Research that reframed the product
One case study, not a series. Two and a half months embedded across 14 utility sites produced a product direction rather than a features backlog, and then two rounds of scope cuts tested how much of that direction survived contact with a ship date. It’s the only thread here at this depth, and the honest reason is that there isn’t a second one. Padding it would read worse than the asymmetry does.
The research method: a kickoff blueprint that reframed the product direction, then embedded fieldwork across 14 sites that sharpened its personas and blueprints, rather than a features backlog.
Arcos, IncHow a service blueprint from the kickoff turned a planned UI refresh into a platform built around the storm, what it took to ship that through two rounds of scope cuts, and what 2.5 months of fieldwork across 14 utility sites added afterward.
I joined Arcos at the kickoff for its emergency preparedness platform, now Arcos Control Tower for the back office and Arcos Field for mobile, when the plan was a modern UI. With a Slalom consultant I built the service blueprint, and from my first months of evidence I recommended a workflow-native platform instead. I developed the “user lenses” vision, prototyped it, and held it through two rounds of scope cuts to the first release in August 2025, which launched convoy tracking on the desktop and in Arcos Field together. Afterward I led 2.5 months of fieldwork across 14 AEP sites in six operating companies, which sharpened the personas and blueprints.