Transforming Design into a Strategic Growth Engine at Zilch

Executive Summary

The Challenge:

Zilch, a £2bn fintech preparing for IPO with 3 million customers, had design as one of its weakest-performing functions with no design system, generic storefront driving customer disengagement, and customers shopping at only 2-3 retailers vs. industry benchmark of 5-7.

The Stakes:

£18M annual revenue at risk from lost retailer subsidies, 40% slower engineering delivery, and 23% above-benchmark customer churn rate threatening IPO readiness.

The Transformation:

In 18 months, design we changed from a delivery function into a strategic growth engine, directly contributing to business-critical KPIs and organisational culture change.

Context & Business Stakes

The Scale

• Company: £2bn valuation fintech with 3M customers

• Timeline: 5-year IPO preparation window

• Regulatory environment: FCA oversight requiring rigorous compliance

• Market position: BNPL leader needing differentiation beyond lending

The Crisis

When I joined, design was fundamentally broken:

The Opportunity

• Market timing: BNPL consolidation creating winner-take-all dynamics

• Regulatory advantage: Early compliance preparation vs. competitors

• IPO pressure: Need to demonstrate sustainable, differentiated growth

• Scale economics: Design system ROI multiplies with 3M+ user base

Strategic Assessment & Methodology

Vision & Strategic Alignment

The North Star

Three-Horizon Strategy

Executive Alignment Strategy

CEO Engagement: Monthly business impact reviews with quantified metrics
CPO Partnership: Joint ownership of product vision and roadmap alignment
CMO Collaboration: Weekly strategic alignment and campaign integration
CTO Alliance: Engineering efficiency metrics tied to design system adoption

Execution Strategy & Change Management

Phase 1: Stabilisation (Months 1-3)

Team Restructuring

• Conducted skills assessments and role realignments

• Recruited 2 senior designers and 1 design researcher

• Implemented weekly critique sessions raising quality standards

• Established OKRs tied to business metrics, not output

Process Implementation

• Daily standups with engineering for delivery alignment

• Weekly design reviews with product and marketing stakeholders

• Monthly business impact presentations to executive team

• Quarterly design strategy sessions with C-suite

Quick Wins Delivery

• Storefront navigation improvements (shipped in 6 weeks)

• Marketing campaign templates (4 weeks, unblocked £200K spend)

• Mobile responsiveness fixes (8 weeks, improved App Store ratings)

Phase 2: System Building (Months 4-9)

Design System Development

• Scope: 150+ components, 8 pattern libraries, accessibility standards

• Adoption Strategy: Pilot with 2 product teams, expand incrementally

• Governance: Design system team with dedicated front-end developer

• Measurement: Engineering velocity, design consistency scores, adoption rates

Cross-functional Integration

• Marketing Integration: Product marketing areas within app for campaign control

• Compliance Embedding: FCA customer duty documentation in design process

• Data Partnership: A/B testing framework for design decision validation

• Engineering Collaboration: Component library with 95% reuse rate target

Phase 3: Culture Transformation (Months 10-18)

Leadership Development

• Mentored 4 designers into senior roles with team lead responsibilities

• Created design career ladder aligned with company competency framework

• Established design internship program (3 successful hires)

• Built external design community presence (conferences, open-source contributions)

Organisational Influence

• Design representation in product strategy committees

• User research insights informing business development decisions

• Design metrics included in board reporting and investor presentations

• Cross-functional design thinking workshops for leadership team

Results & Quantified Impact

Business Metrics (18-month period)

Organisational Transformation

Team Performance

• Design delivery success rate: 43% → 91%

• Cross-functional satisfaction scores: 2.1/5 → 4.3/5

• Design team retention: 40% → 92%

• Time-to-hire for design roles: 4.5 months → 1.8 months

Strategic Influence

• Design input in 100% of product strategy decisions (vs. 15% previously)

• Marketing campaign success rate improved 34% with design collaboration

• Compliance audit efficiency improved 60% with embedded design processes

• Executive team design literacy score increased from 2.8/10 to 7.2/10

IPO Readiness Contributions

• Scalable Systems: Design infrastructure supporting 10x user growth

• Compliance Framework: FCA-ready processes reducing regulatory risk

• Competitive Differentiation: Design-led user experience as moat

• Operational Efficiency: £8.2M annual savings across engineering, compliance, and marketing processes

Leadership Lessons & Strategic Insights

Navigating Executive Dynamics

The CEO Challenge: Highly demanding leader with low design tolerance

• My Approach: Led with business impact data, not design theory

• Key Breakthrough: Monthly "Design ROI Reports" showing quantified value

• Result: CEO became design system champion, citing it in investor meetings

The CMO Relationship: Previously adversarial due to campaign execution failures

• Repair Strategy: Weekly alignment sessions and joint success metrics

• Innovation: Product marketing areas giving marketing direct control

• Outcome: Marketing became design's strongest internal advocate

Change Management at Scale

Cultural Resistance Points:

1. Engineering skepticism about design system overhead

2. Product management concern about process additions

3. Sales team confusion about storefront changes

4. Compliance team uncertainty about new documentation

My Resolution Framework:

• Show, Don't Tell: Pilot programs proving value before full rollout

• Measure Everything: Data-driven arguments for every process change

• Quick Wins: Early successes building momentum for larger changes

• Champion Network: Identify and develop advocates in each function

Strategic Bets & Trade-offs

High-Risk Decisions:

• Prioritising design system over immediate feature delivery

• Rebuilding storefront during peak customer acquisition period

• Investing in compliance integration while competitors moved faster

Validation Approach:

• Prototype-first methodology reducing implementation risk

• Phased rollouts with success criteria and rollback plans

• Stakeholder alignment through shared success metrics

• Regular decision checkpoints with data-driven continue/pivot choices

Scalable Frameworks for Other Organisations

The "Design-as-Growth-Engine" Playbook

1. Diagnostic Framework

• Business impact audit methodology

• Team capability assessment tools

• Stakeholder perception measurement

• Competitive positioning analysis

2. Executive Alignment Protocol

• C-suite design education curriculum

• Business case development templates

• Metrics framework linking design to revenue

• Strategic vision communication playbook

3. System Implementation Strategy

• Design system development roadmap

• Cross-functional integration checklist

• Change management communication plan

• Success measurement and optimisation framework

Replicable Success Patterns

For Fintech/Regulated Industries:

• Compliance-embedded design processes

• Risk-conscious innovation frameworks

• Regulatory change adaptation strategies

• Trust-building through transparency

What I'd Do Differently

Early-Stage Decisions

• Start with engineering partnership: I waited 2 months to deeply engage with engineering leadership. Starting immediately would have accelerated design system adoption by 30%.

• Compliance integration from day one: Embedding compliance earlier would have prevented 3 months of process retrofitting.

• Executive education investment: More upfront investment in C-suite design education would have reduced decision-making friction.

Team Development

• Succession planning: I should have identified and developed my replacement earlier, enabling my promotion to VP level within the organisation.

• External networking: Building industry connections sooner would have improved talent acquisition and competitive intelligence.

Measurement Evolution

• Real-time dashboards: Investing in automated design impact tracking would have provided more agile decision-making data.

• Customer voice integration: Earlier integration of customer feedback loops into design processes would have reduced iteration cycles.