MAKERS' PROGRAM
HANDS-ON LEARNING PROGRAM AND COMMUNITY NIGHT EVENT THAT EMPOWER STAFF TO EMBACE THE FEAR OF TECHNOLOGY
Makers' program is s a learning program that is designed to instil a new “experimenter” mindset in traditional bank staff. For this program, I designed a series of hands-on “makers’ workshop” and held a communal “makers’ night” event that aimed to (1) equip staff with the ability to do quick prototype of an idea, (2) boost their confidence to converse with any stakeholder regarding emerging technologies, and (3) connect them with external makers’ community.
PROJECT:WORK
DATE:MAR 2017 - JUL 2017
LOCATION:DBS Bank Ltd, SINGAPORE
FIELD:EVENT MANAGEMENT | WORKSHOP DESIGN | PARTNERSHIPS | COMMUNITY BUILDING | INNOVATION CULTURE | COMMUNITY BUILDING
Photo by Randall Bruder on Unsplash
BACKGROUND
EMBRACING A NEW NEED
As the growth of FinTech startups is increasing, the bank feels
the need to innovate and change its working culture. One of the
trends is that many big corporates start investing in emerging
technogies and trying to incorporate them into their services. To
compete, DBS Bank Ltd feels the same urgency to equip their staff
with knowledge of technologies. The bank has tried to give free
certified classes as part of the welfare package to allow staff to
pursue technology route but there has been almost zero interest
from the staff. This led to an internal decision to come out with
a new program.
As a designer in DBS Innovation Group, my team and I talked to
several staff about this issue, and we found out some problems
within the current working structure that inhibit them from taking
the classes.
USER INTERVIEW TO PERSONA
THE HIDDEN TALENT IN DAILY BUSINESS
MS.LIM's INNER VOICE
Ms. Lim has always admired people who are
working in design and technology industry.
Her clients have been talking about emerging
technologies lately and she herself has
always wanted to have a try on them, but has
no confidence since her background was in
operations and management. “All these
technologies are really cool, but they are not
for me. I can’t code. I don’t think I can do
it.”
There has been a lot of free classes provided
by the bank but they have been very
theoritical and taken a long time to finish.
“Even if I took the class, I could not relate
it back to my daily work.”
Ms.Lim, also feels that there is no one to go
to if she wants to discuss about these
emerging techs within the bank, which
demotivates her to pursue it.
INSIGHT
IDENTIFYING KEY PROBLEMS
From the interview, we identified three main problems and crafted
design questions:
TIME
How can we encourage staff to participate in the class
without invading their work schedule?
PRACTICALITY
How can we ensure that the knowledge obtained
can be applied back to their work?
ENVIRONMENT
How can we design a platform that supports and
motivates their lourning journey?
PROPOSED SOLUTION - PART 1
LUNCHEON MAKERS' WORKSHOP
We designed a hands-on
workshop that was done during
lunch time and over 3 to 5
days per theme. We invited
local experts or internal
staff who have knowledge and
passion to share their
expertise of a certain
technology. The workshop
curriculum was always designed
around banking problem. For
instance, “How can we design a
smart office using IoT?” This
enabled the staff to apply
their knowledge into their
work.
DESIGNING WORKSHOP
Set a topic and a goal → Reach out to external tech community → Discuss curriculum together with mentors → Design promotional materials → Recruit participants → Set up venue → Hold the workshop
WORKSHOP CRITERIA
(1) achievable in 3 days x 1.5 hour during lunch time (2) hands-on and practical (3) fun, engaging and collaborative
PROPOSED SOLUTION - PART 2
MAKERS' NIGHT
After gaining the level of confidence in technology from the
luncheon workshop, we designed a community event that bridges
staff to external makers. This event enabled them to meet
like-minded people and have a potential collaborative project. It
also encouraged staff to apply the knowledge from workshop into
practice.
We designed the event to have 3 types of activities that could
cater for people of different technology levels.
TINKER BOTS
FIRST-TIMER LEVEL
A showcase of
different robotic
projects by
NullSpace Robotics.
Visitors can freely
explore and play
with the projects.
BOTS: THE ORIGIN STORY
BEGINNER LEVEL
A workshop that combines basic
robotic and storytelling.
No technical background is required in this session.
CLASH OF THE BOTS
EXPERIENCED LEVEL
A competition for anyone of any
calibre. The team will make a
robot and duke it out. A little bit of technical capability is needed.
IMPACT
TRACTION IN 5 MONTHS
STAFF VOICE
“It’s been awesome. We learnt from knowing nothing about IoT to being able to see the big picture of what IoT can do and its possibilities. Now that we have seen it, I think the sky is the limit.” - A staff from RMG - CBG / WM Credit department.
“This basic knowledge helps us explore more services that cloud system offers and how we can utilise it as part of our own engineering in the bank.” - A staff
MEDIA
DESIGN COLLATERALS
PROMOTIONAL MARKETING
