Understanding our users & markets is a core pillar for me. The products that succeed are grounded in peoples’ existing behaviors, attitudes, or values. To have a strategy, we need a unique point of view on the problem we’re solving, and how we’re going to solve it better than anything in the market. That level of perspective requires time and immersion in our markets.
For this reason, I chose to step into an expansion role and lead our discovery efforts in Latin America. My work spanned business development to structure partnerships necessary for launch; to corporate structuring & legal requirements analysis; to setting research direction on the competitive landscape & user needs.
As we get acquainted with new markets, the most special part for me is still meeting prospective customers and understanding who they are as people, their holistic financial lives, and how Tala can play a part. We conduct both home visits & 1:1 interviews as we scope new markets and prepare for a launch. What follows below is one particular visit from one of our exploration markets.
My goal with this video was to capture the full arc of a home visit & foundational financial life interview. Not just the soundbites and highlights, but something as close to the full experience as possible. Nothing beats being proximate & in-person, but as we grow as an organization, it’s imperative to find ways to scale our user understanding. The video is 20 minutes long — but compared to a round trip flight, 3 hour drive, and 2 hour visit — perhaps that’s a pretty good deal. :)