Challenge

I work for a financial organization as a consultant/coach and currently support a team that deals  with helping clients finance commercial vehicles, in their business name/capacity. We have seen a  sharp decline in the sales numbers, specifically for entrepreneurial clients. Through research, these  clients have told us they do not have the time to call in at a branch and complete all the documents  to apply for the commercial vehicle asset finance and would like to apply for this when they have the  time, and on the channel or platform of their choice and would like a simpler user-friendly solution.  After all, they are already our clients and we have their information on hand. The project team are  full-time employed, so they are 100% committed in terms of time allocation. They have been  allocated the support of a technical team that will assist with the development of the solution when  they are ready. The scope of the project is to look at creating a digital application platform and  redesigning the process flow of the back-end work. This also stresses commercial viability, with the  intent of creating a digital platform with a straight through process, speed of approval and deal  closure and more digital traffic and interest. The team needs to understand the client friction or pain  points so that whatever the solution they come up with, addresses these.

Selection

The team has already undertaken some design thinking exercises, using various tools, as well as  done some research with customers. They have also mapped out the process flows, from a customer  perspective to understood what some of the pain points are that clients are experiencing and being  frustrated by. The learning launch tool is the ideal next approach for the team as it will allow them to  run some quick tests, in the real world, on ideas or prototypes that they have in mind. Right now, it’s  about learning fast and testing their ideas or hypotheses. In the Carsten Ho video, he clearly stated  that the “purpose of a learning launch is to get to the truth, to either confirm or disconfirm your  assumptions”.

Application

As the team kicked off their initial learning launch, they focused on testing with users a mock-up  design of an app, for a hand-held device, that allowed entrepreneurial clients the ability to apply for  their commercial finance. They were testing the assumption that this was how these clients wanted  to do this and also the process of doing the application. They thought they had a great solution and  were bullish about putting this in front of clients. As they engaged with clients (still online via teams  because of covid), they were very taken aback as this assumption was challenged or disproved. Yes,  clients wanted to apply for the finance themselves, but they didn’t want a separate app to do this,  they wanted to see it integrated in their current banking app – so they use a single sign-on and they  have a finance application tile to take them to the process. Other clients wanted to be able do this  through their online banking and do this via their laptop/desktop and not on a handheld device. In  addition to this, the clients also gave them feedback around a few additional features that they  thought would be pertinent in this solution. An incredible lesson for the team was learn quick, fail  fast and cheap.

The team took the learnings away and incorporated these into another iteration of this reviewed  process. They also learnt not to take the feedback personally but rather consider it a valuable review  to allow them to refine their work. For their next learning launch, they used a refined mock-up of

their solution and had created both an app option and an online banking option so they could test  the client’s choice of platform as well. They incorporated herein some of the additional features and  refined flows, that the clients had recommended. Having these two options available allowed them  to validate their refined assumption of where clients wanted to apply for their finance. This also  validated that clients wanted to do it themselves. This really identified that the clients had a burning  need and that they would be willing to use their solution – asking when it would go live. This  validated for the team that this solution was much better than the current in-branch application  process.

This process of learning for the team is still ongoing and there are more learning launches planned.  This component of rapid learning and testing has been welcomed by the team and they are currently  iterating on their solution again so they can test with clients.

Insight

We perceive ourselves to be client centric, but unless we are challenged and go through learning  interventions like the learning launch, we do not see the world clearly or through the eyes of our  clients/users. The learning launch tool allowed us as a team to really connect deeper with our  clients/users by testing our assumptions with them. It may be uncomfortable to have assumptions  “disproven” in the beginning, but as we go away and analyse the output, we see and gain the true  value. This also allows us to see that we are not designing for ourselves, but rather for those that we  really want to use our solution to solve for a real problem or pain point. We should also not take  anything personally but rather see the true value in the feedback. The learning launch tool has  brought that value to me/us and also shown that its better to fail fast and learn quickly. The failure  component is where the magic of the learning happens. I addition to this we received feedback from  clients as to what they really wanted to see in the solution. This in itself is priceless and has  contributed to additional learning launches the team will commit to and will ensure that we embed  this approach in future projects. These insights allow us to me more effective. Design thinking opens  up a world of allowing us to think differently, offers us a vast array of tools to support and challenge  ow we do things, and let’s us see that people are open to us testing concepts or ideas that are  roughly put together – we do not need to spend the money first – its about testing and learning and  refining. We will only do product design when we have done the learning and the testing.,

Approach

One of the things that I might consider in the approach before we do anything else is applying the  mind mapping tool/approach to us as the team, to help us work through the great amount of  systemic data collected by the team. This would need to be right at the beginning of a project  though as it really just helps us organise the data and see patterns and insights. Because of the  nature of what we are solving for though, I believe that the learning launch tool really was/is the  best for us to apply. Everything learned from the initial learning launches have realised some great  insights and we will continue to refine, with these learnings, what assumptions, or truths we want to  validate or disprove. After all, we want our client to use our solution because it meets their need to  solve their specific problem. If there is any else I may do, it may be working on ensuring we prepare  good open ended questions to ask during our learning launch, to get those deep insights from our  valuable clients.


Challenge I work for a financial organization as a consultant / coach and currently support a team that deals with helping clients finance commercial vehicles , in their business name / capacity . We have seen a sharp decline in the sales numbers , specifically for entrepreneurial clients . Through research , these clients have told us they do not have the time to call in at a branch and complete all the documents to apply for the commercial vehicle asset finance and would like to apply for this when they have the time , and on the channel or platform of their choice and would like a simpler user - friendly solution . After all , they are already our clients and we have their information on hand . The project team are full - time employed , so they are 100 % committed in terms of time allocation . They have been allocated the support of a technical team that will assist with the development of the solution when they are ready . The scope of the project is to look at creating a digital application platform and redesigning the process flow of the back - end work . This also stresses commercial viability , with the intent of creating a digital platform with a straight through process , speed of approval and deal closure and more digital traffic and interest . The team needs to understand the client friction or pain points so that whatever the solution they come up with , addresses these . Selection The team has already undertaken some design thinking exercises , using various tools , as well as done some research with customers . They have also mapped out the process flows , from a customer perspective to understood what some of the pain points are that clients are experiencing and being frustrated by . The learning launch tool is the ideal next approach for the team as it will allow them to run some quick tests , in the real world , on ideas or prototypes that they have in mind . Right now , it ’s about learning fast and testing their ideas or hypotheses . In the Carsten Ho video , he clearly stated that the “ purpose of a learning launch is to get to the truth , to either confirm or disconfirm your assumptions ” . Application As the team kicked off their initial learning launch , they focused on testing with users a mock - up design of an app , for a hand - held device , that allowed entrepreneurial clients the ability to apply for their commercial finance . They were testing the assumption that this was how these clients wanted to do this and also the process of doing the application . They thought they had a great solution and were bullish about putting this in front of clients . As they engaged with clients ( still online via teams because of covid ) , they were very taken aback as this assumption was challenged or disproved . Yes , clients wanted to apply for the finance themselves , but they did n’t want a separate app to do this , they wanted to see it integrated in their current banking app – so they use a single sign - on and they have a finance application tile to take them to the process . Other clients wanted to be able do this through their online banking and do this via their laptop / desktop and not on a handheld device . In addition to this , the clients also gave them feedback around a few additional features that they thought would be pertinent in this solution . An incredible lesson for the team was learn quick , fail fast and cheap . The team took the learnings away and incorporated these into another iteration of this reviewed process . They also learnt not to take the feedback personally but rather consider it a valuable review to allow them to refine their work . For their next learning launch , they used a refined mock - up of their solution and had created both an app option and an online banking option so they could test the client ’s choice of platform as well . They incorporated herein some of the additional features and refined flows , that the clients had recommended . Having these two options available allowed them to validate their refined assumption of where clients wanted to apply for their finance . This also validated that clients wanted to do it themselves . This really identified that the clients had a burning need and that they would be willing to use their solution – asking when it would go live . This validated for the team that this solution was much better than the current in - branch application process . This process of learning for the team is still ongoing and there are more learning launches planned . This component of rapid learning and testing has been welcomed by the team and they are currently iterating on their solution again so they can test with clients . Insight We perceive ourselves to be client centric , but unless we are challenged and go through learning interventions like the learning launch , we do not see the world clearly or through the eyes of our clients / users . The learning launch tool allowed us as a team to really connect deeper with our clients / users by testing our assumptions with them . It may be uncomfortable to have assumptions “ disproven ” in the beginning , but as we go away and analyse the output , we see and gain the true value . This also allows us to see that we are not designing for ourselves , but rather for those that we really want to use our solution to solve for a real problem or pain point . We should also not take anything personally but rather see the true value in the feedback . The learning launch tool has brought that value to me / us and also shown that its better to fail fast and learn quickly . The failure component is where the magic of the learning happens . I addition to this we received feedback from clients as to what they really wanted to see in the solution . This in itself is priceless and has contributed to additional learning launches the team will commit to and will ensure that we embed this approach in future projects . These insights allow us to me more effective . Design thinking opens up a world of allowing us to think differently , offers us a vast array of tools to support and challenge ow we do things , and let ’s us see that people are open to us testing concepts or ideas that are roughly put together – we do not need to spend the money first – its about testing and learning and refining . We will only do product design when we have done the learning and the testing . , Approach One of the things that I might consider in the approach before we do anything else is applying the mind mapping tool / approach to us as the team , to help us work through the great amount of systemic data collected by the team . This would need to be right at the beginning of a project though as it really just helps us organise the data and see patterns and insights . Because of the nature of what we are solving for though , I believe that the learning launch tool really was / is the best for us to apply . Everything learned from the initial learning launches have realised some great insights and we will continue to refine , with these learnings , what assumptions , or truths we want to validate or disprove . After all , we want our client to use our solution because it meets their need to solve their specific problem . If there is any else I may do , it may be working on ensuring we prepare good open ended questions to ask during our learning launch , to get those deep insights from our valuable clients .