Prototyping a new savings product - Learning Launch

Challenge

When I worked as a product developer for a retail bank, we were faced with the fact  that customers preferred for their retirement savings a standard savings account over  investment funds because with the former they were guaranteed not to lose any  money. However, the bank wanted to increase the part of savings invested in  investment funds because it immobilized less equity (lower cost of capital) and  yielded more profits.

The idea to be tested with customers was a new hybrid approach where you combine a  savings account with investment funds in a single package, trying to sell a  combination of these two investment vehicles based on a certain amount to be saved –  the customer’s goal - until retirement.

Selection

Since we didn’t know how to present this new package to the customers and wanted to  include them in the innovation process, we chose a prototyping and co-creation  approach, which is similar to a learning launch scenario.

It consisted of putting together a simplified first version of the product offering. We  would then present this prototype to potential customers, collect their feedback,  allowing them to make suggestions for improvements. After a brief period of product  adjustments, we would then present the improved version to the same customers again  but also to new customers in order to assess its appeal.

In essence, the learning launch was selected because it allowed for fast hypothesis  testing about customer preferences and involving customers in the design process.

Application

When designing the first version of the hybrid savings solution, we tried to imagine  ourselves being the target customer interested in saving for her retirement. This gave  us objective as well as subjective needs, pains to be relieved and expected gains. From  these, we derived the product features and put them together in a presentation using  text, graphics and examples and discussed the prototype with 32 potential customers in  4 group interviews.

In the 3 weeks phase until the next customer interaction, we used the collected  feedback to improve the value proposition. The main improvement was to create a  tablet computer app which would allow us to reduce the perceived complexity of the  hybrid savings solution while maintaining the much appreciated flexibility.

In the second learning launch, we used the app to present the product to customers,  allowing them to experience the new savings product in an interactive and playful  way.

I think the learning launch tool was successfully used because the perceived  attractiveness of the product improved substantially when comparing the results of the  two customer interaction phases.

Insight

Most importantly, I learned that there exist creative ways to solve seemingly  impossible puzzles – in our case, how to increased perceived simplicity of the product  while maintaining the flexibility the customer also demands. The challenge was  therefore less about a new savings products than about empowering the customer,  allowing her to visualize and play with her saving for retirement project through an  app.

Approach

Faced with a similar challenge, I would involve customers even more in the initial  design step, not presenting them an already existing prototype but working with a few  individuals and observing how they go about retirement saving, what their real  concerns, pains and expected gains are. This would have resulted in a far more  convincing first prototype I believe. The time saved could have been used for creating  better customer value or to speed up the design process.

