Case Study: Design Sprints · ServiceNow Workflow Design Studio · 2026
When you have a complex or novel business challenge and need alignment and validation in addition to ideas, a design sprint can work wonders.
THE SITUATION
Visa's fraud analysts were juggling 11+ disconnected systems to work a single case, and Visa was evaluating ServiceNow as the orchestration layer for a new Integrated Risk Platform. I needed to dig deep to understand the problem, their users, the technology ecosystem, and then create a compelling vision. This fit right into my playbook for a design sprint. The challenge was we needed to present the solution to execs in just 6 weeks.
One sentence. Business-level problem. What would go wrong if this wasn't solved?
MY APPROACH
Communicate clearly + set and maintain expectations + leverage AI. I restructured the typical 12-week discovery-to-solution sequence into a tightly run 6-week sprint. In our kick-off, we laid out the calendar, milestones, risks, and reviews. I began discovery interviews the same day and used a rolling synthesis to ensure scope and architecture always reflected the evolving body of research. We entered our 2-day co-innovation workshop prepared and left with everything the architect and designer needed to build the concept. Visa got the same depth of discovery and the same fidelity of solution, in half the typical time, made possible in part by AI-assisted synthesis tooling I built specifically for this purpose.
INSIGHTS AND FACTORS
- Awareness of the platform vision was inconsistent. Reviewers, supervisors, and product leads across four countries each held a different piece of the problem and their own version of success.
- An executive decision-making meeting was a forcing function to the timeline. Discovery, synthesis, in-person co-innovation, and solution definition were compressed with little room for slippage.
- I created an AI-powered toolset to accelerate and automate tasks that were previously manual and time-consuming. The toolset improved data retention and usage and ensured the team delivered all requirements.
2–3 bullets. What did you understand that wasn't obvious?
My Specific Contribution
I was the sole client-facing strategist, accountable for both the quality of the engagement and the calendar. I scoped and ran 16 stakeholder interviews across the US, UK, Brazil, and Australia, then sequenced and co-facilitated the three-day Atlanta workshop that turned the findings into a validated future-state vision and reference architecture. I completed all this all 6 weeks from kickoff to readout.
The Outcomes
| Typical Engagement |
This Sprint |
12 weeks
kickoff to readout |
6 weeks
kickoff to readout |
Discovery, then solution
sequential phases |
Discovery, validation & solution build
run in parallel |
Compressed timeline risk
often costs fidelity |
Full fidelity held
purchasing commitment secured |
50% faster
12-week engagement compressed to 6, without cutting scope or sacrificing solution fidelity.
16 interviews / 3 days
Interviews across the US, UK, Brazil, and Australia and 3 workshop days in Atlanta required rigor and discipline.
Commitment secured
Visa moved from evaluation to a purchasing commitment. Their decision-maker commented "We're all in" on the solution.