USAA
Overview
Intro
USAA’s Chief Design Office (CDO) was established in 2016 to lead digital transformation. As one of the first Design Leads in Austin, I was responsible for research, partner workshops, and project execution.
Objectives
- Evangelize Design Throughout the Organization
- Identify New Opportunities
- Unblock Strategic Initiatives
- Increase Tactical Execution Efficacy
Key Initiatives
- Digital Advisor
- Wealth Management Experience
- The Future of Retirement
- Design Language System
Relationship
I worked closely with product managers, developers, and other stakeholders to align design initiatives with business objectives and user needs. I refined our design processes, establishing best practices that enhanced efficiency and cross-functional collaboration. My approach was centered on strategic alignment and empowerment, equipping the team to handle complex design challenges and deliver impactful results for USAA.
Coaching
During my time at USAA, I focused on team duties such as providing direction, mentorship, and fostering a collaborative environment that encouraged growth and high-quality work. I facilitated the onboarding and training of new team members, integrating them into our workflows and design culture. Through regular design critiques and feedback sessions, I ensured that our design solutions consistently met user needs while maintaining high standards. I also managed resource allocation and workload distribution, aligning tasks with each team member's skills and development areas to optimize overall team performance.
John brings deliberateness to everything our team crafted and communicated. He intrinsically understands how to distill and externalize large, and often times complex concepts. I attribute a large part of my growth in this area to John.
- Daniel Kaufman, Staff Product Designer at ServiceNow; formerly Designer at USAA
The Work
Panther Goat, our design team at USAA, was dedicated to tackling some of the company’s most complex and high-value initiatives. We worked on projects that often required us to navigate ambiguity, unlock strategic roadblocks, and define the strategy itself. By applying design thinking, conducting thorough research, and collaborating closely with stakeholders, we brought clarity to uncertain challenges. Our focus was on delivering insights that informed product roadmaps, identified new opportunities, and aligned teams, making Panther Goat a trusted partner in driving USAA’s most critical work forward.
The Future of Retirement
Armed with a working problem statement and three key questions from leadership, we initiated research to inform USAA’s retirement strategy. Our goal was to deeply understand member retirement behaviors and align our products with their evolving needs. This research culminated in a comprehensive “lifetime” journey map and a series of research-driven initiatives that directly shaped our approach to retirement planning and product alignment.
Building on our insights, we generated feature concepts and evaluated them through a second round of research that informed the next steps of our process. From there, we defined a comprehensive journey that connected our long-term vision with a strategic “reference map” of research inputs, facilitating ongoing externalization and deepening our understanding of member needs.
Outcome
Our work laid the groundwork for key initiatives, including Roadmap Definition, Service Audit, and a Personalization Pilot, enhancing strategic alignment and driving significant impact.