Research Operations
Procured and implemented Dovetail as an enterprise research repository, designing metadata taxonomies and training ADO research leads.
Tantus Technologies · 2024–Present
Scaling Human-Centered Design at CMS
Leading HCD initiatives for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, including research operations, training programs, and Community of Practice events that build design capability across the organization.
200+
Professionals Trained
87%
CoP Satisfaction
30%
Faster Insights
89%
Findability Improvement
The Challenge
CMS needed an enterprise-wide approach to organize user research and enable insight reuse across its many Application Development Organizations (ADOs). The existing landscape was fragmented:
- No shared research infrastructure — Product teams lacked visibility into prior research, often duplicating efforts across programs
- Inconsistent methods — Researchers had no shared tools or standards, leading to varied quality and reporting
- Compliance bottlenecks — Policy approvals (PRA clearance) were slow, delaying research and reducing agility
- Inter-office communication gaps — Groups like the Survey Operations Group (SOG) struggled with complex, email-heavy inquiry processes
My Role
As Senior Design Strategist supporting the HCD Center of Excellence at CMS, I led initiatives across three interconnected workstreams:
Service Design
Facilitated service blueprinting workshops to map processes and identify systemic improvement opportunities for operations groups.
HCD Training
Designed and delivered 14 training sessions and quarterly Community of Practice events reaching 200+ professionals.
Service Blueprinting: SOG Inquiry Process
The Survey Operations Group (SOG) managed inquiries from Congressional offices, the public, and other federal entities through a complex, email-driven process with no tracking, history, or knowledge management. I facilitated blueprinting workshops to map the current state and identify opportunities.
Service Blueprint: Inquiry Response Process
Current-state process mapping for federal healthcare operations
Intake &
Assignment
Assignment
Response
Development
Development
Awaiting
Response
Response
Division
Review
Review
Leadership
Review
Review
Response
Ready
Ready
Completion
Key Tasks
Receive inquiry & determine routing
Gather info from systems & SMEs
Wait for SA response
Div Dir reviews & requests revisions
SOG SLT reviews & approves
Send response to inquirer
Record keeping & follow-up
Touchpoints
Email, SWIFT, Congressional
ASPEN, iQIES, LaserFiche
Jira Board tracking
Email, meetings
Email, meetings
Letter, email, form
Records system
Actors
BM, Staff, Div Dir
Staff, SMEs, SAs
Staff member
Division Director
SOG Senior Leadership
Various
Staff
Line of Visibility
Pain Points
Too many email sources
No central repository
No tracking mechanism
Unclear turnaround times
Communication gaps
No searchable archive
Opportunities
Centralized intake
Knowledge base
Auto-tagging
System alerts
Workflow automation
Self-service status
Canned responses
Tasks
Systems
Actors
Pain Points
Opportunities
Key Findings
Intake Chaos
Inquiries arrived via email, SWIFT, Congressional channels, and regional offices with no central routing or prioritization.
Lost Institutional Knowledge
No searchable archive of past responses; staff couldn't reference how similar inquiries were handled previously.
Invisible Work
No mechanism for tracking inquiry status, timing, or completion rates—leadership had no visibility into workload.
Manual Burden
Staff spent significant time sorting duplicative emails and determining routing manually.
Recommendations Delivered
- Centralized intake portal with self-identifying issue types
- Searchable knowledge base with canned response templates
- Auto-tagging and prioritization in Jira
- Self-service status checking for inquirers
- Automated role assignment for vacation/turnover coverage
Research Operations & Dovetail Implementation
Product teams were conducting research in silos with no way to share or build on each other's work. I led the procurement and implementation of Dovetail as an enterprise research repository.
Key Decisions
- Designed metadata and tagging taxonomy aligned with CMS organizational structure
- Ensured CMS retained intellectual property while enabling contractor access
- Created onboarding materials and trained ADO research leads
Impact
30%
Faster delivery of actionable research insights to ADOs, accelerating design cycles and reducing duplicative studies.
HCD Training & Community Building
Human-centered design expertise was concentrated in a small group; most ADO teams lacked foundational HCD skills. I designed and delivered training programs and Community of Practice events to build capability organization-wide.
Training Program
- Developed curriculum covering HCD fundamentals, research methods, and journey mapping
- Delivered 14 training sessions reaching 200+ federal employees and contractors
- Created practical exercises using real CMS scenarios
50% NPS — Strong advocacy for methodologies taught
Community of Practice
- Orchestrated 4 quarterly CoP events for the HCD Center of Excellence
- Curated speakers, topics, and interactive sessions
- Built ongoing engagement through Confluence knowledge sharing
87% satisfaction with 60 average attendance
Methods & Tools
Research
- Dovetail
- Moderated Usability Testing
- Stakeholder Interviews
Service Design
- Service Blueprinting
- Journey Mapping
- Process Mapping
Facilitation
- Workshop Design
- Mural
- Collaborative Synthesis
Collaboration
- Jira
- Confluence
- Quarterly ADO Coordination
Reflection
"This work reinforced that scaling design capability is as important as doing design work directly. By building infrastructure, mapping systems, and growing practitioners, the impact extends far beyond any single project."
The SOG blueprinting work particularly demonstrated how service design methods can make invisible operational pain visible—and actionable. Email-based processes that seem "fine" to leadership often hide significant friction that only surfaces when you map the full journey with frontline staff.