Pedro Falcao

1. Challenge

The British Council’s NPG sought to shift from an internally-driven, process-heavy approach that relied on long planning cycles, rigid decision-making, and assumptions about user needs to a more user-centered, iterative way of working. The existing model prioritized internal priorities and predefined solutions over user needs, rapid feedback, and adaptation. The goal was to embed Design Thinking into the product development process—fostering empathy, ideation, prototyping, and testing.

To drive this transformation, I partnered with key stakeholders to address a central question: How might we promote a customer-centric approach to product development within the NPG?

2. Strategic Approach

After evaluating the team's ways of working, I developed a strategy to embed Design Thinking, highlighting key actions to prioritize for a more customer-centric approach. These actions are not generic steps for implementing Design Thinking in organizations but are tailored to the British Council, reflecting the assessment of its existing workflows and needs.

1. Engage all the elements of the Product Team in early discussions and requirements gathering.
2. Prioritise problem-focused briefs over prescribed solutions.
3. Collaboratively create and maintain a  Product Canvas Model, an Outcome-focused Product Roadmap, and a Product Backlog.
4. Clearly communicate Product Backlog processes to team members.
5. Centralise all the Product Team tasks in a single Product Backlog.
6. Collaboratively prioritise items that are accepted for implementation.
7. Boost collaboration between Leadership and the Product Team.
8. Streamline research operation, including allocating budget for incentives.

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3. Implementing Agile Delivery

To support the adoption of Agile Delivery, I collaborated with the Project Management Office (PMO) to introduce a new Governance Framework. This framework established clear guidelines on roles, decision-making processes, and accountability while ensuring the flexibility needed for Agile teams to operate effectively.

This foundation is essential for successfully applying Design Thinking. In simple terms, Design Thinking (the "Why") focuses on solving problems with a customer-centric approach, while Agile Delivery (the "How") provides the structure and processes needed to develop and iterate on solutions efficiently. Without an Agile framework in place, implementing Design Thinking would be significantly more challenging, as teams would lack the flexibility, responsiveness, and iterative cycles necessary to bring user-centered solutions to life.

4. Outcomes & next steps

Transforming NPG’s approach to product development is an ongoing process. While initial steps have laid a strong foundation, embedding Design Thinking within a well-established environment requires time, iteration, and alignment across teams. Key challenges include resistance to change, balancing short-term delivery pressures with long-term change, and evolving ways of working. However, the commitment from stakeholders and an openness to experimentation have positioned NPG well for success. 

Moving forward, continuous learning, feedback loops, and a relentless focus on user needs will be crucial in fully embedding this customer-centric approach—ultimately leading to more innovative and impactful product outcomes.