Case Study Type: UX Design

Fortune 100 Bank Successfully Executes Design Operations with the Help of 3Ci Consultants

Read in 3 minutes, 16 seconds

3Ci delivers qualified talent to prominent banking client.

Deciding to make some changes within your business can be daunting, particularly when the change falls into unfamiliar territory. For many businesses, the pressure of digitization has been looming, but without a starting point it can feel impossible to take that first step. A well-thought out User Experience journey has become an absolutely essential piece of the digitization journey, however many businesses lack the personnel power and expertise to create an iron-clad User Experience for their users. The first step of a business’s UX revamp is finding the right team of experts to usher in positive change.

The Case of 3Ci’s Prominent Banking Client

In early 2019, the world woke to the news of a major merger in the banking industry, changing the landscape dramatically. The Director of User Experience at the merging company was stuck, with no roadmap for where the new bank would be headed and how to get there. With a design team of only 35 people, how could they possibly manage to create a dynamic, engaging user experience that not only attracted new customers, but continued to meet the needs of existing ones? The Director knew that in order to move forward, they needed to add a new focus area that would help meld two design teams into one team and manage how it will operate: Design Operations. He transitioned into an operational management role, and knew the most critical thing would be to build a solid, experienced team around him that could meet the growing demands of both consumer and company.

Overcoming the Obstacles

Quickly, the Director ran into issues, chiefly, that there were no systems in place to start piecing together a great team. The company was lacking effective strategies for attracting top design talent, and they had dysfunctional relationships with suppliers for contracted workers. The hunt for the right partner began. Through his professional network, the Director was introduced to 3Ci. From the first meeting, 3Ci was the clear leader of the potential-supplier pack. 3Ci’s expertise and proven track record scaling enterprise design teams was a perfect match for the new bank, and the Director’s particular goals. Once the partnership was in motion, 3Ci immediately filled the pipeline with design talent across multiple geographies within the client’s first three months. As if attracting a huge volume of qualified candidates wasn’t difficult enough, by this time the COVID-19 pandemic was in full swing. Their first 3Ci hire was on-boarded in March 2020, and every single hire since then has been virtual. Together, 3Ci and this prominent bank navigated the pandemic to ensure morale stayed high, onboarding went smoothly, and both parties remained successful.

Savoring the Victories

All in all, the bank hired 36 top designers and researchers from 3Ci in 15 months. The ground-work for an effective experience design team had been laid, and the Director has been able to guide the team into the next phase of their UX journey with confidence. The relationship between 3Ci and the client is on going, and 3Ci continues to deliver top talent to the bank’s Design Operations team. 3Ci is a trusted partner in their talent operation program and has played an essential role in helping them grow.

Is 3Ci the Right Partner For Your Business?

Regardless of whether your business is at the beginning, middle, or final stretch of it’s UX journey, 3Ci is the right partner to help you achieve your goals and outpace competitors. Staffing is only some of what we do here; our expertise extends to UX optimization, software design, and more. 3Ci’s expertise can help create complete experiences that drive the success of your business. We keep our finger on the pulse of market trends and practice design thinking so we can create a cutting-edge customized UX plan for your business.

How 3Ci Helped First Advantage Win Big in UX Design

Read in 2 minutes, 27 seconds

We used our proven process (video interviews, technical evaluations, and behavioral assessments) to help First Advantage place the best UX design talent.

If you haven’t heard of First Advantage, they’re a leading global background check company headquartered in Atlanta, GA. They work with over 35,000 organizations worldwide, helping employers and housing providers reduce risk and stay compliant while dramatically improving the quality of talent and reliability of renters. Yep—they’re kind of a big deal.

We had the pleasure of meeting Kristopher Kinlen a few years back when he engaged 3Ci as a candidate when he was looking to make a career change. Today, he serves as the Director of User Experience for First
Advantage. We were thrilled to have the opportunity to help Kristopher when he recently approached us with a problem.

While Kristopher recognized the power of designing and developing products with users’ best interest at the foundation, his executive team was understandably unsure. As a result, Kristopher and his team were not receiving
the budget they needed to make a real impact through UX.

To reach their goals, Kristopher and his team would need to gain buy-in from the rest of the organization by proving the value of user-centered design. They needed an expert, an advocate, and a partner that could take their UX design program to the next level.

Lucky for us, Kristopher remembered the great experience he had with 3Ci as a candidate and reached out to our team for help—this time as a client.

Because 3Ci follows design thinking in every project we take on, our team first turned to research to develop empathy and identify the root of the problem. After sitting down with Kristopher and his team, we were able to gather valuable insights about their UX goals and First Advantage’s broader business goals. Based on these conversations, we developed a roadmap to balance the two and got to work.

Though it was clear that First Advantage needed to hire the right UX Design talent to execute their UX Design strategy, we also helped Kristopher identify the importance of evangelizing the ROI of his program. To reach his ultimate goals, Kristopher would need buy-in from the executive team. By generating success through small wins upfront (and communicating the value of those wins), Kristopher and his team would be able to make the biggest impact within their organization.

We used our proven process (video interviews, technical evaluations, and behavioral assessments) to help First Advantage place the best UX design talent. We still work closely with the First Advantage UX design team.

Here’s what Kristopher had to say about what it was like working with 3Ci compared to other firms.

“What I think is different is their approach and their value system. It’s not the big, faceless firm. It’s very high-touch, almost boutique, in nature. They’re members of the community, not just an organization that serves the community. The approach was very much a partnership rather than just a transaction.” – Kristopher Kinlen, Director of User Experience at First Advantage