Associate Director, Digital Business Design

January 2014—July 2015

In January 2014, I joined DigitasLBi to help launch and grow a new strategic advisory practice called Digital Business Design within the Strategy & Analysis group. We sourced and led engagements with clients using the principles of design thinking combined with rigorous data analysis and market research. Our capabilities included business model design, ethnographic research, service design, partnership development, and organizational design. During my tenure, I helped introduce our services to 4 clients unlocking roughly $5.5M in revenue.

eBay

When eBay was preparing to launch its Live Auctions platform, they called upon DigitasLBi to uncover insights into a new type of buyer that they wanted to attract. 

Ethnography

Over the course of several weeks, the DBD team went into the field to gain a first hand look at the auction experience. We observed the behaviors of buyers at live auctions and took notice of the overall theater involved. This led our team to solidify several principles that could be incorporated into the online platform.

1:1 Interviews

We complimented our observation with roughly 20 interviews with interior designers, art dealers, collectors, and high frequency eBay users. This led us to gain greater clarity around the motivations behind art purchasing and merchandising. 

Our work led to a greater understanding of the purpose behind the new initiative and distinct design principles that helped guide the development of multiple new campaigns and platform features. 

Miller Coors

When MillerCoors came to DigitasLBi to develop new ideas within their Digital Incubator, we started by redefining their strategy and then held a stakeholder wide workshop to solidify 2015 objectives.

Strategy

Working closely with the Incubator management team, we stepped back and evaluated the group's mission, objectives, and capabilities. This led to a single strategy map through which the group now operates.

Ideation Workshop

Bringing several stakeholder groups together, we surfaced the greatest challenges that each faces, looked at the changing expectations of their consumers, and generated many ideas as to how MillerCoors could better meet the needs of its consumers while addressing major strategic priorities. 

Prototyping

Our work led to better defined strategic objectives around which our creative teams developed prototypes and partnership ideas. 

AstraZeneca

To live up to an aspiration of becoming a patient-centric healthcare company, AstraZeneca leaders recognized the need to harness digital technology in new ways and called on DigitasLBi to help their organization embrace change. Through engaging workshops, intensive research, and strategy development, the Digital Business Design team helped leaders define a vision and develop a long term plan for organizational change. The work led to a shift in ways of working and ongoing streams of work around an integrated customer experience, innovative partnerships, and digital strategy.

Partnership Strategy & Execution

Our team developed the broad partnerships strategy for the Digital Strategy Group, identifying the pathways to reach greater impact and scale. We created diligence tools, process, pitches, and new business models that could be initiated. Several partnerships are in development currently. 

Service Design

In mid 2014, AZ set out to develop a community based, behavior change initiative that could improve the health of a small American community. In addition to creating the business case, our team started by going into the field to better understand the people that we were aiming to serve.  From there, our insights guided and grounded the user experience design of the platform set to launch within the community later this year. In addition, our team developed the business models and national and local partnership strategy.