Design Thinking:  A way to leverage digital transformation on credit  unions in Latin America

Challenge  For the last three years, I’ve working with credit unions in Latin America to leverage their digital  transformation.  Most of these organizations have born as local and very little, their leaders and manager  are usually people with very limited formation and skills.

But, some of them grow and become as important and complex as a traditional local bank.  In this process  they tend to lose their AND:  the main objective of credit unions is to empower their associates, give them  a feeling of community and has the sensibility of their needs as persons that are immerse into their  families, their little business, their jobs.

So, the challenge is to design digital solutions that must resolve many of the internal complexity of credit,  investments and saving banking process meanwhile it preserves and reinforce the credit union and that  sense of engagement and attachment.

Selection  I did select Storytelling.

It seems to me the most appropriate tool because the challenge of Credit Unions is to build and keep  strong connections with their customers.

Credit Unions are quite different to typical banks.  A customer of a credit union demands a personalized  communication, thy expect to be known as individuals.

The use of Storytelling – it was my hypothesis – would rebuild a personal connection between the  employees and the customer.  It would help to create an emotional attachment.

Rather than think in generic ideas o solution, the personification of customers in all their dimensions will  leverage a real digital transformation where the solutions will be oriented to create value to the  customer.

Storytelling it’s a great tool to understand and discover relevant insights to improve the customer  experience and generate real value.

Application

The “what is” question  For this phase we use Customer Persona, Collage and Customer Journey Maps.

We move a relevant group or people to a big open space (no chairs, just cushion on the floor) and we  introduce them the concepts of the tools, we illustrated with one of two examples using the tell story  format, we developed a little example and them, we let the participants work.

Usually we have at least four teams of four members each one and they have the assignment to build a  Customer Persona Profile.  It’s is amazing the quantity and the quality of useful information that is  collected.

Then, every team has to expose to the other teams their Customer Persona in order to get feedback.

The next assignment for each team is to locate three people (actual customers) that fulfill – reasonably-  the Customer Persona and using the Collage technique to build and Empathy Map.

The next step is to use these insights to build the actual Customer Journey Map.  Because the feelings  are the main stone of the Customer Journey, those previous activities give them a perfect background to  perform a high-quality job.

And we finish this phase with a curate activity to identify a minimum of three and a maximum of five  common problems that our final customers have.

At the end, we have and excellent knowledge of the current situation that let us to continue with the  next phase.

The “what if” question  For this phase, we use the common problems that we identified previously and we rearrange our teams.   Using post-if in a very big blackboard we start to receive ideas and make a previous classification.

We use also the personification technique, where one of the members of another team has to assume  the role of one of the customer personas and give feedback about each one of the ideas.

Together, we decide how many ideas are we going to consider to build a new ideal Customer Journey  Map.

The “what wow” question  In this phase, the teams build a new customer journey map and they incorporate the preselect ideas.

We encourage the use of all the preselected and qualified ideas in this new customer journey map.

We use many pictures for the creation and at the end it must be possible to write a fluent story that  describes each activity, felling of the customer and also the felling of the people in charge to interact  with the customer.

We use mockups in those cases where it is required interaction, for physical spaces and for digital tools.

Once the new customer journey is built and we have the support material (stories and mockups). We  initiate another discovery activity with a customer focus group for a final validation.

We prefer the implementation of ideas the requires one month or least to implement, because it allows  us to verify.

The “what works” question  We implement the idea and start the follow up activities in order to get feedback.  Sometimes we have  to introduce minor adjustments, but in other cases, we decide to change or archive the idea.

Every time we confirm success, we communicate it to all the organization using very positive messages  and giving a small gift to the members of the teams.  The use of patch with phrases as “I’m part or the  team that made it possible” has given us great satisfaction.

Insight  The use of Storytelling gave more than I expected.

It not only let us design in an incremental way real value solution that were validated by real customers.

But, probably the must relevant thing, I learned that I can get better results if I use the knowledge and  skills or the internal people.  The traditional approach to digital transformation is the implementation of  “best practices” to optimize the process in terms of time and cost but not necessary since the customer  experience perspective.

Using Storytelling let us to get a deep comprehension of what is important for the customer and how  can an organization as a credit union, design and orchestrate internally with the support of digital tools  beautiful and very different solutions to gain fidelity, satisfaction and engagement.

Approach  Next time I would like to emphasis in the concept of “value generation” and less in technology.

When I started, I had and objective:  to find the best way to introduce digital tools to improve the customer  experience.  But I did realize that technology is just on piece of this kind of integral solutions.  In many  cases, the support of technology was marginal, and the insights and ideas not necessarily required  technology changes.

I also would like to have teens with more diverse people.  The teens I defined were selected by silos or  departments.  During the activities of the “what if”, if was absolutely evident the great value and richness  of the insights and ideas that emerged of the interaction of people of different areas, skills and formation.

I would be nice if I convince the top manager to participate just as spectators because some of them were  skeptical.  They have doubts and fears that did affect the confidence of the teams.

And I would like to work with more support material, more colors, more sketches, more graphics, more  things to release people creativity.


Design Thinking : A way to leverage digital transformation on credit unions in Latin America Challenge For the last three years , I ’ve working with credit unions in Latin America to leverage their digital transformation . Most of these organizations have born as local and very little , their leaders and manager are usually people with very limited formation and skills . But , some of them grow and become as important and complex as a traditional local bank . In this process they tend to lose their AND : the main objective of credit unions is to empower their associates , give them a feeling of community and has the sensibility of their needs as persons that are immerse into their families , their little business , their jobs . So , the challenge is to design digital solutions that must resolve many of the internal complexity of credit , investments and saving banking process meanwhile it preserves and reinforce the credit union and that sense of engagement and attachment . Selection I did select Storytelling . It seems to me the most appropriate tool because the challenge of Credit Unions is to build and keep strong connections with their customers . Credit Unions are quite different to typical banks . A customer of a credit union demands a personalized communication , thy expect to be known as individuals . The use of Storytelling – it was my hypothesis – would rebuild a personal connection between the employees and the customer . It would help to create an emotional attachment . Rather than think in generic ideas o solution , the personification of customers in all their dimensions will leverage a real digital transformation where the solutions will be oriented to create value to the customer . Storytelling it ’s a great tool to understand and discover relevant insights to improve the customer experience and generate real value . Application The “ what is ” question For this phase we use Customer Persona , Collage and Customer Journey Maps . We move a relevant group or people to a big open space ( no chairs , just cushion on the floor ) and we introduce them the concepts of the tools , we illustrated with one of two examples using the tell story format , we developed a little example and them , we let the participants work . Usually we have at least four teams of four members each one and they have the assignment to build a Customer Persona Profile . It ’s is amazing the quantity and the quality of useful information that is collected . Then , every team has to expose to the other teams their Customer Persona in order to get feedback . The next assignment for each team is to locate three people ( actual customers ) that fulfill – reasonably- the Customer Persona and using the Collage technique to build and Empathy Map . The next step is to use these insights to build the actual Customer Journey Map . Because the feelings are the main stone of the Customer Journey , those previous activities give them a perfect background to perform a high - quality job . And we finish this phase with a curate activity to identify a minimum of three and a maximum of five common problems that our final customers have . At the end , we have and excellent knowledge of the current situation that let us to continue with the next phase . The “ what if ” question For this phase , we use the common problems that we identified previously and we rearrange our teams . Using post - if in a very big blackboard we start to receive ideas and make a previous classification . We use also the personification technique , where one of the members of another team has to assume the role of one of the customer personas and give feedback about each one of the ideas . Together , we decide how many ideas are we going to consider to build a new ideal Customer Journey Map . The “ what wow ” question In this phase , the teams build a new customer journey map and they incorporate the preselect ideas . We encourage the use of all the preselected and qualified ideas in this new customer journey map . We use many pictures for the creation and at the end it must be possible to write a fluent story that describes each activity , felling of the customer and also the felling of the people in charge to interact with the customer . We use mockups in those cases where it is required interaction , for physical spaces and for digital tools . Once the new customer journey is built and we have the support material ( stories and mockups ) . We initiate another discovery activity with a customer focus group for a final validation . We prefer the implementation of ideas the requires one month or least to implement , because it allows us to verify . The “ what works ” question We implement the idea and start the follow up activities in order to get feedback . Sometimes we have to introduce minor adjustments , but in other cases , we decide to change or archive the idea . Every time we confirm success , we communicate it to all the organization using very positive messages and giving a small gift to the members of the teams . The use of patch with phrases as “ I ’m part or the team that made it possible ” has given us great satisfaction . Insight The use of Storytelling gave more than I expected . It not only let us design in an incremental way real value solution that were validated by real customers . But , probably the must relevant thing , I learned that I can get better results if I use the knowledge and skills or the internal people . The traditional approach to digital transformation is the implementation of “ best practices ” to optimize the process in terms of time and cost but not necessary since the customer experience perspective . Using Storytelling let us to get a deep comprehension of what is important for the customer and how can an organization as a credit union , design and orchestrate internally with the support of digital tools beautiful and very different solutions to gain fidelity , satisfaction and engagement . Approach Next time I would like to emphasis in the concept of “ value generation ” and less in technology . When I started , I had and objective : to find the best way to introduce digital tools to improve the customer experience . But I did realize that technology is just on piece of this kind of integral solutions . In many cases , the support of technology was marginal , and the insights and ideas not necessarily required technology changes . I also would like to have teens with more diverse people . The teens I defined were selected by silos or departments . During the activities of the “ what if ” , if was absolutely evident the great value and richness of the insights and ideas that emerged of the interaction of people of different areas , skills and formation . I would be nice if I convince the top manager to participate just as spectators because some of them were skeptical . They have doubts and fears that did affect the confidence of the teams . And I would like to work with more support material , more colors , more sketches , more graphics , more things to release people creativity .