Launching a global ethics and risk tool in under a year
Following a high-profile regulatory setback, a global healthcare company needed to change how its people think about risk, and fast. Its Ethics, Risk and Compliance (ERC) team had less than a year to launch a digital risk management tool for more than 100,000 employees. There had been plenty of talk, but very little action. I led the work to change that.
&us consultancy
My role
Client, project and design lead
Plus the team
1–2 designers on rotation, with &us directors brought in as needed
Length
Quarterly engagements, from summer 2022 to launch in under a year, then ongoing
PRODUCT DESIGN • UX RESEARCH & USER TESTING • STAKEHOLDER WORKSHOPS • AGILE AND USER-CENTRED COACHING • LAUNCH NARRATIVE • EVENT DESIGN, VIDEO AND COMMS
Progress over perfection
With a deadline like that, there was no time to sit in analysis. We set the problem out clearly, agreed on a roadmap and got moving. The bigger shift was cultural: helping the team move away from a single "big launch" towards a product that keeps improving, release by release.
The approach
Collaborative workshops with stakeholders, end users and colleagues across the division
Regular user testing as each version of the tool took shape
Frequent demos for senior stakeholders, sharing changes early so there were never any big reveals
Coaching the client's own teams in agile, user-centred ways of working
Firm on the problem, flexible on the answer
The aim never moved: help employees make confident, ethical decisions in their everyday work. How we got there changed constantly. When an idea didn't work for real users, we let it go and tried the next one. The result was a risk management tool that feels intuitive rather than bureaucratic, and that people actually want to use.
Launching a mindset, as well as a tool
Shipping the product was only half the job. We built the story around it: videos, decks and a clear narrative explaining the tool, its processes and the new mindsets behind it.
It all came together at a three-day, in-person launch event, the first time the team had met face to face in three years. ERC leadership teams from across Europe took part in scenario role-play, visited information stalls and heard from senior leaders. Then they signed a commitment wall, publicly pledging to lead the new ways of working.
Results
60k+
people reached with the tool
<1 year
from concept to launch
3-day
launch event in Europe
The outcome
The tool and its new ways of working have now rolled out to over 60,000 people around the world. Because we won the work one quarter at a time, every engagement had to earn the next. The account kept growing: from iteratively developing the tool itself, into communicating and marketing it across the organisation.
Next steps
The partnership with the ERC team continued, evolving the product with its users and helping more of the organisation make better decisions, faster.
