This
article in the IHT comes at an interesting time. I’ve been pondering this subject – the value of a well designed, integrated customer experience – for a while now. At my job (big, slow company in the financial services industry), we’re looking at evolving and improving our service levels to customers, but I don’t think the leaders of our effort are thinking as big as this little bank does. These guys are using design as a strategy, just like Target, the Gap, Mini Cooper, etc.

I’m also impressed with the courage it took for someone to authorize a change as big as Umpqua undertook, with all it’s organizational impacts. Someone had to pull the trigger on writing a big check for the “redesign” with, probably, very little research to support the business case for a redesign. Someone there “got it” and put their ass on the line to deliver a great, innovative customer facing solution.