Designing A Digital Platform That Captures the Wisdom of Humanity
‍
The Challenge
After winning the prize, StoryCorps was expected to launch a beta version only ten weeks later for the website and application at the annual TED Conference—one of the biggest international stages, in front of an even larger online audience. To cope with the time pressures, our team proposed a design process that allowed continual testing and real-time iterations concurrent with platform engineering, application development and digital prototyping.
‍
The Approach
By using human-centered design  techniques, the team was able to focus, manage risk and make decisions quickly to meet the aggressive time frame. The approach also placed the end-users at the center of the design process and by gathering insights and aligning with the many stakeholders tied to the project, the team was able to elicit ideas from a plethora of influencers, while not deviating from the purpose to design a technology platform that would preserve a personal experience without being obtrusive. Based on an Agile way of working, the design team began prototyping application functionality while the engineering team built the infrastructure to ensure the chosen technology would support the requirements of the user. The approach helped to identify failure points early in the design process and allowed for multiple iterations to gather insight, test and refine in real-time. As a consequence, the beta version of the StoryCorps app launched in front of an international audience at the annual TED Conference. And viewers were immediately able to download it on the App Store and Google Play.
‍
The Impact
- To date, StoryCorps has recorded more than 60,000 interviews among more than 100,000 participants in all 50 states
- The application has 1.4k reviews at a rating of 4.7 out of 5
‍
Looking Into the Future
The application now guides users through the interview experience from start to finish with easy-to-use tools to help them prepare for interview questions, record high-quality conversations on mobile devices, and upload the audio to the Library of Congress and the new StoryCorps Archive platform.
‍
More to Explore
Enabling the e-Mobility Evolution in Energy
In 2021, the EU Commission presented the Fit for 55 proposal. This ambitious, comprehensive set of climate policies has been compiled to ensure that a 55% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions is achieved by 2030. The EU successfully reached agreements on the proposal’s key policies, including the goal that only zero-emission cars will be sold from 2035 onwards. Meeting the 55% GHG reduction target will be a crucial milestone on the journey to achieving Net Zero by 2050, and organisations are eager to maintain momentum. Recognising the challenging nature of these targets, a multinational utility company that offers B2B and public charging services faced a key question. The organisation wanted to understand whether its proprietary B2B charging platform would be able to scale to handle the anticipated increase in B2C charging customers.
Teaming Up For Disaster Mitigation
Everybody is feeling the impact of climate change on the environment – for instance, in the form of dramatic natural disasters in areas that were previously rarely affected. As such, a catastrophic natural disaster in the heart of a Europe has severe consequences, including loss of lives and livelihood. BCG and BCG Platinion were immediately on hand to enhance resilience in a European region hit by the worst catastrophe in its recent history. The team worked with passion and deliberation to develop a sustainable and resilient concept to better deal with similar situations in the future.
The Core & Beyond - A Tailor-Made Transformation
Replacing or keeping the legacy Core Banking System (CBS) is one of the most fundamental decisions for a financial institution to make. This strategic bet should be carefully evaluated, with three key aspects in mind: a clear view on the entire IT platform (wider than legacy CBS and its constraints), a strategic vision set within a specific time horizon, and the return on investment. For organizations with a burning platform, CBS replacement may be a necessity, but in many cases the real investment potential is located elsewhere – in areas such as data platforms, integration layers, portals, or process engines. This alternative approach leads to numerous non-trivial questions: Where does the value come from? Is legacy the real issue? Which areas to reinforce and in which order?
