Strategic UX Workshop: Envisioning the Next Era of Digital Banking

Facilitated a creative workshop to generate product ideas rooted in user needs, analytics, and digital banking trends.

İş Bankası strategy workshop, team discussing around a table

Workshop materials spread across a table, overhead view

Key contributions: planning, facilitating, and driving outcomes.

My role

UX Designer

Scope

Planning · Facilitation · Outcomes

Timeline

2022–2023

To help İş Bankası evolve its digital banking roadmap, I co-led a high-impact strategy workshop with key stakeholders — UX designers, product owners, developers, and executives. The goal was to move beyond feature-packed roadmaps and focus on high-value initiatives that would drive long-term user engagement and business performance. We introduced structured frameworks to evaluate opportunities, align success metrics, and build consensus across teams.

cross-functional teams aligned

20+

participants across UX, product, dev, leadership

workshop phases

AARRR

Pirate Metrics framework introduced

Challenge

Roadmaps were filled with disconnected features and lacked strategic prioritization
Success was measured by delivery speed, not business or user impact
Teams lacked a shared language to evaluate ideas and align on goals
No clear method tied product ideas to long-term engagement or ROI
Stakeholders needed clarity on how digital investments connected to value

Methodology and procedure

To shape a future-focused roadmap, I co-designed and facilitated a structured, multi-phase workshop centered on shared goals and measurable impact.

Structured workshop, three phases

Value proposition posters and competitive benchmarking against Garanti BBVA, Revolut, and Coinbase

1. Goal alignment

Introduced Pirate Metrics (AARRR) to align product, UX, and business teams on growth success indicators.

Ideas categorized into Immediately Applicable, Needs Further Evaluation, and Not Applicable

2. Impact evaluation

Used a user–business value matrix to prioritize features by usability and business value.

Team worksheets mapping user journeys and breaking scenarios into actionable steps

3. Scenario-based ideation

Teams mapped journeys and friction points to identify opportunities and actionable next steps.

İş Bankası digital banking goals broken into Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Referral, and Revenue metrics

Fig. 1 — The AARRR (Pirate Metrics) framework mapped to İş Bankası's actual digital banking goals

Feature ideas scored against each other on a value and effort matrix

Fig. 2 — Scoring feature ideas against a shared value framework

Team & collaboration

20+ participants across UX, product, development, and business leadership
A guided collaboration format kept participation equal and discussion strategic
Key activities: rapid ideation rounds, feature-area breakout groups, success-metric mapping, UX and technical feasibility detailing, sprint-planning prep

Workshop participants collaborating around printed materials

Fig. 3 — Breakout group working through a feature area together

Outcome

Aligned five cross-functional teams around impact-first thinking
Created an outcome-focused roadmap centered on acquisition, retention, and satisfaction
Sparked a culture shift from shipping features to delivering measurable outcomes

Why this worked

Reduced idea overload by grounding decisions in real user needs and business priorities
Transformed abstract feature requests into a clear, actionable roadmap
Fostered alignment across teams through structured frameworks and co-creation
Shifted focus from delivery speed to long-term product impact

Reflection

This experience reinforced my ability to drive alignment, lead strategic facilitation, and turn ambiguity into direction.

“

The goal wasn't just to generate ideas — it was to shift the mindset from shipping features to delivering value.

Reflection — İş Bankası strategy workshop