Best Practice: Global Virtual Teams & Web Globalization

In addition to the expected issues with time zones and cultural/management style differences that affect success, global web team members must constantly grapple with the push-pull between creative goals of various sites vs. metrics (how to measure the ways in which their global web presence “enhances” the brand in a “soft” sense, vs. how to turn the global web presence into real money for the company). In addition, these teams face the challenge of managing business dynamics in a constantly changing web landscape – on a daily basis – while trying to “stay ahead of the curve” competitively – even when no one really knows what Web 3.0 will look like. If they’re lucky, most global web teams are only just beginning to figure out how to realize the benefits from Web 2.0 capability.

To provide some insights into how one company is facing these challenges, we interviewed Joe Lapierre, Web Site Manager for CIGNA International. Here’s how his team approaches these issues.

Editor’s Note: You can meet Joe Lapierre in person when he participates in a panel discussion,
Maintaining Effective Web Processes in the Wake of Increasing Technological and Global Business Demands, on October 23 during the 14th Web Site Globalization Conference in San Diego, California.

Insider: What are the major features of your current baseline global design? Who are the stakeholders for this design (both enterprise-wide and globally)? How long did it take you to develop the baseline? What was the process that you used to gain their buy-in?

Joe Lapierre: At CIGNA International Expatriate Benefits (CIEB), we have taken a “Best Practices” approach to designing both the GUI and the back-end architecture/technology to support a truly international web site.

The major feature of our baseline is a secure portal to allow Health Plan Members, Brokers, Employers and Health Care Providers to access directed content, tools and information. This provides them with greater flexibility for self-service as they work with CIEB.

The baseline has evolved over the last 12 months and will be fully implemented over the next 10-12 months. The stakeholders who have provided input for our baseline web offerings include representatives from Operations, Sales/Marketing, Information Technology, Client Management and Provider Relations. Our team strongly leverages Usability & User-Centered Design to make key decisions and to gain the required buy-in to ensure our best chance for success.

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Insider: Have you incorporated Web 2.0 into your design? If so, how?

Lapierre: Yes, we are moving away from the original “information silo” model and heavily towards the use of web services and web API’s to present more user-driven web applications.

The back-end architecture and technology layers are being joined with the front-end GUI layers through the use of web services (1) that can be multi-purposed and (2) that can better leverage the conversion of our data store into several external facing applications that we are bundling into our portals.

Insider: What would you do differently in developing your baseline global design, if you had it to do over again?

Lapierre: I think I can honestly say that I wouldn’t really change much in our approach to developing our global baseline. We use the results of focus groups, market research, usability studies and User Centered Design to create our baseline requirements and to present that content/functionality in a user-friendly manner.

Insider: What type of UI design testing do you do for the CIGNA web site implementations worldwide?

Lapierre: We take the testing of the web site extremely seriously. To test successfully, we have two approaches. We take our web site prototype to our end-users and perform on-site usability for physicians and hospitals. We also run U.S.-based usability testing for expatriate members who are working in the United States.

To successfully test overseas, we package our prototype on two laptops and, based on the desired usability outputs, develop moderator’s guides and usability test scripts to quantify our desired results. We utilize a software package from Tech Smith (Morae) that allows us to capture the usability session user movements, screen captures and video of each test session so that we can quickly evaluate trouble areas and functional improvement opportunities.

Our UI testing scripts cover a broad range of topics that include navigational ease, nomenclature (both navigational and content), graphics, languages, currencies and general user impressions based on using our portals.

We are currently preparing for a two-week usability trip to Asia during the last two weeks of this month to test the UI for our physicians and hospitals in that region. We performed a similar testing session with a different group last year in Eastern Europe and the U.K.

Insider: Many of our readers are currently grappling with how best to serve emerging markets. Can you share two challenges vis-à-vis emerging markets and your web site implementation, and how you’re resolving them with our readers?

Lapierre: Challenges are definitely prevalent when you serve an international user base. I would say that the two challenges we face currently are (1) what tools are most beneficial to our four user constituencies, and (2) how can we continue to deliver customized content to new areas as they emerge?

The tools we are implementing need to be specific enough to assist an individual web site visitor, but wide enough to be easily leveraged for multiple groups. One way we handle this is by looking for experts in certain regions who can provide us with either local knowledge and/or information about the needs of the general public. Those areas are then reviewed to determine the best way to integrate them into our global strategy.

Customization will probably always be a huge challenge since we currently service Members in over 180 countries. Trying to get pointed, relevant information and content to a user base that diverse will always pose a challenge for CIEB.

Insider: What other challenges do you face over the next 12-18 months with your web site?

LaPierre: I think our biggest challenge over the next 12-18 months will be to enforce our baseline strategy without getting too caught up in all of the “extras” that always seem to come along with web site improvements.

We have so many good ideas that we plan to put into place. However, the baseline needs to be solid and scalable first to enable us to better leverage and implement our entire strategy, so that we ultimately allow our broad user base – in all 180 countries – easier access to self-service.