Collaborative Onboarding Design through Creative Expression
Big Thought is a Dallas-based nonprofit organization committed to closing the opportunity gap for youth in underserved communities by making imagination and creativity central to everyday learning. Founded in 1987, the organization now reaches over 100,000 children, families, and educators each year, delivering more than one million hours of creative programming annually.
SKILL:
Program Design for Onboarding & Organizational Culture
Insight Synthesis & Impact Evaluation, Workshop Design & Pilot Testing
Strategic Communication & Leadership Alignment
UX Research (qualitative interviews, literature reviews, expert consultations)
Human-Centered Design & Prototyping
Creative Facilitation (art-based engagement, guided discussions)
Cross-Functional Collaboration & Stakeholder Engagement
Client: Big Thought, Dallas TX
Team: Kao, Molinero, Quintero
Role: UX Researcher/Designer
Duration: 4 Months
How might we design an engaging onboarding program for Big Thought’s site-specific and HQ staff that sets them up for success?
Project Overview
Big Thought, an organization focused on empowering youth through creativity, faced challenges in fostering cross-departmental collaboration. The Art Allies initiative was designed to address this gap by incorporating artistic bonding sessions into the onboarding process. The goal was to create an engaging environment where new and existing employees could connect through creative activities such as painting and poetry
What’s the Problem?
New hires at Big Thought experienced inconsistencies in their onboarding process, leading to limited cross-departmental collaboration. Staff faced challenges in communication and resource sharing across teams. Additionally, time constraints made it difficult to integrate engagement activities into daily workflows.
Key Challenges Identified:
Lack of a standardized onboarding process, leading to inconsistent employee experiences.
Collaboration barriers across departments, affecting team alignment.
Time constraints, making it difficult for employees to engage in onboarding activities.
Strong passion for the mission, but a need for structured ways to strengthen team cohesion.
Research Methods
The team employed a mix of secondary and primary research to inform the solution:
Literature Review – Examined best practices in onboarding, organizational culture, and workplace engagement.
Stakeholder Interviews – Conducted qualitative interviews with staff across different departments to understand their onboarding experiences and identify pain points.
Expert Consultation – Interviewed an organizational psychologist to align onboarding with company culture.
Prototype Testing – Ran two pilot sessions with 20 staff members from 8 departments to assess the effectiveness of the proposed solution.
Findings from Research:
A lack of structure in the onboarding experience led to unclear expectations.
Employees sought more interactive and engaging onboarding methods.
Leadership involvement was critical for buy-in and long-term adoption.
Solution
Art Allies was developed as a prototype onboarding initiative incorporating creative, art-based sessions facilitated by Big Thought’s Teaching Artists.
Key Features:
Art-Based Team Building – Activities such as painting and poetry to encourage self-expression.
Guided Conversations – Prompts to initiate meaningful discussions among staff.
Cross-Departmental Interaction – Strategic seating arrangements to foster interdepartmental collaboration.
Leadership Participation – Engaging key decision-makers for program sustainability.
Prototype Testing & Results:
Session 1: Total 12 participants. Focused on leadership buy-in; leaders showed interest in expanding the program.
Session 2: Total 8 participants. Included all staff; participants reported higher morale, stronger connections, and a desire for recurring sessions.
Impact & Future Recommendations:
Scale the program to more frequent sessions with structured activities.
Gather long-term data on employee engagement and retention.
Explore virtual adaptations for hybrid and remote staff participation.
Conclusion:
Art Allies successfully enhanced onboarding engagement at Big Thought by fostering creativity, connection, and collaboration. The results demonstrated its potential to break down silos, improve team morale, and create a more cohesive workplace culture. With further iterations, it could become an essential part of Big Thought’s employee experience strategy.
