Utilizing lean methodologies, cross-functional agile teams, and DevOps automation
Devbridge was engaged by a Tier 1 North American bank to help accelerate its digital transformation through Agile adoption. Challenged by the existing operational models, waterfall delivery, and lack of DevOps, the bank partnered with Devbridge with the objective to transform a portion of the portfolio to agile as well as “adopt through doing” for the above mentioned disciplines. The bank provides a full suite of financial products and services around the world.
Using rapid prototyping, agile delivery and small, cross-functional teams, Devbridge was able to release to market several fully functional products 400% faster and for a quarter of the budget compared to other similar initiatives at the bank.
By demonstrating success, Devbridge expended work with the bank’s Business Banking unit on its omnichannel remote onboarding initiative. The bank’s prior onboarding process was lengthy, manual, and required an individual to visit a branch prior to opening an account.
Devbridge’s ability to ship products to market quickly through its cross-functional, agile approach, familiarity with the bank’s existing processes and technology stack, and design prowess, laid the foundation for a great working relationship.
Aligning teams while accelerating product to market
Because omnichannel and remote onboarding touches a number of different areas within the bank, it was important to ensure that all stakeholders were in alignment. Through a lean requirements workshop, Devbridge was able to rapidly capture requirements, align multiple business units around a customer experience strategy, and move swiftly in getting a product to market.
A prototype was designed and used to provide a high-level vision of the product with minimal investment and risk and allow for internal stakeholders to secure project funding. Exposing the prototype to customers provided additional insight and direction prior to committing to a product strategy. These small, incremental investments demonstrated to the bank an alternative way of funding product initiatives while building up a tolerance for micro-failures.
Upon user testing of the prototype, cross-functional teams of Devbridge and bank's employees started iterating on the minimum viable product and shipping functionality to stakeholders every two weeks.
Engaging customers with natural language forms
Banks require a significant amount of information about the customer during the onboarding process. A lengthy list of forms that need to be filled out become a burdensome experience for the customer, often resulting in high turnover rates in the online conversion funnel.
A tested and validated approach by Devbridge was to introduce natural language forms - a simplified, story driven online content capture that leads customers through a self-currated experience. User testing demonstrated that such forms have a positive effect on conversions and make the onboarding process more amicable.
Combining cross-functional teams, agile, and a little bit of Devbridge’s process wizardry, the team was able to build a prototype within a matter of weeks. The team then set in motion a plan to deliver a fully functional product to market within six months. The omnichannel remote onboarding initiative enables Business Banking to be the market leader by offering an innovative and completely automated solution for simple and complex commercial products and sets the stage to extend the platform to other bank channels.
Currently, Devbridge is working collaboratively with bank’s internal teams in shaping multiple cross-functional teams and adopting necessary patterns for successful digital product strategy. Working in tandem across a portfolio of digital products, training and collaborative coaching exercises are carried out with operating teams and senior executives to facilitate the agile transformation.
Learn more about Devbridge’s remote onboarding process and insights.
