All case studies Real projectCase study 02 · Digital platforms & fintech

One member experience for nine merging platforms

Lead Service & Member Experience DesignerTalenthouse · London (remote)

A London-based creator platform with 16M+ members was merging nine platforms into one. I led the service and member experience design.

Role: Lead Service & Member Experience Designer
Scope: London-based creator platform, 16M+ members; 9 platforms in a post-merger integration; fintech product TalentPlus
Duration: Jan 2022 – May 2023
Outcome: Target-state member experience defined; TalentPlus redesign researched and prototyped; stopped by company restructuring

The challenge

Nine platforms, one member

Nine platforms were merging into one, each with its own members, habits and processes. At the same time, the fintech product TalentPlus had launched without any customer input.

The context

Before generative AI

This was 2022, before generative AI tools were part of everyday work. ChatGPT only launched at the very end of that year. Everything an AI assistant would speed up today, I did manually:

By handGen AI arrives

Jan 2022I join30 Nov 2022ChatGPT launchesMay 2023Role ends

Sentiment analysisMember feedback read and coded by hand to see how people felt, and why.

Support tickets and messagesTagged one by one into themes, to find what kept going wrong.

Member behaviourPatterns pieced together across support, marketing and operations.

Interview synthesisNotes from member interviews clustered manually into insights.

Personas and jobs to be doneBuilt from that evidence, not from assumptions.

Maps and blueprintsJourney maps, storyboards, story maps and service blueprints, drawn and updated by hand.

Today AI can do the first pass in minutes. Having done it all by hand is how I know what good synthesis looks like, and when the AI gets it wrong.

What I did

Research first, then one experience

01Owned the member research strategy. I brought together Voice of the Customer input from support, marketing and operations, and turned it into product and design decisions.
02Defined the target-state member experience across the full member lifecycle, for all nine platforms.
03Aligned cross-functional teams with journey maps, storyboards and service blueprints, and simplified complex internal processes.
04Redesigned TalentPlus around its members. Member research, personas, jobs to be done, story maps, a design system and a prototype tested in member interviews.

The result

A clear target, honestly reported

16M+members brought into one target member experience

9platforms merging into one

1target member experience, and a member-tested TalentPlus concept

The company had one target member experience for nine platforms, and a member-tested concept for TalentPlus.

The company restructured after its Swiss stock-market listing, before the redesign relaunched, so there are no launch numbers to report.

How it fitted together

From member voices to one experience

Press the buttons to see the merger before and after.

Diagram drawn for this case study. Platform names and internal documents are not shown. Swipe sideways to see the whole diagram.

TalentPlus · the fintech product

Launched without customer input. Redesigned around its members.

01Member researchListening to members first
02Personas and jobs to be doneBuilt from that evidence
03Story mapsWhat members need, in the order they need it
04Design systemOne consistent product
05Prototype testedValidated in member interviews

Working with Iz is a huge pleasure, she brings passion and customer-focus to work each and every day.

Liz von Loewen · Chief of Staff, Talenthouse

Isabel was able to create complex operational strategies … she was able to walk the c-suite through in-depth customer user journeys, whilst incorporating a creative approach.

Rachelle Palmer · Marketing & communications, Talenthouse