Client: Bitpanda | Year: 2022
Context
In 2022, following a significant shift from bullish to bearish market conditions in the cryptocurrency industry, Bitpanda faced heightened competition and evolving customer expectations. Recognizing the urgency to remain innovative and resilient, the Head of Experience Design tasked me with critically examining and revamping existing research methodologies. This marked a pivotal moment to strategically enhance Bitpanda’s capabilities for anticipating market trends and understanding user needs.
In 2022, following a significant shift from bullish to bearish market conditions in the cryptocurrency industry, Bitpanda faced heightened competition and evolving customer expectations. Recognizing the urgency to remain innovative and resilient, the Head of Experience Design tasked me with critically examining and revamping existing research methodologies. This marked a pivotal moment to strategically enhance Bitpanda’s capabilities for anticipating market trends and understanding user needs.
Goals
The core objective was to equip Bitpanda with an adaptable and future-oriented research approach, ensuring the company’s continued competitiveness and resilience amidst market volatility. By introducing forward-looking methodologies, we aimed to provide strategic clarity, foster innovation, and proactively address emerging user and market trends.
The core objective was to equip Bitpanda with an adaptable and future-oriented research approach, ensuring the company’s continued competitiveness and resilience amidst market volatility. By introducing forward-looking methodologies, we aimed to provide strategic clarity, foster innovation, and proactively address emerging user and market trends.
Methods
I conducted extensive desk research and expert interviews to deeply understand foresight research and speculative design practices, evaluating their potential strategic applications within Bitpanda’s context. Subsequently, I facilitated collaborative sessions with cross-functional internal stakeholders, aligning the new approach with Bitpanda’s strategic goals and organizational vision.
I conducted extensive desk research and expert interviews to deeply understand foresight research and speculative design practices, evaluating their potential strategic applications within Bitpanda’s context. Subsequently, I facilitated collaborative sessions with cross-functional internal stakeholders, aligning the new approach with Bitpanda’s strategic goals and organizational vision.
Based on stakeholder insights and extensive methodological research, I designed a structured framework inspired by the double-diamond process, providing Bitpanda with a clear and replicable roadmap for future exploratory research. To validate the methodology, I piloted a strategic study focused on values-based investing—a critical emerging trend within finance. This involved internal surveys, trend analyses, and speculative ideation sessions, allowing exploration of potential user preferences and future market scenarios.
Outcome
The introduction of foresight research and speculative design significantly enhanced Bitpanda’s strategic research capabilities. The successful pilot on values-based investing demonstrated the framework’s capacity to deliver actionable insights and strategic clarity within a highly volatile market.
The introduction of foresight research and speculative design significantly enhanced Bitpanda’s strategic research capabilities. The successful pilot on values-based investing demonstrated the framework’s capacity to deliver actionable insights and strategic clarity within a highly volatile market.
Although my departure from Bitpanda meant I could not directly measure long-term impacts, the new structured research approach provided the organization with a clear foundation for ongoing innovation, strategic agility, and resilience. This forward-looking research methodology positioned Bitpanda effectively to navigate market uncertainty and seize future growth opportunities.
Testimonial
"Benjamin has a been a key player in our design team, supporting our discovery studies. His diversity of experiences, away from the digital world but in close contact with humanity in wildly different contexts, brought a flavour that most tech companies miss - innovation doesn't happen by understanding technology alone, but how to bridge that to humans in a way that is actually desired! Leading foresight studies and speculative design exercises, he landed such foreign concepts in the MVP world with vigour and managed to trigger curiosity and participation from many different stakeholders."
- Raquel Damas, Head of Experience Design
"Benjamin has a been a key player in our design team, supporting our discovery studies. His diversity of experiences, away from the digital world but in close contact with humanity in wildly different contexts, brought a flavour that most tech companies miss - innovation doesn't happen by understanding technology alone, but how to bridge that to humans in a way that is actually desired! Leading foresight studies and speculative design exercises, he landed such foreign concepts in the MVP world with vigour and managed to trigger curiosity and participation from many different stakeholders."
- Raquel Damas, Head of Experience Design
