MICROSOFT — NEW GROWTH
Microsoft’s productivity products were already serving hundreds of millions of people. My work focused on where the next opportunities could come from: understanding people whose needs were not being fully met by the existing portfolio, identifying what was different about how they worked, and translating those insights into new product opportunities.
That work helped identify and incubate two opportunities that became enduring parts of Microsoft 365: StaffHub, created for frontline workers and later evolved into Shifts in Microsoft Teams, and Microsoft Bookings, created for small businesses.
THE OPPORTUNITY
Much of productivity software had been designed around the information worker: people who spent their days at a desk, worked primarily on a computer, had an individual corporate identity, and collaborated through documents, email, calendars, and meetings. But the working world was much broader than that.
We began looking at people and businesses at the edges of the traditional productivity model. The goal was to understand where Microsoft’s existing strengths could address meaningful unmet needs and open new opportunities for growth.
My role extended beyond identifying unmet needs. I helped translate research into a product and business case strong enough to secure investment and move from customer insight into incubation.
That meant connecting human needs to market opportunity, defining the workflows that mattered most, helping teams determine where Microsoft had a meaningful right to play, and using continued customer learning to shape the products as they developed.
Two distinct opportunities emerged.
FRONTLINE WORKERS
Frontline workers represented a large workforce whose day-to-day needs looked very different from those of traditional information workers.
Research helped establish the shift as an organizing construct for the experience. Scheduling, availability, communication, and coordination could be brought together around the way people actually experienced their working day.
Those insights contributed to the incubation of Microsoft StaffHub, a purpose-built experience for frontline workers that allowed employees and managers to coordinate schedules and day-to-day work more easily. StaffHub ultimately evolved into Shifts in Microsoft Teams, bringing those capabilities into Microsoft’s broader collaboration platform.
What began as research into an underserved workforce became a durable capability within Microsoft 365.
SMALL BUSINESS
Small-business owners were passionate about running their businesses, but often spent significant time on administrative work. They relied on a collection of best-of-breed tools for needs such as invoicing, marketing, contact management, and scheduling, leaving them to connect the pieces themselves while paying for multiple disconnected products.
We explored a different model: a set of high-quality vertical experiences that could work together as part of the Microsoft ecosystem. We incubated and tested concepts across several areas, including invoicing, marketing, contact management, and scheduling.
Not every idea proved strong enough to compete with established standalone products, and we chose not to pursue several of them. Scheduling did. Microsoft already had strong underlying capabilities that could support a more complete end-to-end experience, and that opportunity became Microsoft Bookings.
Microsoft Bookings remains part of Microsoft 365 today.
WHAT THIS ENABLED
The work extended the role of research beyond optimizing existing experiences. By identifying underserved audiences, understanding the workflows that mattered to them, and connecting those needs to Microsoft’s capabilities, research became an input into where Microsoft 365 could grow next.
The opportunities led to new product investment and incubation. StaffHub evolved into Shifts in Microsoft Teams, while Microsoft Bookings became an enduring Microsoft 365 offering for small businesses.