The methodology and benefits of Design Thinking have been well documented. However, instituting human-centric design and iterative problem solving in a large, global organization like Citi is no easy task. It requires senior management support, the right organizational structure, collaborative office environments, and the right tools and processes to prototype and test ideas with customers.
With deep experience in building and managing high-performing teams, Billy embarked on a journey of transformation at Citi. He reorganized his global team into multiple “agile pods” built around the core disciplines of strategy, creative and project management. He then drove the development of fully-functional design studios around the world complete with the latest Apple hardware and cloud-based software.
When it came to instituting new work flow processes, Billy partnered with colleagues at Citi Ventures and IDEO to create a robust training program for both practitioners and coaches of Design Thinking.
The program was structured as a 5-day intensive workshop to learn the fundamentals of user research, divergent and convergent thinking, prototyping and storytelling. Coaches were also taught how to facilitate workshops of their own and methods for evangelizing Design Thinking at Citi.
Workshops were held in New York, San Francisco, Mexico City, and Singapore and participants ranged from product designers to business leaders. The program iterated over time in the true spirit of Design Thinking, however one thing remained constant – it enabled innovation at Citi.
BILLY SEABROOK 