Facilitated Innovation Across Business and Tech Teams—Fostering a Culture of Change
Innovation coaching as the strategic answer to equip ING idea teams with essential skills for presenting to the C-suite. By refining concepts, enhancing communication abilities, and aligning innovations with executive priorities, this coaching empowered teams to secure critical support and approvals.
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Client: Santander
Proposition: Agile Product Experimentation
Industry: Fintech
Team & Timeframe:
Over three months, I led the design strategy workstream, driving stakeholder engagement, defining visual and user experience approaches, and guiding the design team’s execution. I ensured seamless collaboration and alignment through agile practices, fostering a cohesive and impactful design process.
Key Activities:
Facilitating workshops and ideation sessions.
Building cross-functional execution team’s.
Creating the brand Framework.
Concept design & development.
Providing creative oversight.
RESULTS
5-10%
Increase in innovation-led projects.
4.5
Stars in the App Store—user satisfaction and product quality.
7,500
Sessions per day—the app’s engagement level.
Breaking Habits & Bridging Gaps
Shift from operations to co-creating solutions that drive business outcomes.
When Michel Houben assumed the role of CIO at ING Americas in 2021, he inherited a strong IT organization. However, he quickly noticed that the business was not fully leveraging the department's innovative potential. This realization shaped his ambition: to establish IT as a proactive innovation partner for the business.
Problem Space—At ING Americas, the IT department was primarily seen as a support function, handling broken laptops, login issues, and system updates. This narrow role overlooked its broader potential to drive innovation and business growth.
Despite the rapid advancements in technology, the organization had yet to fully integrate IT as a strategic enabler. While the IT team was already leveraging new technologies to create value, this capability remained underutilized across the business. The challenge was not just about implementing technology but about shifting the perception of IT from a reactive service provider to a proactive force in shaping the company's future.
Figure 1:
Santander SmartBank
Objective—ING Americas launched the ‘US Breaking Habits’ hackathon to demonstrate how business and IT can drive innovation together in just 24 hours. I partnered with the head of innovation on initiatives that united ten cross-functional teams. Expert guidance helped the teams develop MVPs, enhance collaboration, and refine ideas for final evaluation.
Outcomes—Getting out of the ING office and into a collaborative space in New York inspired new ideas, particularly in improving customer experience and uncovering growth opportunities. The insights gained on moving from ideation to product development and scaling globally have been crucial in advancing innovation efforts.
As a result, the IT department has positioned itself as a key innovator, staying ahead of the competition. By focusing on end-to-end solutions with technology and innovation at its core, ING is able to grow and continuously improve.
Following the hackathon, numerous new initiatives have emerged within the IT department, reinforcing the importance of digitization as the foundation for ongoing innovation and value delivery within the wholesale banking vision. The emphasis is now on leveraging innovations and technology to create added value.
Solution—Figure 1.2 shows how SmartBank’s design was carefully crafted to improve how users interact with their financial data. The app uses cognitive design to highlight spending habits, such as daily coffee purchases, with dynamic color-coding tailored to each user’s behavior.
Figure 1.3 illustrates how I led the team through a collaborative process, embracing continuous development, experimenting with ideas, and refining concepts together. This approach ensured the interface elements—shapes, colors, and animations—were both functional and aesthetically pleasing. By combining friendly design with functional clarity, SmartBank offers an intuitive, engaging experience that breaks away from traditional banking, making financial management feel more accessible and personalized.
MORE RESULTS—
