How PNB Redesigns Customer Experience with Design Thinking
In 2019, we had the honor of working with Philippine National Bank (PNB) as they prepared to embark on a customer experience improvement initiative. The unforeseen onset of the pandemic halted these plans, though. PNB has now been able to reignite this effort, and we have the honor of being part of their journey again!
This year, we helped them acquire an intimate understanding of their customers, see the problems from their customers’ perspective, reframe their challenges, brainstorm, and then turn their ideas into tangible prototypes for presentation and feedback—all done in a 2-day Design Thinking Workshop!
The Challenge
Client Background: PNB, one of the oldest and most reputable banks in the Philippines, has built its trust over years of experience in the banking industry. Despite this, PNB faced significant challenges in modernizing its technology infrastructure.
Problem: Some of the top customer concerns include branch queues and turnaround time, so these were top-of-mind when thinking about providing a better experience for their customers.
Design Thinking in Action
Through a design thinking workshop, Startup PH Training helped PNB design three customer experience initiatives. Here’s how we did it:
#1 Empathize
Before the workshop, we had PNB take our course on empathy and interview some customers. In the workshop, we had them make personas of those they interviewed.
#2 Define
Once the participants knew who they wanted to help and what problems they had, the next step is to align, set goals, and identify possible roadblocks that need to be overcome. We conducted expert interviews, agreed on 2-year goals, as well as questions that need to be answered if they expect to succeed.
#3 Ideate
Once the challenge is defined, the creativity kicks into high-gear! We did a bunch of brainstorming activities using various techniques to get ideas that the whole team agrees is best!
#4 Output
Once they hone in on the solution that the team thinks is best, the next step is to develop storyboards and low-fidelity prototypes to visualize and refine the ideas. This allows participants to collect the feedback they need to improve on the idea and prepare for the next step - presenting to the board!
View more photos here.
Practical Tips
Start with the Customer in Mind:
Always begin your projects by understanding your customer. Identify who your target audience is, what their goals are, and what frustrations they face. Understanding and being honest about our customer’s frustrations is crucial to creating good products and services - or improve customer experience!
What PNB says about us?
“Thank you for the amazing experience. The brainstorming and prototyping sessions were very helpful and energizing. I highly recommend this workshop to anyone who wants to enhance their creative problem-solving skills and drive innovation.”
