John Won

John Won believes in the power of empathy and creativity to design better financial services that can help low-income people achieve prosperity. As Director of the Financial Health program at IDEO.org, he guides teams in the Human-Centered Design process from behavioral insights to prototype tests, working closely with partner organizations to implement impactful solutions for low-income people.

At IDEO.org, John has led a range of design work focused on financial inclusion and digital financial services, including an improved customer-service experience for mobile money with Tigo Cash in Ghana and a smallholder-farmer centered suite of marketing and digital savings with Econet in Zimbabwe, both in partnership with the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP). John previously worked in IDEO’s New York studio where he specialized in communicating the business case at the heart of customer-centered innovation. Before that, John served as a news-graphics editor at The Wall Street Journal, where he covered financial, economic, and political news; and he has consulted in information design and data visualization.

By John Won

Blog

Swiping Right: Ideo.org Prototypes Mobile Money on Smartphones

IDEO.org believes new smartphone technology and human-centered interaction design of mobile-money apps can go a long way to solve problems and open up new doors, especially for low-income people. Here are key lessons from their recent financial health work in design-led prototyping.
Blog

Gaining Insights into Digital Design from Cambodia’s Smallholders

Insights from smallholders are informing the design of better digital financial services for farmers in Cambodia, through a human-centered design process.