InVision > Case Studies > USAA's Digital Transformation: Scaling Design and Enhancing Customer Experience

USAA's Digital Transformation: Scaling Design and Enhancing Customer Experience

Technology Category

Drones - VTOL & VTOL Hybrid Drones
Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) - Hybrid Cloud

Applicable Industries

Buildings
Education

Applicable Functions

Product Research & Development
Quality Assurance

Use Cases

Rapid Prototyping
Virtual Prototyping & Product Testing

Services

Hardware Design & Engineering Services
System Integration

About The Customer

USAA is a financial services organization based in San Antonio, Texas. The company was founded in 1922 by a group of 25 Army officers who came together to insure each other’s automobiles when they couldn’t get insurance anywhere else. Over the years, the organization expanded its membership to include officers from other military branches and grew through The Great Depression, World War II, and The Vietnam War. Today, USAA serves millions of customers and is one of the only fully integrated financial services organizations in America. The company has been committed to digital growth since the launch of its first website in the 1990s and is now using design to fuel a digital transformation.

The Challenge

USAA, a fully integrated financial services organization, was facing the challenge of scaling its design process to meet the needs of its growing digital customer base. The company, which has been committed to digital growth since the launch of its first website in the 1990s, was looking for ways to bring exceptional service to all digital channels without compromising efficiency or empathy in the design process. The challenge was to maintain technical design consistency across all product teams and to develop a design-specific scorecard that could monitor engagement with compliance and legal, as well as the accessibility of the design program. Another challenge was to develop individual designers' skills and deploy them within the lines of business to work on specific projects.

The Solution

USAA implemented several unique internal processes to address these challenges. One of these was the experience-owner model, where the Design Education team provides Experience Owners a two-day bootcamp to grow their design thinking skills. These experience owners live and own the product and all touchpoints from a holistic view. For technical design consistency, a representative from the Design Language System team was embedded on every product team. USAA also developed a design-specific scorecard that detailed everything from engagement with compliance and legal, to the accessibility of the design program. To develop individual designers, a dedicated Talent team worked with the Human-centered Design practice to develop a skills matrix that supports designers at all levels. Then, 6–8-person design pods were deployed within the lines of business to work on specific projects.

Operational Impact

The implementation of the experience-owner model, the embedding of a representative from the Design Language System team on every product team, and the development of a design-specific scorecard have all contributed to a more efficient and empathetic design process at USAA. The company's support and development of individual designers have also led to better product experiences. The move from a waterfall to a more agile, human-centered design process has enabled USAA to create desirable experiences by reducing the planning time involved in new projects. The company's hybrid organizational approach, which blends multiple organizational models and runs different models in parallel, has also been effective in meeting the needs of its growing digital customer base.