How might we help designers and business leaders, create a mutual empathy and communicate in a design vocabulary?
We researched the topic and created a stake holder map where we could re-frame the question base on a persona that we’ve created. 
Carmen was approached to develop a communication platform for front end developers and UX designers; allowing them to provide constant feedback, project updates and content management.
After 6 months, she delivered a working prototype tested on 150 users with great feedback. Client offered her initial capital to launch a business of 40 people in the first year and much more in the future.
She’s managed to hire 5 people. Shortly they’ve became demotivated, as she was crushing all of their idea with cold criticism. Like she could only acknowledge ideas of her own.
When 3 of her colleagues left the company, she realized, that something has to change…
How can we help Carmen develop emotional intelligence to become respected manager so she can scale her business and improve the communication with co-workers?
Statement
“What if I forget what it’s like to be the designer?”
About Carmen
Age: 28
Education: MA in Web Design (UCL London), Postgradual in Coolhunting, Global Design Trends (Elisava, Barcelona)
Internship: Digital planner – Ogilvy Digital, Chicago, US, Content editor – Indeed PRIME, Dublin, Ireland, Field researcher – Freedom & Democracy NGO, El Salvador
Professional experience: Visual designer – Novartus (2 years), SR UX Designer – eDreams ODIGEO (3 years), Digital product designer – Freelance (2 years – ongoing)
Skills
UX
User cases, User journeys, A/B testing, KPI, Personas, Usability testing, Wireframing
Visual design, Sketching
Programming
HTML5, CSS, jQuery, AngularJS, Bootstrap, Objective C
Software proficiency
Axure, Invision, xCode, Photoshop, InDesign, Sketch, Illustrator, Flash
Languages
Spanish, Catalan, Romanian, English
Challenges
Career progression from individual contributor to management
Learn soft skills she never thought she will use
Overcame imposter syndrome
Admit that she can’t do everything alone
Achievements
1300 followers on Instagram
Co-organizer of Barcelona beer festival
Her dog feels she’s good human, even though she often doesn’t feel like one
Barcelona TEDx speaker (Equality of women in tech)
Strengths
Naturaly good listener
Solid communicator
Understand both designers and developers
Knows how to lead project
Wide variety of skills
Fast executioner
Full stack
Room for improvement
More competitive than collaborative
Protective of her ideas
No formal managerial education
Too hands on, can’t really delegate
Way too rational
Needs to improve mental and verbal flexibility, simplify language when needed
Build confidence
Digital narcism – she loves when men comment her provocative posts
The team decided to design an emotional journey for Carmen to improve and reflect. The journey was decided to cover her personal issues and defining her life goals. The entire journey will lasts for 1 month and at the end she will have a different perspective.
