Nikkei ScoutAsia
Transformation
ScoutAsia is a KYC and news-monitoring platform, and by 2020 it was underperforming.
Conversion was low, positioning was unclear, and there wasn't a consistent answer to a basic question: what does this product actually do for you?
Client
Nikkei ScoutAsia,
Handshakes
Year
2020
Role
Product Lead
UX Designer
Team
UX + Product Lead
UX Designer
Focus
Product Transformation & Re-positioning
UX Reviews & Guidance
User Research
UX Design
I proposed the transformation, built the strategic case behind it, then led the execution with my product team through to a company-wide pitch and rollout.
Nobody assigned me this project. I discovered the gap, built a case for fixing it, and took it to leadership.
This made a huge impact and changed how Handshakes have shaped their business and products today.
Vision & Strategy
Retaining the technology and assets that Nikkei ScoutAsia had, I lead the initiative to re-position the product with a clear vision and USP for it's customers. This gave rise to a long-term roadmap spanning several years, incorporating transition stages instead of a big boom.
The cause sat deeper than the product itself. Business and product teams across Japan, Australia, Singapore, Europe, and Hong Kong were each pitching ScoutAsia differently, despite targeting similar customers. The organization hadn't aligned on what the product was for, and that misalignment was undermining every go-to-market effort.
I identified this gap, built the case for addressing it, and took the proposal to leadership.
To fully understand the current landscape of ScoutAsia, there are a few stages I went through. First, was to breakdown and identify the features, tools and assets of ScoutAsia.
From the research phase, grouping together sentiments and feedback from users and stakeholders brought light to certain things. ScoutAsia as a whole, as well as certain comments about features make us realise that what they ask for might not. be exactly what they need.
5 key insights to guide us in the next phase of our project, these insights are also in line with the Product's branding and goals.
Intelligence & Forward
ScoutAsia does not look/feel ‘Smart’, you cannot convince users that we are technically capable if they can’t see it.
Unique Selling Point
We need to be clear on
ScoutAsia's unique selling point, there is no where on the platform that we can pinpoint.
Personalise & Customise
ScoutAsia is too generic. There is no clear purpose.
Our users have different profiles, hence different needs – they only need what is relevant to them
Collaboration, Integration & Analysis
As a corporate tool, we should integrate into our corporate users' workflow, creating an environment within ScoutAsia where teams can work together
Content, Quality, & Resources
We are
underutilising the data and news that we have, thus missing out on the value we can give to our users.
ScoutAsia lacked clear product positioning and a well-defined target audience, leading to confusion among both internal and external users. Misidentified personas further contributed to the lack of clarity when engaging with the platform.
Discussions with business and product teams across Japan, Australia, Singapore, Europe, and Hong Kong revealed a fundamental misalignment—each team had a different selling point despite targeting similar organizations and institutions.
To address this, we redefined their personas and mapped out a new customer journey, providing a clearer direction for both the platform and its positioning.
ScoutAsia’s product offerings shifted from a one-time pricing model to a tiered structure, allowing organizations to choose only the features they needed.
By redefining personas, we expanded the target audience while improving positioning. This approach not only enhanced market reach but also surfaced key platform capabilities that were previously hidden within the old structure.
This product transformation initiative took three months from inception to a defined roadmap for future projects.
As the lead, I worked closely with the product team to implement a phased transition, rolling out features strategically.
Our approach was guided by three key factors: effort required, impact on ScoutAsia’s growth, and alignment with competitive benchmarks.
I’m excited to see ScoutAsia’s evolution unfold. While this is a long-term transformation that may take 3-4 years to fully realize, we've already made significant progress, launching three key projects: Radar V1.0, Library V1.0, and the Onboarding & Dashboard experience.
