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Izwan Ismail
Human Centred Strategist | Founder with 2 exits | Digital finance | Founder of UX Malaysia
Izwan Ismail is a digital and design leader with over a decade of experience across startups, scaleups, and corporations.1 He currently holds the position of Director, Head of Human-Centred Design - Transforming Customer Journey, Group Strategy at CIMB.
Professional Background
Izwan has an extensive and diverse career history:
Leadership Roles::
- Expert Associate Partner at McKinsey & Company (October 2017 - October 2019)1
- Deputy President 1 at Technopreneurs Association of Malaysia (TeAM) (October 2016 - May 2019)1
- Co-Founder and Director of Design & User Experience at VLT Labs (March 2013 - December 2017)1
Advisory and Consultancy::
- Design and UX Advisor at Supahands (November 2013 - December 2017)1
- UX Practice Lead at VLT KL (March 2013 - October 2017)1
Entrepreneurial Ventures::
- Co-Founder of ThatApp, a gamified sex education app for young Malaysians (October 2012 - June 2013)1
Early Career::
- User Experience Team Lead at CodeAr.my (June 2012 - December 2012)1
- User Experience Designer at Materialise (June 2010 - January 2012)1
Expertise and Focus
Izwan describes himself as a Human Centred Strategist with experience in digital finance.1 He is the founder of UX Malaysia and has had two successful exits as an entrepreneur.1 His approach is driven by human-centered design principles, which he applies to create sustainable impact for organizations and their people.4
Current Role at CIMB
Since October 2019, Izwan has been building a team at CIMB guided by the principles of collaboration, learning, and evolution.3 In his role as Director and Head of Human-Centred Design, he focuses on transforming customer journeys within the Group Strategy division.
Additional Insights
Izwan is passionate about communicating impact as a design leader, emphasizing the importance of engaging audiences through multi-sensory storytelling.2 He also explores adjacent spaces for B2B innovation, recognizing the increasing blend of consumer and commercial perspectives in business clients.5
Highlights
Exploring Adjacent Spaces for B2B Innovation
In the B2B world, we often measure success by how we stack up against competitors within our industry. While benchmarking can provide valuable insights, it may limit our innovations to incremental improvements rather than transformative, customer-centric solutions. As business clients increasingly blend consumer and commercial perspectives, a broader approach is essential. Let’s Explore Adjacent Spaces.
Consider Apple Pay’s foray into financial services. Apple, traditionally a tech and consumer electronics company, ventured into payments with a focus on user experience and seamless integration. They didn't just compete with traditional payment systems; they redefined the entire payment experience, integrating consumer-friendly technology with robust security and efficiency. This approach has set new standards in how transactions are handled, even in B2B environments.
For B2B companies, this means looking beyond traditional industry norms and learning from how adjacent sectors solve similar challenges. For example, B2B firms can draw insights from Apple Pay’s focus on user experience and apply them to streamline their own processes—whether it’s through improving client onboarding, integrating advanced technology solutions, or enhancing data security.
Instead of asking, "How do we compare with our B2B competitors?" we should also consider, "What can we learn from industries that are excelling in human-centered design and customer experience?"
By exploring these adjacent spaces, B2B companies can innovate in ways that truly address the needs of their clients, blending consumer-focused ease with commercial efficiency, and driving meaningful advancements in their own industry.
Thursday was a hectic day but I’m glad that we made it happen - my first webinar/podcast and I must say it was fun, we had a small audience listening in from the US, Australia, Taiwan and Malaysia.
Daylon Soh and I talked about Communicating Impact as a Design Leader, we covered:
1)Managing Upwards 2)Getting buy-in 3)Building a sustainable practice
