Case study

Operational architecture for project lifecycle management

At Zendesk, a structured, end-to-end project lifecycle system was implemented to bring clarity, organization, and visibility to research operations. This case study walks through how scalable workflows, automated reporting, and cross-functional alignment transformed the way research work was requested, tracked, and delivered.
Outcome
Delivered a unified system to manage research from intake to insight
Increased visibility and operational clarity across the research function
Supported strategic prioritization and more equitable team resourcing
Reduced last-minute scrambles through standardized workflows and automation
Established scalable foundations to grow the research practice sustainably
Challenge
As the research function at Zendesk scaled, its supporting systems lagged behind. Requests arrived through multiple channels, project tracking was inconsistent, and institutional knowledge often lived in private folders or individual heads. Without a shared infrastructure, prioritization was ad hoc, timelines slipped, and research impact was difficult to measure or revisit.
The opportunity
To move from reactive support to strategic enablement, a unified operational architecture was developed to manage research projects from intake to insight. The goal was to establish repeatable processes that supported consistency, accountability, and visibility—while minimizing friction. The system needed to work across research types, adapt to both centralized and embedded models, and support fast-paced environments.
Solution overview

The operational model was anchored in lifecycle stages — intake, planning, execution, closeout, and knowledge sharing — each underpinned by tools and automation to reduce manual overhead and improve transparency.

01
Standardized intake & prioritization

A dynamic intake form was connected to a Jira kanban board, automatically categorizing incoming requests and populating them with key project metadata. Requesters received automated status updates and visibility into next steps, which created a predictable intake process and supported structured prioritization conversations across teams.

02
Centralized visibility & dashboards

Custom dashboards powered by Jira automation displayed live project status, researcher bandwidth, work by product area, and volume over time. These insights enabled more informed resourcing decisions, identified bottlenecks early, and supported advocacy for team capacity.

03
Integrated project management workflows

Templates and workflows were created to support projects of varying complexity — from short usability testing to longer-form generative research. Each included guidance around timelines, stakeholders, and decision points, helping align scope with execution expectations and reducing inconsistencies.

04
Knowledge capture & closeout

A standardized closeout process ensured metadata and research outputs were pushed into a centralized archive. This simplified future knowledge retrieval, reduced duplicative research, and supported long-term insight reuse. Researchers were prompted to document essential information before shifting focus to new work.

05
Governance & cross-functional alignment

The lifecycle included touchpoints with Legal, Security, Procurement, and Compliance, ensuring research adhered to privacy and ethical standards. These embedded reviews minimized risk and streamlined approval processes for new tools, vendors, and participant management workflows.