Milan, 2021 - THINGS

︎ www.things.is

THINGS × BVA Doxa — Data-Driven Service Innovation

Context

THINGS and BVA Doxa set out to explore a new partnership at the intersection of design-driven innovation and customer experience research. The ambition was to introduce fresh value into the market by combining:

THINGS’ product- and service-led design approach, and
BVA Doxa’s expertise in quantitative, qualitative, and ethnographic research

The central challenge was not simply to collaborate, but to define a shared value proposition and repeatable offering that could translate research insight into tangible, market-relevant innovation. At the beginning of 2020 - just before the pandemic - the partners initiated a series of workshops to align perspectives, capabilities, and strategic intent.

Approach

As Senior Service Designer, I designed and facilitated the co-creation process that led to a shared innovation framework and service offering. My role focused on structuring cross-disciplinary collaboration, enabling sensemaking, and turning insights into a concrete, client-ready proposition.

→ Value proposition co-creation

I orchestrated and facilitated a series of workshops involving THINGS and key BVA Doxa stakeholders, including marketing leadership and quantitative and qualitative research teams. The workshops were designed to:

surface complementary strengths and overlaps
align on a common view of innovation and value creation
articulate a shared narrative grounded in human behavior and data

This process resulted in a joint value proposition centered on a data-driven, human-centered approach to innovation - transforming research insights into desirable experiences with measurable market impact.

→ Framework & offering design

Building on the shared value proposition, I supported the definition of a structured innovation framework and the design of a modular service offering. The resulting framework combined:

research and trend analysis
scenario building and sensemaking
co-creation and concept development

This was translated into two complementary service formats under the Innovation Boost offering:

Panoramic Workshops, providing a broad, strategic view on innovation across industries and themes
Immersive Workshops, tailored to specific organizational challenges and innovation goals

Image (below): workshop design

Result

The project resulted in:

a shared, articulated value proposition for the THINGS × BVA Doxa partnership
a repeatable innovation framework bridging research and design
a market-ready service offering structured as Innovation Boost

The framework was designed to be adaptable across industries while maintaining a consistent methodology and quality standard.

Outcome

The partnership was officially launched in the summer of 2020.
The Innovation Boost framework was subsequently applied in collaboration with BVA Doxa clients, including Edenred and Europ Assistance, across domains such as:

sustainability
mobility
home & family
health services

Through pilot engagements, the framework was validated as a tool to:

align stakeholders around innovation opportunities
translate research insight into actionable service concepts
support clients in navigating complexity and making informed strategic decisions

Beyond individual projects, the work helped establish a shared way of working between design and research disciplines - demonstrating how data-driven insight and service design can reinforce each other to create meaningful, market-relevant innovation.