Visualization tool – Sanne Aarts    Challenge As a strategic marketer working at an international bank in The Netherlands, I was  asked to create a vision on how money management will look like in the next 5 to 10 years.  Will we still have actual banks, or do we only have our smartphone on which we will manage  all our money? Or is it not even on a smartphone, but through virtual reality, were you talk to  you virtual assistant, who will tell you were to invest your money today and if you can budget  on your grocery shopping this week? And are banks the only ‘money management players’ in  the market by then, or will other industries also provide banking as a service? For example a  telco company, or a newly started fintech? A very difficult challenge, because basically, we  need a glass ball to see in the future! But we need to think about this, to be able to choose  what our position will be in that new world of money management.     Selection I chose to use the visualization tool, to help create a vision on the future of money  management. Why? Because this challenge calls for more than logic. I need a tool that can  give me insights in possibilities that aren’t yet possible now. Next to that, a vision is always  hard to put into words, in such a way, that all stakeholders interpret it the same way. And since  a strategic vision needs to be approved by multiple stakeholders, that is a real challenge. It is  easier to visualize it through a drawing, pictures, etc. That is why the visualization tool feels  like the right tool to use in this case.     Application For me it was important to make sure all possible knowledge on the money  management field would be present when working with the visualization tool. I wanted to make  sure we have all aspects of the business together, when working on this vision. For example:  a marketer, a financial planner, a behavioral scientist, a user experience specialist. With this  small team, we tried to work out a shared vision on money management in 2025. We started  with research (exploration as Angela Meyer calls it) on how the customer experience  should/would be like when thinking about managing your money in the future. We discussed  possible customer journeys on managing your money and used drawing boards to visualize  this, to gain consensus of what we all meant by that. After that, we started to identify patterns:  do we have a shared idea on how money management will be done in the future? What are  common components in our visualizations? What have we learned from all our ideas and  research? And after this, we worked on some prototypes, to really make those shared ideas  come to live.     Insight A very important lesson for me in using the visualization tool, is that you don’t have to  be creative to take a visual approach on a challenge. We were all afraid to draw what we were  thinking, but even though the drawing of the ideas were not really accurate yet, it helped us in  the thinking process on what we all mean. It helped us in gaining a shared understanding of  how we see the money management world in 2025. Maybe the ‘bad’ visualizations even helped  us the most, because it forces you to discuss what we all see, and why. That was really  effective, because automatically, you are thinking outside the box, which is necessary when  making a vision. It really helped me to get a better understanding of the context.     Approach Next time, I would definitely also use the visualization tool in creating a vision. I find  it most valuable to use, when you have a problem and/or solution that is difficult to put into  words. A visualization is something that can be interpreted in only one way and that was  necessary in this specific challenge. It helped us in showing our stakeholders what the money  management world is going to be like in 2025 and how our role as an international bank can  be.


Visualization tool – Sanne Aarts Challenge As a strategic marketer working at an international bank in The Netherlands , I was asked to create a vision on how money management will look like in the next 5 to 10 years . Will we still have actual banks , or do we only have our smartphone on which we will manage all our money ? Or is it not even on a smartphone , but through virtual reality , were you talk to you virtual assistant , who will tell you were to invest your money today and if you can budget on your grocery shopping this week ? And are banks the only ‘ money management players ’ in the market by then , or will other industries also provide banking as a service ? For example a telco company , or a newly started fintech ? A very difficult challenge , because basically , we need a glass ball to see in the future ! But we need to think about this , to be able to choose what our position will be in that new world of money management . Selection I chose to use the visualization tool , to help create a vision on the future of money management . Why ? Because this challenge calls for more than logic . I need a tool that can give me insights in possibilities that are n’t yet possible now . Next to that , a vision is always hard to put into words , in such a way , that all stakeholders interpret it the same way . And since a strategic vision needs to be approved by multiple stakeholders , that is a real challenge . It is easier to visualize it through a drawing , pictures , etc . That is why the visualization tool feels like the right tool to use in this case . Application For me it was important to make sure all possible knowledge on the money management field would be present when working with the visualization tool . I wanted to make sure we have all aspects of the business together , when working on this vision . For example : a marketer , a financial planner , a behavioral scientist , a user experience specialist . With this small team , we tried to work out a shared vision on money management in 2025 . We started with research ( exploration as Angela Meyer calls it ) on how the customer experience should / would be like when thinking about managing your money in the future . We discussed possible customer journeys on managing your money and used drawing boards to visualize this , to gain consensus of what we all meant by that . After that , we started to identify patterns : do we have a shared idea on how money management will be done in the future ? What are common components in our visualizations ? What have we learned from all our ideas and research ? And after this , we worked on some prototypes , to really make those shared ideas come to live . Insight A very important lesson for me in using the visualization tool , is that you do n’t have to be creative to take a visual approach on a challenge . We were all afraid to draw what we were thinking , but even though the drawing of the ideas were not really accurate yet , it helped us in the thinking process on what we all mean . It helped us in gaining a shared understanding of how we see the money management world in 2025 . Maybe the ‘ bad ’ visualizations even helped us the most , because it forces you to discuss what we all see , and why . That was really effective , because automatically , you are thinking outside the box , which is necessary when making a vision . It really helped me to get a better understanding of the context . Approach Next time , I would definitely also use the visualization tool in creating a vision . I find it most valuable to use , when you have a problem and/or solution that is difficult to put into words . A visualization is something that can be interpreted in only one way and that was necessary in this specific challenge . It helped us in showing our stakeholders what the money management world is going to be like in 2025 and how our role as an international bank can be .