Translating Research into Design Practice

A national bank had invested in comprehensive customer research, working with psychologists and user researchers to understand how people manage their finances. The output was rich, detailed data about customer behaviours, attitudes, and pain points.

But like many research projects, this insight risked sitting in reports that designers and developers would rarely reference. The challenge was to transform this research into practical tools that could actively influence design decisions.

I was asked to create "design play tools" that would bring the customer's voice directly into the design team's workflow, making the research tangible and actionable rather than theoretical.

I developed several concept directions, ranging from low-tech to experimental:

• Pass-the-Box - A 3D cube for passing around discussions, with customer details on each face
• Step-in-My-Shoes - A floor poster creating space for role-play and empathy exercises
• Money Moments - Cards detailing real-life customer situations for ideation sessions
• Customer Snapshots - A wall of photographs with quotes and characteristics
• Frame-of-Reference - A rotating display of archetype data for constant visibility

Some concepts were deliberately provocative, like "smart shoes" with pressure sensors that would trigger customer stories. The goal was to explore how different formats might trigger empathy and keep customers top-of-mind.

After presenting concepts to the client, I learned their design team was actually a digital product development team working in an agile environment. I reviewed their development backlog and saw they structured work as user stories.

This insight led to the most practical tool: Story Enriching Cards.

The format was a structured game played during sprint planning, before estimation, when user stories were still being refined. Designers, business analysts, product managers, and developers would sit together and enhance stories by considering real customer contexts.

Each player drew two cards from shuffled decks to form a complete story:

"As a customer who [Behaviour], I want to know what I'm spending my money on and where. At the moment I am [Activity]."

Behaviour cards introduced real customer traits, while Activity cards added contextual awareness based on actual "money moments".

The randomness meant teams could keep drawing cards until they found a relevant combination. This sparked discussions about how features would be experienced by different customer types in different contexts, potentially leading to story refinements or new sub-stories.