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Design Strategy

From zero to hero: how we turned a team of two designers into a strategic UX Center of Expertise.

Long Lecture

🇬🇧 English

About

A case study on how we developed the team from two designers tasked with “doing design thinking” into a strategic asset at the heart of the digital transformation of the bank. I will share my experiences of navigating a huge corporate structure and building the understanding of the value of good UX design and of understanding the bureaucratic and regulatory environment that lead to developing the UX team.

Talk by

Photo of Kuba Danecki, Head of UX Competence Center at BNP Paribas

Head of UX Competence Center at BNP Paribas

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From the recording

Talk in brief

A case study on growing a small UX practice into an organization-wide center of expertise. One flagship product cannot raise maturity by itself; progress spreads through small acts that colleagues can reuse, from improving an internal tool to sharing a design system, creating a first prototype, or helping a team brief a vendor. The speakers show how seemingly minor work can become influential when it gives others language and artifacts for better decisions. Sustainable maturity also requires boundaries so the UX team enables the organization without becoming its exhausted service desk.

Key takeaways

01
Start with small visible improvements
A UX center grows credibility by solving concrete problems before attempting to govern the entire organization.
Watch from 2:29
02
Do not rely on one flagship product
Even a major budget and successful experience cannot raise maturity across unrelated teams and internal systems by itself.
Watch from 7:41
03
Improve imperfect internal journeys too
Modest changes to frequently used staff tools can build relationships and demonstrate the value of customer-centered thinking.
Watch from 13:04
04
Share artifacts others can carry forward
A first sketch or prototype may help colleagues brief vendors and influence work far beyond the original request.
Watch from 23:48
05
Protect the team from maturity burnout
UX enablement needs priorities, self-service resources, and clear boundaries so specialists are not required in every decision.
Watch from 35:46

Video chapters

2:29From small UX practice to expertise center
The opening outlines a gradual maturity path any organization can adapt rather than a single transformation launch.
7:41Why one major product cannot transform everything
Organization-wide maturity requires influence across many teams, systems, budgets, and customer groups.
13:04Finding leverage in an internal front-desk tool
An imperfect operational interface becomes an opportunity for practical improvement and relationship building.
18:45When the design system was the whole practice
Early team history shows how reusable foundations can begin with very limited people and scope.
23:48Artifacts that influence external vendors
A simple drawing gives colleagues a concrete way to communicate quality expectations outside the team.
29:42Defining work only the UX team should own
The discussion explores which responsibilities remain specialist and which should become distributed capability.
35:46Raising maturity without exhausting specialists
The final question addresses boundaries, demand, and the risk of burnout during organizational change.

Read edited transcript highlights

These concise notes were edited from automatic captions and checked against the talk structure. They are not a verbatim transcript.

Credibility begins with a problem someone recognizes

A center of expertise does not need to begin with a mandate covering the whole organization. Small improvements can show how UX changes outcomes, introduce useful language, and create collaborators. Each piece of work should solve a real problem while leaving behind a method or artifact that makes the next team less dependent on persuasion from zero.

Watch from 2:29

A flagship experience cannot pull every system upward

A large public product may receive substantial budget and design attention while internal tools and smaller services remain difficult. Organizational maturity is distributed across teams and decisions, so one success cannot substitute for broader capability. The UX practice needs multiple paths of influence, including operations, procurement, standards, teaching, and strategic partnership.

Watch from 7:41

Internal products are important maturity terrain

Staff tools often expose fragmented ownership and low expectations, yet they shape service delivered to customers every day. Improving one practical task can reduce operational friction and help colleagues experience the benefits of research and iteration directly. The work may be visually modest while creating strong advocates for better product practice.

Watch from 13:04

A small artifact can travel beyond its creator

A prototype or sketch may be the first concrete expression of quality a team has ever possessed. Colleagues can use it to explain intent to vendors, compare proposals, or protect a customer need during procurement. UX influence grows when artifacts are understandable and portable, rather than meaningful only while the designer is present.

Watch from 23:48

Enablement must reduce future dependency

As maturity grows, requests can overwhelm the specialists who helped create demand. Templates, design systems, office hours, training, and decision criteria should allow others to handle lower-risk work. The UX team then reserves direct involvement for consequential uncertainty, while clear intake and priorities protect its energy from becoming an unlimited internal service.

Watch from 35:46

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