John Leach Email & Phone Number

San Diego, CA, US

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US

• Led product research and development initiatives for B2B2C products for invoice automation workflows, cash forecasting, consumer financing and payments leveraging emerging technologies including AI and machine learning
• Directed customer research for development team for PINACLE® Cash Forecasting, an award-winning tool providing financial managers the ability to generate forecasts utilizing artificial intelligence and machine learning
• Led discovery and design phase for development of EarnedIt, an innovative consumer financial wellness benefit that resulted in a 25% increase in adoption above plan
• Led customer research and development work for PNC Flex Pay, an innovative consumer financing product for in-store purchases that can be repaid through consumer-directed monthly installment plans
• Facilitated online workshop analyzing emerging trends through Mural board to elicit new product ideas resulting in 5 ideas moving through Discovery phase
• Managed customer research for PNC's B2C epayments platform to understand pain points and unmet needs in the issuance of payments from businesses to consumers in the forms of refunds, claims payments and adjustments

Chicago, IL, US

• Directed design research and strategy team, focusing on front-end innovation and concept development
• Led qualitative study on pressure cookers to inform design strategy for the next generation Instant Pot cooking appliance which sold out in 19 hours during Amazon Prime Days in 2018
• Managed UI/UX project for Zebra Technologies creating a more seamless and intuitive process for bar code technology printer resulting in an overall year-over-year growth of 4.8% in 2019
• Elevated Beyond Design thought leadership within the design community through speaking events and design thinking workshops with the Institute of Design

Lake Forest, Illinois, US

• Guided multidisciplinary teams in generating insights and developing disruptive business concepts from ideation to prototype testing stage through an iterative design innovation process
• Established Grainger’s Innovation Lab, fostering a collaborative space to facilitate co-creation with Fortune 500 customers
• Led contextual inquiry research with some of Grainger’s largest customers to understand pain points in the customer journey and identify opportunities for designing breakthrough products
• Mentored team of ten engineers and software developers in design thinking tools and methods

• Freelance design research and strategy professional for Egg Strategy and Philips+Co consulting firms
• Led mobile ethnography study uncovering consumer insights around product performance and brand equity for CPG company
• Assisted in facilitating innovation workshop with CPG company to ideate new opportunities for leading floor care brand

Chicago, IL, US

• Design research lead focused on translating contextual and user research insights into opportunities, new product and service offerings, and innovation processes
• In collaboration with cross-disciplinary team, created a new patient experience for YERVOY, a groundbreaking immunotherapy cancer treatment resulting in FDA approval in 2011
• Captured and communicated contextual and user research insights leading to development of Ford Work Solutions, a new platform of tools for the Ford F-150 truck, honored at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show for the.
• Collaborated on strategy refresh of Doblin’s Innovation Landscapes, a tool for highlighting innovation intensity within industries leveraging Doblin’s proprietary Ten Types of Innovation framework which led to a.
• Led development of novel proprietary trend tracking tool Doblin Lenses a new method for performing trend analysis to identify innovation opportunities which helped spur several new concept ideas for clients
• Co-developed framework around the Future of Healthcare to help leading medical device manufacturer set long-term innovation strategy

Columbus, OH, US

Provided strategic consulting to digital clients and client teams in the areas of consumer research, opportunity assessment, strategic formulation and brand positioning.