Capital One card pilot: 0→1 product launch and activation
Launching a reimagined credit card inside a Capital One Café, from app onboarding with a 90%+ success rate to physical card design.
Result: Over a three-month pilot, we met our sign-up goals and raised card spend, NPS and café foot traffic. In-app onboarding achieved a 90%+ success rate.
Problem: Capital One wanted to launch a reimagined credit card as a lifestyle product, testing it in a real-world setting inside a Capital One Café and collecting hard data on its business impact before investing further.
Role: Design/Creative Director, managing a multidisciplinary team of 10+ and owning the end-to-end customer experience across design, research and creative. I set the vision and pilot strategy, led people and process, and served as the project's ambassador.
Approach:
Defined the go-to-pilot strategy and acquisition experience, from café discovery through sign-up and in-app activation.
Led web and mobile onboarding UX, supervised physical card prototype development, and oversaw the in-café environmental design and fabrication.
Directed agency and vendor partners across video, photography, 3D video and marketing.
Skills shown: 0→1 launch, onboarding and activation, end-to-end experience design, creative and team leadership.
Our goal with this pilot was to launch ‘the credit card reimagined’ as a lifestyle product, inside a Capital One cafe, and collect hard data on the impact to our business.
I assembled early vision pieces to help execs imagine using a cafe for a product launch
Pre-work included collaborative workshops to develop the experience blueprint
I had the blueprints translated into story boards to illustrate the E2E experience
I led photo shoots for modelling the cards, skateboarder Jasmine was a perfect choice
Early sketches become reality working closely with fabricators and designers
Concepts geet fleshed out in 3D before final fabrication and material selection
The custom-built display and wall highlights the cards, complete with 3D video on loop
Detail of final card trays installed around the display table
A streamlined application process made it easy for Ambassadors to collect sign-ups
Rigorous usability testing gave us the advantage of simplicity, clarity and efficiency, while collecting customer data
The sign-up app UI themes responded to the style and color of card chosen
Overseeing the installation of marketing materials and physical components
Ambassadors intercepted interested customers to provide information
Launch day was exciting for everyone, as we watched customers peruse in awe
On launch day I interviewed customers, cafe staff, and team members with a film crew
The final 5 card designs, all snug in the custom-made wallets I designed
Jimmy led his team of amazing cafe ambassadors during the launch
Outside the Capital One Cafe Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia with visible signage to draw in the curious at night
On press with card manufacturers in Denver. Earlier materials research led us to factories in China, Japan, and Korea.
A custom wallet and "thank you" cards