The Department of Experience Design and Management (ExDM) at the BYU Marriott School of Business has found a friend in FamilySearch—a nonprofit organization that offers genealogical records, education, and software to users aiming to connect with their roots. Last May, ExDM students showcased innovative, experience-focused product demos to FamilySearch executives, garnering high praise and paving the way for a promising long-term collaboration.
Students enrolled in EXDM 415: Experience-Centric Management partner with a real-world company for an immersive consulting experience. Taught by associate professor Camilla Hodge, the winter 2024 class honed their project management skills by creating business solutions for FamilySearch through experience design.
Savannah Travis, a senior from Visalia, California, and Emmy Pykles, a senior from Bountiful, Utah, along with their teammates Kimberlyn Yellowhair (Monument Valley, Utah), Maddie Mitchell (Santaquin, Utah), and Ellie Rhoades (Apex, North Carolina), were tasked with incorporating family history into study abroad programs. Together, they wrestled with the challenge of designing a product that would be applicable to all students, regardless of ancestry.
With a stroke of inspiration, the team realized a study abroad program’s focus is strongly influenced by instructors. The aspiring experience designers leveraged this new angle to craft a presentation that portrayed FamilySearch’s existing products as tools in a virtual toolbox for faculty looking to incorporate family history into study abroad curricula.
At the semester’s end, students presented their projects to FamilySearch leadership, including senior vice president Brad Lowder, earning audible oohs, aahs, and hallelujahs for what they had prototyped in just four months. “It was one of the defining experiences of my major to present our semester’s work to a real company and see their excitement about the value of experience design,” Travis says.
The FamilySearch leadership were so impressed that they invited several teams to present their work the following month to company executives, CEO Stephen T. Rockwood, and Elder Kevin S. Hamilton, general authority seventy and executive director of the Church’s Family History Department.
After the presentations, the executives discussed next steps in furthering the students’ projects and future collaborations. Since the meeting, FamilySearch has launched one of the student teams’ designs, even promoting the new resource at the FamilySearch booth during the 2024 Together in Christ Utah Area YSA Conference.
Travis recalls an executive’s remark that FamilySearch and ExDM are “a match made in heaven.” Pykles agrees, noting that “ExDM is all about human-centered problem-solving, and FamilySearch has a mission that’s completely human-centric.”
Hodge expressed immense pride in her students’ achievements—both technically and spiritually. “The work of these teams was of professional caliber,” she says. “I believe there was an added measure of value because students were tackling problems related to the work of gathering Israel and building up the kingdom of God.”
Pykles appreciates that the skills developed in the course—including attention to detail, team balance, and awareness of diverse audiences—are needed for all organizations. She concludes, “There is a place for experience design in every business and in every area of life.”
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Written by Kathryn Cragun