Join us as we dive into the world of fintech innovation with insights from Lakshmi Kalapu, Director of Product Innovation at Visa in Singapore. Lakshmi brings deep product innovation expertise spanning top companies like PayPal, Wise and NIUM. In her lively session with the BonBillo community, Lakshmi shared her secrets to creating customer-centric solutions that are ahead of the competition. Get ready for a snapshot of her top tips and lessons learned!
Lakshmi kicked off her session by emphasizing that product innovation is not just a series of technical steps but an art. And like any art form, it requires creativity, passion, and a deep understanding of your audience. She believes in placing the customer at the heart of every product decision, a philosophy that ensures solutions are both user-centric and commercially viable. This approach is pivotal in crafting products that not only meet but exceed market expectations.
Lakshmi shared some simplified product innovation principles inspired by the Lean Product Playbook, which she has seen come to life in her career:
Lakshmi provided real-world examples to illustrate these principles in action. She talked about Wise, which tackled the broad problem of slow and expensive cross-border payments without focusing on a specific customer segment. Their mission-driven approach and commitment to transparency revolutionized the industry, setting a new standard.
She also highlighted PayPal’s early days, where they targeted a narrow segment - eBay sellers and buyers - solving the problem of online payment inefficiencies. This focus on a specific user group allowed PayPal to create a groundbreaking solution that addressed multiple pain points, such as enhancing security and eliminating postal checks.
Lakshmi shared several lessons from her journey that are invaluable for anyone in the field of product innovation:
To wrap up her presentation, Lakshmi shared some of her favorite tools and techniques for validating and optimizing products:
In the session, a healthtech founder highlighted a common challenge in the B2B sector: getting healthcare facilities to adopt new technology. While it's relatively easy to create an Android app for healthcare workers, convincing facilities to transition from traditional methods, like using WhatsApp for communications, to a new web app has proven difficult. This reluctance is largely due to ingrained habits and the complexity of the ecosystem, which involves various user groups within healthcare facilities.
Lakshmi Kalapu suggested a dual approach: targeting senior leadership to demonstrate the overall cost benefits and advantages of adopting the new system, and simultaneously addressing the habitual use of WhatsApp by making the transition process easier and more relatable for the staff. This could involve incorporating familiar elements of WhatsApp into the new app, ensuring that users don't feel overwhelmed by a completely new process.
Additionally, when asked about creating a "10x better" solution, Lakshmi emphasized the importance of identifying key parameters such as quality, speed, and timeliness. She advised that while it might be tempting to focus on a single metric, it's crucial to maintain certain "table stakes" or basic standards that meet current market expectations. These foundational aspects ensure that the new solution is viable and competitive compared to existing methods. Once these are established, the startup can then concentrate on one or two differentiating factors to stand out in the market. This balanced approach helps in building a robust product that not only meets industry standards but also offers unique advantages.
A B2B marketplace product leader asked about validating and optimizing product features with small retailers who are not highly tech-savvy. The challenge lies in designing user interfaces that these users can understand and provide feedback on, as they often do not initially comprehend new features and require additional explanations to grasp them.
Lakshmi offered several practical strategies to tackle this issue. Firstly, she suggested using short videos or how-to guides to improve understanding, as these formats can make content more accessible and relatable for users. Secondly, she recommended offering incentives to encourage users to engage and provide feedback. This could be in the form of monetary rewards or platform points. Additionally, gamifying the feedback process, such as offering chances to win prizes for providing feedback, can increase participation and engagement.
She also proposed creating a small community or pool of users who are incentivized to regularly test and provide feedback on new features. This approach can streamline the process, allowing the company to efficiently gather insights without having to repeatedly recruit new testers. This community-based method ensures a steady flow of feedback and can help identify trends or common issues more quickly. By implementing these strategies, businesses can enhance user comprehension and optimize their products effectively.
In response to a question about empowering teams with autonomy and trust, Lakshmi Kalapu emphasized several key strategies.
Firstly, she highlighted the importance of defining clear outcomes and success indicators for the business. This approach shifts the focus from task-oriented to outcome-oriented measurement, allowing teams to understand their goals and how success will be evaluated. Such clarity in expectations empowers teams to take ownership of their responsibilities.
She also discussed the significance of structuring technology teams to enable independent operation. She cited Wise as an example, where tech architecture allowed regional teams to make changes autonomously, minimizing interdependencies. This structure fosters a sense of empowerment among engineers and encourages innovation by allowing them to act without waiting for central approvals.
Finally, Lakshmi stressed the need to normalize failure within the organization. Encouraging open discussions about failures and viewing them as learning opportunities rather than taboos can create an environment where team members feel safe to experiment and innovate. This mindset not only fosters creativity but also builds a resilient team culture that embraces growth through trial and error.
In conclusion, Lakshmi Kalapu’s session was a masterclass in the art of product innovation. Her insights, born from years of experience at the forefront of fintech, are a testament to the power of creativity, customer-centricity, and strategic thinking in building successful products. Whether you’re leading a startup or navigating the complexities of a large corporation, her lessons are a beacon for anyone striving to innovate and make a meaningful impact in their industry.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/srilakshmikalapu/