Marking over 10 years of experience design at Capital One
How design continues to help shape customer experiences and drive business impact.
Since Capital One’s earliest days, we’ve focused on delivering customer-backed solutions to help millions of people with their financial lives and, ultimately, to change banking for good. Arriving at those solutions has always been a deeply customer-centric process, bringing together data, analytics and insights to understand customer needs and behavior.
In the late 2000s, as the revolution of big data and machine learning started to enable instant, mass-customized solutions for consumers and businesses, we embarked on a data and technology transformation. We rebuilt our tech stack and infrastructure, built a modern data ecosystem and went all in the cloud, drove convergence to enterprise platforms, transformed how we built software and began to build out an in-house technology organization.
It was clear that reflecting a deep understanding of our customers’ needs and delivering intuitive solutions would be a critical key to success in this journey, and one that we could deliver by investing in design talent and perspective.
Before joining the company in 2023, I long admired the way Capital One recognized that design has the power to be a catalyst for innovation, differentiation and growth. With empathy and curiosity, design can unlock a true understanding of our customers and help to better solve their core problems.
The evolution of a modern design practice
Building great experiences and solving the hardest customer problems requires strong cross-functional collaboration and world-class talent. Just as we began to scale our teams of engineers, machine learning and cloud specialists, product managers and data scientists, we also began to hire from the design community to bring a customer-backed, human-centered approach to our technology transformation.
In 2014, the highly admired design firm Adaptive Path joined Capital One to expand our core design practices, and we hired seasoned design leaders from beacons like Apple, Intuit, AOL and Google.
Capital One's acquisition of Adaptive Path was an audacious, groundbreaking move that set a new precedent for design in the enterprise. Together, we created a vibrant design culture at a scale rarely seen. Ten years later, it's gratifying to see that same bold spirit embodied in the human-centered culture of Design at Capital One.
In the 10+ years since the integration of Adaptive Path into Capital One, we have expanded our practice to include user research, product design, design operations and content design. We continue investing in attracting and developing talent across the full spectrum of design disciplines.
Delivering impact through collaboration and integration
Today, Experience Design at Capital One has evolved to a team of several hundred designers who are integrated across every facet of our business. We work closely alongside technology and engineering, product, data science, business analysts, risk management and numerous other disciplines in truly collaborative partnerships.
We have a unique vantage point to look at our Capital One experience holistically and see how this experience comes together, “minding the seams.”
At the heart of our work is deeply understanding the individuals we serve. Design at Capital One works across every business and every context, investing in the experiences for both our customers and associates. It’s this unwavering commitment to the human experience, from the everyday moments to the most significant financial journeys, that drives our passion.
Designing customer experiences across every touchpoint
Every day, we work through problem definition, creative exploration, excellent execution and solution communication and measurement to co-create memorable, meaningful experiences that fulfill Capital One’s mission with humanity while driving measurable business impact.
From creating vision to iterative prototyping, developing product strategy to defining impactful research questions, we are designing for customer experiences and touchpoints both inside and outside of Capital One, including:
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AI, machine learning & data experiences
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Auto dealers and consumers
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Card customers
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Commercial and small business bank customers
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Enterprise partners including our platform teams, developers, HR, finance, risk and many more
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Digital experiences for Capital One Cafes and airport lounges
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Software as a service (SaaS) products
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Premium experiences across travel, dining, shopping and entertainment
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Retail bank customers… and much more
Driving innovation in financial services through design
The experiences we help build aren’t just innovative or industry-first. They help give our customers confidence and convenience when spending, and help solve real-world problems. Just a few recent examples include:
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Chat Concierge our multi-agentic conversational AI assistant that makes car buying simpler. It connects car buyers with the dealers, helping them find the right car, schedule a test drive, and digitally progress through the car buying journey.
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A suite of free subscription management tools in the Capital One mobile app. Customers can view all their active subscriptions in one clear, organized dashboard, cancel select recurring charges or block unwanted charges before they hit, and receive proactive alerts about upcoming subscription renewals.
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A Cashier’s Check Kiosk that issues same-day, on-demand cashier’s checks at locations convenient to our customers. Using just their mobile phone and a QR code, customers can get a cashier’s check without having to wait in line or get banker assistance.
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An internal generative AI servicing tool that helps equip our customer service agents with accurate, efficient information to better serve our customers when they call us.
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A range of critical enterprise platforms, processes and tools that enable our associates to enhance their work and productivity and drive business outcomes – from data and AI to HR, finance, risk and other areas.
It’s an incredibly exciting time to be working in Design at Capital One. Through strategic design and cross-functional collaboration, we help deliver meaningful value to our over 100 million customers in every sphere of their lives. Design has the privilege and profound responsibility to shape experiences across the Capital One ecosystem, impacting people's financial well-being and beyond.
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