ge
TURN ON A DIME
When Capital One was planning its R&D lab to
support innovative banking projects, the organization wanted a place where end users would
literally have a place at the table.
A two-story café was built in San Francisco,
California, USA to act as a testing ground for
the projects in progress. The café is where
stakeholders test-drive early versions of their
apps. The teams then incorporate feedback into
later iterations of the project plan.
“We built a little prototype that we affec-
tionately called ‘Rewardly,’ in the lab and tested
it out,” senior director of technology innovation
Joshua Greenough told Fast Company. “It really
brings that customer to the forefront of the
pilots and the incubation of
the innovation that we’re
doing.”
By bringing an early ver-
sion to stakeholders, project
teams are able to adapt
and iterate swiftly. Just as
important as that direct line
to the end user is a clear
governance structure and
a strong connection to the
top, said Skip Potter, Capital
One’s vice president of engineering.
Mr. Potter, the chief innovation officer and
the COO meet monthly. “When you have that
level of commitment at a senior level, going ‘I
want to see what is going well, I want to see
what you are delivering,’ that’s pretty awesome.” —M. Wright
PH
O T
O
C
OU
R T
ES Y
OF
K
E
N
NE
JI
MA
VI
A
F
LI
CK
R
JANUARY 2015 PM NETWORK 7
By bringing an
early version to
stakeholders,
project teams
are able to
adapt and
iterate swiftly.
Capital One’s 360 Cafe in
San Francisco, California, USA
50%
Of all retail transactions will be
conducted via mobile device by 2017
5-10%
Portion of worldwide bank IT spending
focused on customer-facing projects
20-40%
Portion of processes European
banks have digitized
Sources: McKinsey, Bain & Co., Royal Bank of Scotland
