Design thinking is not a workshop, a set of tools, or a shiny process. It is a mindset that helps teams make better decisions, move faster, reduce risk, and create great products.

In a fintech consultancy where speed, complexity, and client expectations are always high, I focused on introducing practical, lightweight habits that would help the whole organisation think and work more like designers.

Below is how I made that shift happen.

1. Lean user testing as a habit, not a ceremony

Research often feels heavy in consultancy environments, which means it is either delayed or skipped. I wanted the team to treat testing as something fast, accessible, and part of everyday delivery. So we:

• Tested only where patterns were new or unproven
• Used quick internal sessions for directional insights
• Fed results straight back into the work
• Prioritised learning over formal documentation

The aim was simple: to make user feedback the default, not a luxury.

By keeping testing lean, we removed friction and enabled quicker, safer decisions.

2. Bringing the wider team into ideation

I opened up ideation to everyone. Developers, product owners, PMs, and analysts joined discovery workshops, which helped create a richer pool of ideas and avoided designers solving problems in isolation.

What changed almost immediately:

• Engineers brought fresh, practical viewpoints
• Product managers felt more invested in design decisions
• Teams understood the problem space more deeply
• There was more substantial shared ownership of the final solution

Ideation became a team sport, not a design ritual.

3. Solving problems quickly, then iterating

Fintech delivery is fast by nature, so I encouraged the team to embrace quick solutioning. We produced rough sketches early, built simple prototypes within hours, and iterated repeatedly.

The approach was always:

• Create quickly
• Test lightly
• Adjust confidently
• Keep momentum high

This helped stakeholders get comfortable with unfinished work, because they could see ideas evolve in front of them. It positioned design as adaptable and collaborative, which strengthened trust across the organisation.

4. Increasing transparency across the business

Design only works when it is understood. I made the design more visible and easier to talk about across sales, delivery, engineering, and leadership. This included:

• Open design walkthroughs
• Simple, clear explanations of decisions
• Sharing early prototypes without ceremony
• Helping commercial teams explain design value to clients

Transparency turned design into a shared capability, not a closed speciality.

Bringing engineering into the design process avoids nasty surprises and helps them take ownership of the product.

5. Teaching opportunistic design

I encouraged the team to spot UX opportunities when on-site with clients. If a client mentioned that something didn't work or that they hated a particular process, our consultants should use the opportunity to see if it was something we could help with. Often, you get the best insights when embedded with a client, observing their day-to-day workflows and challenges.

6. Embedding design thinking at every level

Design thinking is most powerful when it becomes a shared mindset rather than just a procedure to follow.

I focused on spreading that mindset across delivery teams by encouraging:

• Better problem framing before solutioning
• Clear articulation of assumptions
• Structured exploration of alternatives
• Evidence-driven decision-making
• Comfort with ambiguity

This helped the organisation shift away from opinion-led debates and towards hypothesis-driven conversations.

7. Raising baseline skills in Figma, FigJam, and Coda

Tool literacy reduces bottlenecks and makes collaboration smoother. I ran short sessions to help non-designers get confident with:

• Leaving comments directly in prototypes
• Editing copy in Figma
• Running their own FigJam boards
• Capturing processes and documentation in Coda

The result was fewer blockers, faster ideation, and more shared ownership of the design process.

8. Creating a design and interaction space for everyone

I set up a shared channel for design discussions, inspiration, interaction patterns, CodePen links, GitHub examples, and anything that helped build design intuition.

This kept design thinking alive day to day. It also made learning communal and ongoing, instead of something reserved for workshops or training sessions.

9. Leading with visible passion

Passion matters. When people see genuine excitement around design, curiosity spreads. I made a point of celebrating great ideas, showing energy in workshops, and treating design as something worth caring about.

This helped set the tone for a culture that valued creativity, experimentation, and continuous improvement.

The impact

Over time, we saw meaningful shifts across the consultancy:

• Teams raised UX issues earlier and more confidently
• Ideation became collaborative rather than siloed
• Decisions were based more on learning and less on assumptions
• Stakeholders understood the why behind design decisions
• Delivery became smoother because alignment happened earlier

Most importantly, design thinking stopped being a process and became a shared cultural habit. That is the outcome that creates lasting value, especially in a fast-moving field like fintech.