HUMAN-CENTRED
BUSINESS DESIGN
Why Good Habits?
In any business it's easy to get stuck in our ways.
You might notice that day-to-day work isn't quite connecting to the bigger picture, to where your organisation is headed next.
Maybe you've invested in a shiny new strategy but don't know how to make it a reality day-to-day.
You need that extra layer of detail for the team on the ground so that they know what activities matter, when to sequence them, and how to adopt the systems to execute strategically.
Change doesn’t have to feel big to be big.
Sometimes it's simply replacing old habits with new ones. New rituals. Using the same tech but in different ways. It might just come down to a few good habits that change the way your business operates and collaborates.
Good habits today that make a measurable difference tomorrow. You’re winning. That's what working towards your strategy should feel like.
And that’s where I come in.
You want your organisation to act with strategic clarity and your team to create an experience your customers will love.
I can help.
MELINA HAMILTON LYNCH
Human-centred Business Designer
Great strategy shouldn’t gather dust
That’s a problem. And an opportunity.
I've seen great strategy gather dust without the internal capability to execute. Likewise, I've seen great executions fail to drive the strategy.
I complete the picture by translating high-level strategy into clear, actionable frameworks. It's magic, really.
Services that turn strategy into action
CUSTOMER X COMMERCE X CAPABILITY
You’re a CEO, CMO or CTO. You may have worked with strategists or advisors that lean far in one direction without considering the full picture. My difference is connecting each business area from the very beginning of our work together - essential for putting strategy into action.
🔭Zooming out
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WHO + WHERE
You might already know which parts of your customer journey need optimising or you might be unsure if today’s experience is actually what your customers want. Most often, I find that you and your team are sitting on great insights and executions but don’t have a forum to capture them.
I dive into the data and research insights you have available across your customer touchpoints to validate this. Then I facilitate a stakeholder workshop to co-design your future state customer experience map, connecting multiple perspectives to your strategic goals. Better still, we zoom out to understand gaps in your industry and find opportunities your competitors have missed.
You get to decide where to go next.
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WHAT + WHEN
I've seen too many teams run fast towards execution and not reflect on which activities drive the organisation’s strategy.
I capture the activities already in your plans and the new initiatives that you know will move the needle. Then I facilitate a prioritisation workshop with you and your team to unpack which activities drive the strategy and which activities should be prioritised. I handover a prioritised roadmap considering effort x impact and sequence it for now, next and wow.
You get clarity on your quickest wins and the most strategically impactful.
🔎Zooming in
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HOW
Customer expectations and technologies evolve fast which is why the systems and processes you've been relying on can seem to fall behind. I’m here to help your team operate in a customer-centric, strategically aligned way. Most often I hear “I didn’t know AI could do that” and “I now see why doing X helps us with Y”.
You pick a specific problem you’d like to solve - small or complex, existing or new - and I dive in to how it’s currently being done (or not done) and why. Then I provide tailored recommendations on the underlying data flows, technologies (existing and new) and workflows that will help free your team from unnecessary time and effort.
You get improvements to ways of working that make all the difference.
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HOW
This is probably the type of human-centred design you're most familiar with - service design, user experience and user interface. It might feel radically different to your usual approach to problem solving and at the same time make so much sense.
You choose a solution your organisation needs help designing - building on the strategy and insights we have - and we work through a specific use case. In a collaborative co-design session, I introduce you and your team to the tools and frameworks we use in human-centred design. You learn how to put your customer at the heart of problem solving. Then we can choose how detailed to make the solution for a smooth handover to your implementation team. I provide artefacts which might include a service blueprint, a product feature specification, user flows, high-level wireframes or a prototype.
You get a user-friendly experience your customers will love.
What is Human-centred Design?
Human-centred design (HCD) is a creative approach to problem-solving that puts people (users, customers, stakeholders) at the heart of the process. It means designing with people, not just for them.
We start by understanding a problem before solving it, framing it, generating ideas, developing and testing concepts.
A human-centred approach involves stakeholders at every step of the process, not just for inspiration at the beginning or delivery at the end.
What is Business Design?
Business design combines the tools of business thinkers, analysts, and strategists with the methods and mindsets of design. Business designers figure out how to translate human needs into business goals. We offer ways to experiment with meeting both the needs of the organisation and the value it intends to bring to people’s lives.
Business design is innovative by nature. We think about how every element of the business model affects the customer experience and vice versa.
Clients with a plan of action
“Mel is one of those exceptional people who truly understands both brand and business. At WelleCo, she held our brand standards at the highest level while building the systems and creative output needed to scale, with integrity, precision, and vision. She thinks strategically and moves with real commercial intelligence, but she never loses sight of the human on the other side.”
Elle Macpherson
Wellness Founder, Author & Speaker“To my mind Mel is one of the best strategic thinkers in Australia right now. There are very few practitioners in market with Mel’s deep expertise in developing strategic roadmaps and business strategies from a customer perspective.”
Ben Hourahine
APG Co-Chairman & Agency Strategy Partner“Mel is one of the most creative and passionate designers I’ve ever met. Her deep understanding of the power of brand, her belief in the beauty and integrity of clear, simple design and her knowledge of its application is inspiring. I will definitely work with Mel again on any and every project that needs truly creative input.”
Mat Peck
Chief Technology Officer & Executive Director