Paul Wilshaw · Designed for Humans

Barclays · 2017–2019 · Head of Creative Technology and Innovation

Making room for experiments

Test the idea before committing to the build.

The challenge

Long release cycles meant opportunities could move on before features reached customers. The business needed a way to test feasibility and customer needs earlier.

What I did

My team built working prototypes in two-week sprints. We explored emerging technology and tested ideas with customers, including experiments in mobile cheque scanning. Workshops and demonstrations brought senior stakeholders into the process.

What changed

Leadership could make investment decisions using evidence. Experiments that did not reach production still provided learning and removed risk before a much larger investment.

Highlights

  • Managed the team behind the UK's first cheque-scanning feature. Our apprentices pitched the Chancellor of the Exchequer on changing the law on storing cheques.
  • Introduced 3D printing to Barclays, with the 3D printer my team won when I coached them to first place at a Google hackathon. It later inspired the maker spaces across the Eagle Labs network.
  • Led lab engineers across 20+ Barclays Eagle Labs, plus design for Eagle Labs' customer and colleague apps covering AI and Open Banking.
  • Shaped the Digital Wings, Eagle UX and Eagle X programmes, and helped Pingit and Barclays Mobile Banking reach an NPS of 80+.
  • Ran innovation projects with start-ups and established businesses, including 3D-printed bones for the NHS, interactive point-of-sale displays for Morrisons and VR Mars training for schools.
  • The apps won 68+ awards across Mobile Banking, Pingit and Barclaycard.
  • Led design and development of the DADI award-winning Childline and NSPCC app, with Amaze.
  • Led the UX team on a blockchain-based global currency and foreign exchange platform that worked with the bank's existing systems.
  • Paired senior staff with apprentices in the UK and Lithuania on live work, and mentored the apprentices myself. Several went on to Apple, Microsoft and Amazon, and most now lead teams of their own.