THE SITUATION

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Customers told us... “We have the right solutions in place to dominate. What we miss is a user interface... and intuitive user experiences.”

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We had problems. Big problems.  Disrupters were gaining traction. Consumer expectations were changing rapidly. And, we were standing in our own way with a incoherent design system across our retail banking products.  The bar was set high.  Now what?  We believed we could ignite movement in the company if we could commit to a world class experience, collaborate like we never have, align on a shared vision, and set the bar for digital banking. 

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OUR APPROACH

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We engaged every function in the division get input. To get buy-in.  To inspire.  We held review sessions with executives.  We stopped people in the halls and told them our story, leaving every conversation more invigorated than the last.  We left sticky notes on every surface... in the wake of invigorating a division towards change.  We had to change.  We had to adopt a different approach to retail banking.  To serving our clients. To meeting their customers needs. 

 

Post design sessions, we created a fully functional prototype and tested it with users, using their actual banking data.  We learned what needed to change, updated the prototype and tested again.  And, then updated the prototype one last time.  

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THE RESULT

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The prototype went in front of the board and later premiered in our investor day presentation as one of the six reasons our investors should be really excited to invest in us.  The current CTO of the company returned with high-fives for the team celebrating what he thought was the most flawless demo he'd ever given. Beautiful. Functional. Just exactly what we needed. 

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The end... 

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Only... that wasn't the end...we fought the onslaught of budget cuts, competitive shifts in the market, risk aversion, and more.  While these designs finally reached the backlog, we fell short of changing the culture.

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The big lesson in this experience holds the answer to why some product visions never see the light of day. And, it's this knowledge that I can offer any company looking to push the boundaries. Any company looking to reset or rethink their current position.  And... then pull it off.