Case study / Accenture, Innovation

NewBe

An AI chatbot with augmented reality that guides new employees through their first days at the company.

  • AI
  • AR
  • Chatbot
  • Enterprise
NewBe app screens with the chatbot and AR guidance
Role
Team lead and product designer
Team
UX/UI designer and XR developer
Timeline
One month and $1,000 to build it
Scope
User research, workshop facilitation, illustration, UX, UI, storytelling
The problem

87% of new employees felt lost in their first week, and 82% felt embarrassed to ask questions.

My approach

I proposed an anonymous, AI-powered guide: a chatbot with indoor AR navigation, plus a promo video to show the features we didn't have time to build.

What it led to
2nd
At the Latin American finals
Recife, Brazil
  • Added to the Accenture Innovation portfolio as a client demo
  • Created a sales opportunity in the financial industry
  • Started an XR offering in the Monterrey office
01 / Context

My first day on the job

I was new to Accenture and joined my buddy's New Employee Experience initiative, a landing page with useful company information. I still had questions but felt embarrassed to ask, and I thought an anonymous chat would be great. That's how NewBe started.

I submitted it to Accenture's Global Technology & Innovation Contest, and it unexpectedly advanced to the Mexico finals.

02 / Research

Get a team together

I brought in a fellow UX/UI designer and an XR developer. We ran two workshops with about 40 new employees from different backgrounds.

87%
felt lost during their first week
82%
felt embarrassed to ask questions
40%
had a buddy assigned who couldn't make it
90%
didn't know their leader

Time was tight, so I proposed a plan B, a promo video showing NewBe's future features. The MVP focused on the chatbot and indoor navigation.

Storyboard sketch for NewBe
Storyboard
03 / Design

Pull out all the stops

We sketched ideas that turned into wireframes, checking feasibility with our XR developer along the way. Once we had the green light, I designed the UI.

NewBe interface screens

Augmented reality guided people around the office.

AR navigation guiding a new employee through the office

The tech stack

Natural language processing

For a more human-centered conversation

Augmented reality

Personalized guidance in and around the office

Artificial intelligence

Learns new answers that aren't in the original database

Full integration

Connected to email, calendars and profiles

Scalable

Adaptable to other industries and businesses

NewBe scheduling meetings and sending reminders
Integrated with office tools

I added a satisfaction survey so NewBe could ask for feedback periodically and measure its own success.

NewBe satisfaction survey screens
Satisfaction survey
The promo video, which I shot and edited
04 / Outcome

What happened

What it led to
2nd
At the Latin American finals
Recife, Brazil
  • Added to the Accenture Innovation portfolio as a client demo
  • Created a sales opportunity in the financial industry
  • Started an XR offering in the Monterrey office

All three of us pitched in Recife, and I was extremely proud of making it that far.

We didn't make the next round, but the prototype kept working for the business long after the contest.

05 / Learnings

What I learned

NewBe got me noticed by the Innovation team. It's one of my favorite projects, and it helped me see business opportunities in a whole new light.

Confidential information has been omitted or blurred to comply with my NDA. All material is property of Accenture.