Through the combination of technical, management and leadership experiences, I found enjoyment in taking a big picture view and connecting the dots to translate strategy into tangible actions. Deriving satisfaction from tackling complex problems and from helping people reframe their perspectives, I went into design thinking to further develop my strategic skills with a business lens. In my role as a design strategist, I was an in-house consultant to various business units, using design thinking principles and tools to frame business problems, synthesized research into insights, customized and facilitated immersive workshops, recommended course of action to formulate strategies or tactical solutions. Scroll down to see some examples of my work.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Recent years have brought new struggles for a key market that has enjoyed long history of success. Declining market position, losing relevance and loss of a major account against the backdrop of dynamic market conditions, increasing competition and internal constraints, are among the surmounting challenges faced by the Sales & Marketing team.

How might we effectively identify and address barriers that stand in the way of our business and its goals?

Design focus (highlighted) - Discover – Define – Develop – Deliver

Approach - Visited and interviewed over 30 external distributors, business partners and internal staff to understand their realities of doing business, draw key market insights, baseline current market relevance and identify consumer trends. Over 100 pages of interview notes were synthesised into 6 key insights used to customise an immersive workshop with the objective to bridge external and internal realities, and drive hard conversations around brutal truths

Outcome - Developed a thought provoking report addressing internal challenges, go-to market approach, brand perception and market strategy, which helped the stakeholders to connect the dots and identify a bias towards action for the next steps.

MY ROLE

  • Conducted primary research, secondary research, immersion

  • Synthesise data into insights

  • Framed problem statement

  • Planned and facilitated immersive workshops

  • Formulated recommendation to leadership team

STAKEHOLDERS: Sales & Marketing leadership team   DOMAIN: Business   DURATION: 3 months   LOCATION: Thailand

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: A data support and operations function represent 95% of its organization, and nearly two-thirds of the larger Digital Transformation unit. Responsible for getting data workstation ready, this group keeps the business running. With the growing strategic need to better capitalize on data, along with operating cost pressures, the organization wanted to re-evaluate their value proposition, deliverables and processes, and current capabilities.

How might we identify activities that competitively differentiate or advantage us?

Design focus (highlighted): Discover – Define – Develop – Deliver

Approach: Interviewed over 40 people spanning across the organization, stakeholders and customers to understand current realities within the organization, identify grassroots ideas and perceived value proposition. Over 150 pages of notes were synthesized into 100 opportunities which were then further filtered to 18 tactical optimisation opportunities and 16 transformational requests.

Outcome: Developed a perceptive report which armed the sponsor with qualitative facts, ground sentiments and external perspectives to strategize for the future of the organization.

MY ROLE:

  • Conducted primary research

  • Synthesise data into insights

  • Formulated recommendation to management team

STAKEHOLDERS: IT Management   DOMAIN: Organization   DURATION: 1 month   LOCATION: United States

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Across Southeast Asia, roadside automotive workshops are common. Often taking the form of a small kiosk, they provide a range of services including tire and oil change, repair and maintenance. These workshops provide a convenient, cost-effective service and serve the huge out-of-warranty market . Many are small businesses run by mechanics and mechanics directly influence consumers on related products. The consumers are largely a Do-It-For-Me customer and depends mainly on mechanic recommendation. During the pandemic, these independent workshop (IWS) owners were badly hit and it affected business.

How might we develop covid resilient brand experiences to grow automotive workshop loyalty?

Design focus (highlighted): Discover – Define – Develop – Deliver

Approach: Participated in a design sprint to ideate on solutions which would generate multiple revenue streams for an independent workshop owner.

Outcome: Created a prototype for a job matching platform between IWS owners and end-customers.

MY ROLE:

  • Participant and observer in design sprint

  • Developed the journey map, paper wireframe and digital prototype

STAKEHOLDERS: Business team   DOMAIN: Product & Service   DURATION: 1 week   LOCATION: Indonesia