Practitioners Profile: Rob Fay

Practitioner Profile: Rob Fay

Brian Flaherty | Reading time: about 4 min

Rob Fay leads the CCSQ Human-Centered Design Center of Excellence. In his role, Rob supports ISG leadership in promoting a continuous improvement mindset throughout CCSQ. Rob works with a great team to provide education, coaching, and best practices for ISG's portfolio, programs, products, and projects. 

We sat with Rob and asked him about his work, HCD, and what makes him tick. 

What’s a typical day like for you?

There are days full of meetings and other days where I can be "heads down" to get some good work done. Unlike traditional product development teams, I focus on strategic work, so I might be preparing curriculum for a future training, consulting with Application Development Organizations (ADOs) to identify opportunities to reduce burdens, or I may be working with the enterprise to initiate new approaches toward regularly engaging with and receiving customer feedback.

How does your job promote better practice of Human-Centered Design at CMS?

Everyone on the team has a unique opportunity to focus on the overall health of the enterprise. The sum is greater than the parts, so we look to instill a continuous improvement mindset built upon empathy and consumer-centricity. To achieve this, we work across groups, programs, and ADOs to provide education, coaching, and best practices so that teams of any size can be more effective in their role, whether than result in new or improved, products, services, programs, or policies.

Is Human-Centered Design important? Why?

Yes, it is important. I remember when I was young, my family would celebrate Christmas and give each other gifts. Some extended family spent time with me and would ask me what I needed or wanted. Others spent little time with me but felt they knew my likes and dislikes and would surprise me with a gift. Which do you think hit the mark with a good gift? Similarly, the goal of HCD is to spend time with the consumers of our product and service so we can understand their needs and goals. Spending time and getting their feedback obviously leads to good solutions because businesses are building customer trust and satisfaction by delivering solutions of real value.

What do you feel makes Human-Centered Design unique?

It really is not unique. It's quite simple, really. It's about empathy. Have empathy for the people who will benefit from your work. That work could be creating or improving a product, service, program, or policy. You name it. Other people benefit from your work, so find ways to include them and get their feedback. Yet HCD is considered unique because it is empathy-driven, and a customer-centered approach to work is not the norm for most businesses today (except the ones that are outperforming their competition). Design thinking encourages people to approach their work by first understanding their users before rushing to solutions that are bound by constraints.

Can you provide an example of HCD methodologies being applied to a project/program that has proven more successful than otherwise would have been had HCD not been applied? 

Definitely! I recall a time when I was responsible for conducting research, so often I was the only one meeting with our end users and learning how well they performed tasks. I would come back to the product team with recommendations for changes but was frequently met with resistance. I then invited all team members to observe a usability test session with our users. Watching users struggle to complete tasks in the system first-hand led to quick but impactful changes. Had the team not prioritized recommendations or observed user behaviors, some of the team's solutions would not have led to high customer satisfaction.

Do you belong to any professional organizations?

User Experience Professional Association (UXPA), Interaction Design Association (IXDA), Customer Experience Professionals' Association (CXPA)

What are you happiest doing, when you’re not working?

Spending time with the family at the beach, reading spy novels, watching NY Yankees baseball or UConn Husky college basketball

Throughout your career, who is someone you admire, acted as a mentor, and/or changed the way you perform your job?

Jared Spool, a thought leader in the field of User Experience, has mentored me and impacted my career.

If I weren't so damn good at my job, I'd probably be...
My high school aptitude test said I should be a florist or a mortician. If I were smart, I'd combine the two and make a killing.

Cats or Dogs (or Other)?
Dogs.

Flashback to when you were 10 years old. What did you want to be when you grow up?
2nd base for the NY Yankees

What is a cause or charity that you care about?
Compassion International - sponsor a child.

:: THANK YOU FOR SHARING ROB! ::