ensure the solution was practical, engaging, and met their needs effectively.

Challenge

The project team from the organization was responsible for introducing new technologies to their colleagues. Being part of the organization themselves, they provided first-hand insights that allowed us to tailor training and dynamics to their standards and schedules.

However, there was always a risk of uncertainty—some team members were skeptical of the technology and hesitant to adopt it. While their critical feedback could be challenging, it was invaluable. After all, overly enthusiastic users wouldn’t reflect the reality of the institution or its broader challenges.

In summary, we had to address and overcome three main pain points:

Challenge 1. Training materials and support: Although we had previously developed an End-User Manual and a Trainer's Dashboard, our existing approach wasn’t scalable for a project of this magnitude. We had to train the trainers, ensuring they were fully equipped to onboard their teams successfully. The ultimate goal was not only smooth onboarding but also positive feedback from all stakeholders involved.

Challenge 2. New technology introduction:

Introducing new technology to firefighters required tailoring our training approach to their unique context and vocabulary. Recognizing the importance of speaking their language, we conducted extensive research and collaborated closely with firefighters to ensure that our materials addressed their specific needs and challenges.

We partnered with subject matter experts in the fire service to create relatable, relevant content. By incorporating their jargon and terminology, we made the training feel familiar and approachable, which fostered greater engagement.

To enhance learning, we organized workshops and hands-on sessions (e.g., the iconography dynamic ) where firefighters could interact directly with the technology. These sessions provided real-world examples and scenarios aligned with their daily tasks, helping to demonstrate the technology's benefits for efficiency and safety.

By deeply understanding their needs, adapting our communication, and offering practical, relatable experiences, we successfully bridged the gap between their existing knowledge and the new technology.

Challenge 3. Scalable and sustainable feedback gathering: End-user feedback was our most critical deliverable, particularly from live sessions where real firefighters interacted with the product for the first time. Their reactions were unbiased and untainted by preconceived notions, making this feedback uniquely valuable.

To capture this insight effectively, we implemented a system for quickly gathering feedback during training and dynamics. Later, we classified and prioritized this information to ensure it directly informed product improvements. This approach allowed us to continuously refine the solution while addressing the most pressing user concerns.

Process

As previously said, the most intelligent approach would be extracting their vocabulary and also the structure they are used to learn new skills and capabilities, I thought that would be a wonderful idea to copy the “Framework for the Competence of Rescue and Firefighting Service (RFFS) personnel” we took as reference the one published at the NFCC, this document provides a framework for the development, demonstration, and maintenance of competence of FSRs who primarily regulate fire safety standards.

To sum up, this framework concept will be something like this:

So having this as a starting point, we brainstormed what a great onboarding experience should look like, and how we could introduce the Incident Command System Software, and adapt it to their needs without falling into the “made-to-order” feeling. As the illustration shows we divided the onboarding in three different phrases plus one of consolidation.

Structured Feedback Gathering Approach

Already categorized feedback from live sessions.

Once the training plan was set up and approved by the major stakeholders we would need to define a key part of this project; the way we would capture feedback. Remember these users are also that time firefighters so the dynamics and user groups that we will set up must be dynamic, short and easy to plan another day in case the fire alarm goes off (Literally).

Some of the rules and steps that we agreed as a team to follow were:

1. Create a Clear and Comprehensive Feedback Form:
We developed a structured feedback form covering various aspects of the training to ensure all relevant areas were addressed. This allowed us to gather consistent and actionable feedback from participants.

2. Gather Quantitative Data:
The form included rating scales to collect quantitative data on different elements of the training, such as the clarity of instructions, the effectiveness of materials, and overall satisfaction. This gave us measurable insights into how well the training was received.

3. Collect Qualitative Feedback:
We included open-ended questions to capture more detailed, qualitative feedback. While we knew these questions might not be as popular, they provided invaluable insights, allowing participants to share specific examples or suggestions related to the technology and the training process.

4. Categorize Qualitative Responses:
After collecting feedback, we reviewed and categorized the qualitative responses into themes like “Doubts,” “Easy Fixes,” “Design Process,” “Issues Raised,” and “Bugs.” This helped us prioritize and address recurring concerns more effectively, ensuring the feedback led to actionable improvements.

5. Report Findings:
Once feedback was collected, we developed a comprehensive summary report that combined both quantitative and qualitative findings. This report provided a clear overview of the training's effectiveness, identifying strengths, weaknesses, and key areas for improvement.

6. Share Results and Recommendations:
We then presented the findings to the firefighters and relevant stakeholders, highlighting the positive aspects of the training, areas for improvement, and actionable recommendations. This step ensured the feedback was used constructively, fostering a cycle of continuous improvement and aligning future training sessions with user needs.

Lessons learned

Use the feedback received from the participants to iterate on your training program. Consider refining the content, adjusting the delivery methods, or incorporating additional support resources based on the feedback received.
Even if the training is already designed and closed, take advantage to implement iterations in the next training sessions, you won’t regret it.
Organizing a training the hottest day in the history of London city on a building that is environmentally friendly because it is well isolated for the winter days.. might not be a good idea.