Confidential
2022
Building product validation infrastructure from PowerPoint slides
Highlights
Advocating for systematic validation before engineering investment
When handed PowerPoint slides containing two lending product concepts with a 3-month deadline, I built a complete validation framework that proved product viability without writing code—orchestrating real loan transactions through people and paper to meet compliance standards while validating actual user adoption.
Retrospective
Proving products work before building them
The challenge: validate whether users would actually take out loans—in 3 months, without building technology, and without direct access to end users.
Working with a senior design partner, I co-designed a validation system orchestrated through people and paper. We built proto-personas, determined where new offerings fit within the existing product, and broke down scope into workstreams matched to team expertise.
Users received actual loan approvals and funding—we just orchestrated it manually instead of digitally. By proving demand before building, we helped the company de-risk a significant investment in a new financial services division.
Marcelle has an incredible ability to align people on the knowns and unknowns surrounding a new initiative which makes it easy for the team around her to align on what they need to tackle to move forward. If we know the unknowns, it's easier to have something to validate against—I truly wish more people worked like Marcelle in this way!
