Dear (none)Designer,
Welcome back to the tenth Design at Scale™ Newsletter – focusing on innovation and how design drives change in a large organisation or an agency.
This month, we will look at how design at scale helps manage the crisis in the finance and energy sectors.
In both situations, the reputational damage in public perception is a first instance to which organisations relate the most to manage the expectation and drive a positive outcome, regardless of what is happening behind the scenes.
We often hear that companies are setting up crisis centres to organise the disaster evacuation and ensure the health and safety of humankind. One would think we'll never find a designer there.
I had the opportunity to partner with clients facing less favourable situations and hire agencies to manage their crises. No TV stories, no big titles in the favourite newspaper, no images in the press or social media. We are discussing "the actions and reactions" specific to the public domain of the website, platform or an interactive tool.
Tools and propositions that need to be relaunched, updated, and amended within a short period of time. Not only to communicate a positive message and mitigate the damage, but mainly to provide as much relevant information as possible to the people in need, aiming to bring this situation to an end, where feasible. The rapid iteration of storytelling with a visual narrative requires processing the accuracy of the data provided to the final audience.
Without spending much time on the companies that faced these challenges, let's focus primarily on the process where designers helped the most to unwrap, standardise and present a consistent message that led to addressing the problem but providing an actionable solution.
It's well known that every business has its KYCs – also known as Know Your Customer. These elaborative materials often include the fictive name, family, income, desires, purchasing power and how the "C" customer will benefit the business. Less frequently, we see that these pieces of evidence maintain – how do we train the customer if s/he loses everything based on company actions or circumstances? What service do we provide? How do we care for our loyal customers, who have contributed to the business's success over the decades, and how do we rebuild the "prosperous" relationship we once had?
After the crisis, we have interviewed several hundred customers, and after thorough analysis, we have started seeing some patterns. Everyone was seeking clarity, but the majority was aware not of the immediate future but of the long-term investments.
Working closely with a financial specialist made me realise there is so much where design can help in banking, especially in understanding and the numbers (hidden) fees, but mainly in the context of the situation, rebuilding once damaged trust.
Our team has automated over 10,000 responses to small businesses. On a daily and weekly basis, we inform them about the status of changes, their impact on savings, and, more importantly, how to run their business during crises best. Helping people in need is not a duty, it's a gift. Seeing all our respondents getting back on their feeds and starting to continue the journey they once started was fantastic.
That's all for this edition!
I hope these insights were valuable and sparked new ideas for scaling your design propositions, and remember the journey from concept to widespread impact is a shared one, and your experiences are invaluable. Keep experimenting, keep learning, and stay tuned for our next newsletter, featuring more strategies and success stories from our incredible community.
Happy scaling!
J+
