Scoping a Design Lab for a leading regional bank in Asia-Pacific

The Bank of South Pacific (BSP) is a regional bank with a presence in 7 countries in the region. In the Solomon Islands, it had launched an agent banking program and was interested in building a “Design Lab” to conceptualize and launch further digital innovations, particularly given local market dynamics and constraints with limited technology resources at its headquarters. With support from the United Nations Development Fund, Digital Disruptions was brought on board to perform due diligence on BSP's agent banking program and provide guidance on structuring its Design Lab.

Approach & Outcome

Digital Disruptions’ first step was assessing the bank’s innovation capability using our in-house Product Development Diagnostic tool. This process involves interviews with bank staff covering topics on five key dimensions: process, structure, culture, people, and executive support.

We then used our Innovation Engine framework to design a Design Lab suited for the bank’s needs. The framework is comprised of nine key building blocks, including type of innovation, functional area, assets and capabilities, and governance.

Based on the diagnostic results as well as the aspirations and capabilities of the bank, we designed contours for a Design Lab that would help meet the local bank’s needs to systemize its innovation process while also recognizing its resource limitations.