Summary
In her talk, Karin reflects on her journey at Intuit from 2003 to 2014, detailing the challenges and successes she faced in driving customer-centric design. She begins by defining legacy as the lasting impact one has on others, emphasizing the importance of intentionality in creating that impact. Karin recounts the founding of Quicken by Scott Cook and Tom Pru, illustrating how a focus on customer insight led to revolutionary products. She discusses the shift in culture at Intuit over her tenure—initially grounded in user experience, the organization became siloed and distracted, leading to a decline in design quality. Karin shares stories from her efforts to revitalize the company's customer focus through initiatives like "Design for Delight" and the creation of "innovation catalysts." Her experiences underscore the need for executive buy-in, embracing customer emotions, fostering collective engagement, and establishing a strong design culture to make lasting change. Ultimately, Karin reflects on the lessons learned and the ongoing journey of becoming a truly design-driven organization.
Key Insights
-
•
Legacy is about having an impact that lasts, not just creating for immediate effect.
-
•
Focus on customer experience and ease of use to drive success.
-
•
Tools like usability benchmarking can reveal gaps in product performance.
-
•
Emotions play a crucial role in customer satisfaction and loyalty.
-
•
Having executive sponsors is essential for driving cultural change.
-
•
Empathy and user stories can significantly shift organizational priorities.
-
•
Innovative strategies should be adapted and integrated into the existing company framework.
-
•
Encouraging collaboration among teams can lead to more impactful solutions.
-
•
Investing in design leadership and talent is key for sustained improvement.
-
•
Scaling design thinking across the organization can create lasting organizational change.
Notable Quotes
"Legacy is about having an impact that lasts."
"The right question is to think about what is the impact that I want to have."
"When I looked at our competitors, we were about average."
"Executive sponsorship was essential to the success of our initiatives."
"Getting people's emotions and their hearts engaged is crucial to drive change."
"We decided we were going to be bigger and bolder."
"We found that when we gave D for D away, we were much more impactful as a group."
"When you have a partner in crime, you're much more willing to engage in risky behavior."
"At Intuit, being design-driven became a part of the company's DNA."
"We had to articulate our vision and keep going forward when knocked off course."
More Videos
"Prioritization work is all about getting stakeholders to agree on criteria."
Mark Interrante Harry MaxAI for Prioritization (3rd of 3 seminars)
July 11, 2024
"When you're looking at whatever measures you use, if you're chasing the outcome but not focusing on the means to get there, it's going to be pretty rough."
Sara Asche Anderson Jamie KaspszakNot Your Ordinary Re-Brand: Design's Path to Driving Customer Obsession at Best Buy
January 8, 2024
"Despite the change in format, this is the same conference in so many good ways."
Bria Alexander Louis RosenfeldWelcome
January 8, 2024
"Our theoretical ideals must resonate beyond the individual and collectivity is key for movements."
Uday Gajendar Adam RichardsonFrom AI to Zeitgeist: Theory as the design antidote to AI hype
March 27, 2025
"It's much better in science to misidentify a phenomenon that does exist than to misidentify one that does not exist."
Victor Lombardi Ted Booth HK Dunston Andrew OtwellBridging Design and Climate Science
February 14, 2024
"Secondary research can help reduce the burden associated with recruitment."
Cara Maritz Rachel NyThe Art of Extrapolation
March 29, 2023
"We've seen that in order to deliver great experiences, we need to focus on what happens behind the scenes."
Kristin SkinnerOpening Keynote: Org Design for Design Orgs
November 6, 2017
"The demand for prototyping has surged; it empowers teams to validate ideas faster."
David CroninThe GE Design System and Thoughts about Craft at Scale
May 13, 2015
"Our goal is to create a sound for you, the audience, and empathize with each other to do that."
Jim KalbachJazz Improvisation as a Model for Team Collaboration
November 6, 2017
