Fortune 500 Financial Services:
Mobile Launch

The Inflection Point

A newly promoted mobile director at a Fortune 500 financial services company faced a daunting mandate: create their first-ever native mobile app for a $1+ billion travel and lifestyle business that had operated exclusively through their website for 15+ years.

The complexity was immense - building strategic design capability from scratch while coordinating internal teams and external vendors under entirely new operating frameworks. Executive stakeholders expected sophisticated mobile experience innovation, and a modest initial budget needed to prove ROI quickly with CEO-level visibility on every decision.

Strategic Design Partnership

I embedded as the mobile director's strategic design partner, providing the experience strategy and design expertise they needed while enabling them to focus on program leadership and stakeholder management. Within 4 months, they were introducing me throughout their organization as their "strategic design partner" - official recognition that elevated their credibility with executive stakeholders.

Results That Empowered Leadership

Strategic Partnership Excellence

  • Presented strategic brand evolution directly to company President, positioning the mobile director as transformational program leader

  • Provided trusted strategic design authority they could reference when justifying program investments to stakeholders

  • Enabled seamless coordination of complex internal/external team dynamics while maintaining executive confidence

Measurable Business Outcomes

  • Experience strategy and design budget grew 750% YOY through demonstrated customer experience ROI

  • Scaled comprehensive strategic design organization from 5 to 20 people spanning research,strategy, testing, user experience design, visual design, and copywriting

  • Secured renewed and expanded investment by delivering measurable business value through systematic customer experience optimization

Customer Experience Excellence

  • Delivered comprehensive mobile booking flows (car, hotel, flight) validated through systematic user testing every sprint

  • Evolved 100+ year brand voice specifically for travel customers, improving communication clarity and satisfaction

  • Designed comprehensive travel platform spanning inspiration, seamless booking, enhanced on-trip experiences, and social engagement that drove customer retention and new user acquisition

Design Delivery Confidence

  • Implemented dual-track discovery and delivery methodology that maintained consistent project momentum while building sustainable internal capabilities

  • Established systematic processes the mobile director's team could sustain independently beyond our engagement

  • Developed scalable design system and 100+ year brand evolution that influenced enterprise-wide marketing, sales, partnerships, and inspired broader website modernization

Why This Approach Works

When business leaders face the challenge of building strategic design capability from scratch while delivering sophisticated customer experiences under executive scrutiny, they need more than tactical support. They need a strategic design partner who can provide experience strategy and design expertise while enabling them to focus on program ownership and stakeholder relationships.

The mobile director's success demonstrates how the right strategic design partnership enables leaders to achieve ambitious program goals while building sustainable organizational capabilities that continue delivering value beyond the initial engagement.

Strategic design leadership that cultivates, elevates, and scales teams to deliver business results through experience strategy and design expertise.