The Cardboard Bank

February 10th, 2008 · No Comments

I met with a senior manager of a very innovative regional bank last week and he was outlined the many exciting projects that he was working on. My experience with many banks is that it can be difficult to get projects approved so i was curious to find out how he obtained the necessary ‘buy in’ for his new ideas from the leadership team.

His response? For one of the projects they built a cardboard bank office in a secluded warehouse. His team was trying to prototype what a bank office of the future might look like. So they built one and asked the leadership team to visit it and and engage the staff in a number of different banking services. It was a revelation to the senior managers. They admired the inventiveness of his team (a good start when you want your ideas approved) and they (the leaders) could obtain a real, life-like experience. Most importantly the leaders felt that thier input was valued and they had time to make changes because they realized that due to its temporary nature the bank office could be changed quickly and at not very much cost.

I marvelled at this example. It has been my experience that the more you can involve a user or customer in the design of your new product/service/idea the more likely they will provide valuable feedback and ultimately approve of the concept. But if you involve people you have to really listen to them as soon as you can in the design process. Ideas need to be touched, smelled, felt and experienced.

As a final suggestion, don’t be afraid of presenting initial concepts. It is much better to involve early, then adapt, rather than to ask users what they think when the product is finished. The other message from this example? Be innovative about how you present and sell your ideas?

Does anyone else have a similar example of how they have sold their ideas?