Led The Transformation Of Walmart's Flagship Analytics Platform, Synthesizing 800 Customer Points And Establishing a V.O.C Program.

Executive Summary

I led a Voice-of-the-Customer (VOC) effort that drove a complete overhaul of Walmart's flagship data analytics platform, Report Builder, by synthesizing 800 customer insights into actionable job stories (using the JTBD Framework). Through collaboration with cross-functional teams, we developed a prioritized roadmap that balanced user pain points, existing development work, and key business objectives. This work shifted the organization to a customer-first approach, elevated Research maturity, and established Research as an early-stage strategic partner.

The Challenge

Walmart faced dissatisfaction with Report Builder, an internal data analytics platform used by merchants and sales teams to track sales performance and inventory levels. Product feedback was scattered across multiple channels, leaving the team trapped in a cycle of reactive fixes. This jeopardized customer retention and eroded trust in an organization where users have come to expect data accuracy and user-friendly tools.

Account Management (AM) engaged Research after suppliers expressed frustration that their product feedback disappeared without action. This eroded supplier trust and threatened valuable supplier relationships that are critical to Walmart’s success.

To address this, I partnered with AM to show our product team how addressing this feedback would improve supplier satisfaction and retention.

My Role

  • Feedback Analysis & Synthesis

  • Jobs-to-be-Done Framework

  • Facilitating Workshops

  • Feature Prioritization

  • Stakeholder Interviews

  • Journey Mapping

Collaborated With

  • 4 Product Managers

  • 6 Account Managers

  • 3 Data Scientists

  • 2 Product Leaders

  • 2 Designers

  • 1 UX Researcher

Timing

  • 4 Weeks

My Approach

I synthesized 800+ items from multiple sources (Airtable, Facebook, Support Tickets) into 20 focused job stories across 5 key themes. I collaborated with a designer who had 2 years of deep product experience with Report Builder, leveraging her expertise to validate themes, refine synthesis, and ensure job stories accurately reflected user needs and historical context. I created a prioritization framework that identified high-impact opportunities while structuring job stories to connect product feedback with user goals. This approach enabled cross-functional collaboration and established parallel work streams for quick wins and redesign efforts.

Through facilitation, I brought engineering and product teams together to validate technical feasibility and align on roadmap timing. In leading this workstream, I improved my skills in cross-functional influence, strategic negotiation, and prioritization, which were instrumental in facilitating organizational change management.

Themes

The feedback was organized into five key themes: Technical & Data Issues, Data Analysis, Report Management & Sharing, Legibility & Discoverability, Education & Support.

Applying Research Rigor

We combined thematic coding and affinity mapping to analyze 800+ feedback items into job stories linked to our original user concerns. This approach gave our partners confidence that our recommendations were grounded in verifiable data.

Collaborative Prioritization

I led cross-functional workshops to prioritize job stories based on business impact, user need, and feasibility. This enabled the team to surface and address areas of agreement/disagreement, and build consensus on the final prioritized stories.

RoadMap Planning

After, I facilitated a series of workshops that combined existing roadmap items with the job stories, prioritizing quick wins along with long-term improvements to establish a strategic roadmap for Report Builder.

Impact

  • $250MM Business Growth Support: This positioned Report Builder as critical to the growth of Walmart's $250MM data analytics business. And, this work became a pivotal asset during supplier contract negotiations.

  • 3X Adoption: This framework became the organizational standard, with 3 other teams implementing the process.

  • 95% Stakeholder Alignment: Cross-functional workshops achieved 95% agreement on priorities.

  • Building Trust: We addressed critical issues that were undermining confidence, and transformed Report Builder to a tool that could be relied on for critical decisions.