This was a case study presented at Capital One's Digital for Good Summit which highlighted lessons learned from an organization - PWA's Friends for Life Bike Rally - that proto-designed their future. Description: Managing clients or volunteers, nurturing existing donors, and attending to the pressing priorities of THE PRESENT leave little time to think about THE FUTURE. Let alone deliberately crafting a future in which your organization thrives alongside the changing needs of your users, and evolving digital marketing, technology, and data landscapes. Key Mindsets: Prototyping, Bringing Everyone Along, Knowing Your User Tools: Prototyping, Empathy Maps, Experience Mapping, Experimentation Culture

1. PROTO-
DESIGNING
YOUR FUTURE
Warren Duffy, Service Designer,
Capital One Canada
Michael Reid, Interim Director
Philanthropy & Communications,
Toronto People With AIDS
Foundation

2. PWA’s Friends for Life Bike Rally

3. H O W C A N Y O U …
D r i v e b i g c h a n g e s w i t h i n y o u r
o r g a n i z a t i o n w i t h o u t b i g
b u d g e t s ?

4. B Y
P r o t o t y p i n g
+
B r i n g i n g E v e r y o n e A l o n g
+
K n o w i n g Yo u r U s e r
L e t ’s d i v e i n !

5. A G E N D A
CASE STUDY: BIKE
RALLY
Our journey of transforming
the event’s target market,
recruitment strategy, and
branding.
PROTO-DESIGNING
YOUR FUTURE
The 3 mindsets that were
critical to our success.
4 TOOLS TO
GET STARTED
Begin to apply these
tools within your own
organization to drive
change.
ADDITIONAL
RESOURCES
Additional resources,
templates, and articles.

6. T H E
R I D E
The Bike Rally originated in 1999
as a 6-day, 660km bike ride from
Toronto to Montréal.
Later the Bike Rally introduced a 1-
day, 110 km bike ride from Toronto
to Port Hope, and 3-day ride from
Kingston to Montréal.
Now in its 22nd year, the Bike Rally
has engaged over 5000
participants as cyclists and crew
and has raised over $18 million
dollars for the Toronto People
With AIDS Foundation (PWA).
The Bike Rally is the sustaining
fundraiser for PWA, supporting its
ability to provide critical services to
individuals living with HIV/AIDS in
Toronto.

7. W E S TA R T E D G AT H E R I N G A N D
A N A LY Z I N G O U R D ATA …
All Riders
0
85
170
255
340
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022

8. … W H I C H L E D U S TO F O C U S I N O N
N E W R I D E R S
New riders
Returning riders
0
100
200
300
400
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022
All Riders

9. I S S U E S
Over invested in attracting returning
riders (not new riders)
Overly-focused on events vs. digital
Ad-hoc marketing / social media
Minimal data to ground or validate
decisions
2 0 1 6 - 2 0 1 7

10. U N D E R S T A N D
Y O U R T A R G E T
M A K E
C H A N G E S
M A P T H E I R
E X P E R I E N C E
M E A S U R E W H A T
M A T T E R S
B R I N G I N G E V E RY O N E
A L O N G
2017
2020
Accountability
Brand & Voice
Consistency
Bigger Bets
Existing Data
Sources
New Data
Monitoring and
Sharing
Proto-Making
Building Proto-
Personas with
Empathy Maps
Proto-Design the
Future Experience
Implementing a
Prototyping /
Experimentation
Process
4 Tools
We’re
Covering
Later

11. WHAT
RESULTS CAME
FROM OUR
JOURNEY?

12. W E R E D E S I G N E D O U R W E B S I T E TO
TA R G E T N E W R I D E R S

13. I N S T E A D O F M A R K E T I N G TO R E T U R N I N G R I D E R S ,
W E A S K E D T H E M TO R E C R U I T N E W R I D E R S

14. W E D E V E L O P E D S T R AT E G I E S TO C O N V E R T
N E W R I D E R S TO R E T U R N R I D E R S
O C TS E P T
A U G
( R I D E )

15. W E S H I F T E D F R O M T H E PA S T TO T H E
F U T U R E W I T H A N E W B R A N D I D E N T I T Y

16. Confidence to
Pilot Bigger
Changes
Complete Overhaul
of Recruitment
Process
Shared
Understanding
of New Rider
Target
K E Y O U T C O M E S

18. M O S T I M P O R TA N T LY …
M O R E R I D E R S = M O R E F U N D S F O R P WA & T H E I R C L I E N T S
$0
$500,000
$1,000,000
$1,500,000
$2,000,000
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Revenue
4X
new riders
(2017 to 2020)
65%
of 2019 riders are
returning in 2020

19. A G E N D A
CASE STUDY: BIKE
RALLY
Our journey of transforming
the event’s target market,
recruitment strategy, and
branding.
PROTO-DESIGNING
YOUR FUTURE
The 3 mindsets that were
critical to our success.
4 TOOLS TO
GET STARTED
Begin to apply these
tools within your own
organization to drive
change.
ADDITIONAL
RESOURCES
Additional resources,
templates, and articles.

20. M I N D S E T
PROTOTYPING
“Have no fear of perfection - you’ll never
reach it.”
Test
Trial
Pilot
Experiment

21. M I N D S E T
BRINGING EVERYONE ALONG
“The most effective way to cope with
change is to help create it.”
Buy-In
Change
Engagement
Collaboration

22. M I N D S E T
KNOWING YOUR USER
“Know your users. Know them better than
they know themselves.”
Customer
Target
Associate
Employee
Staff
Recipient
Patient
Participant
Fundraiser
Volunteer
Donor
Benefactor
Board Member
Client

23. A G E N D A
CASE STUDY: BIKE
RALLY
Our journey of transforming
the event’s target market,
recruitment strategy, and
branding.
PROTO-DESIGNING
YOUR FUTURE
The 3 mindsets that were
critical to our success.
4 TOOLS TO
GET STARTED
Begin to apply these
tools within your own
organization to drive
change.
ADDITIONAL
RESOURCES
Additional resources,
templates, and articles.

24. TOOL 1
Proto-Making

25. I t e r a t i o n 1 I t e r a t i o n 2 I t e r a t i o n 3
Feedback from your
user
Feedback from your
user
P R O TO - M A K I N G

26. V E R S I O N 1
P R O TO - M A K I N G :
W E B S I T E D E V E L O P M E N T

27. V E R S I O N 2
P R O TO - M A K I N G :
W E B S I T E D E V E L O P M E N T

28. P R O TO - M A K I N G :
W E B S I T E D E V E L O P M E N T
T O D A Y

29. V E R S I O N 1
P R O TO - M A K I N G :
S O C I A L M E D I A

30. P R O TO - M A K I N G :
S O C I A L M E D I A
Facebook Targeting:
Current Followers
Facebook Targeting:
Triathletes, Cycling Clubs
V E R S I O N 2

31. P R O TO - M A K I N G :
S O C I A L M E D I A
Speaking directly to new riders
Mobile-first, integrated with website
Consistent brand and voice
Decisions grounded in data
T O D A Y

32. TOOL 2
Building Proto-Personas
with Empathy Maps

33. P R O TO - P E R S O N A S : Y O U R P R I M A RY U S E R ( S ) A N D
W H AT Y O U R O R G A N I Z AT I O N K N O W S A B O U T T H E M
Based on behaviours and motivations of real people - what they say / do / think / feel
Created by stakeholders or experts on the user (compared to in-depth research)
Low-fidelity (no cost and developed quickly)
E M P A T H Y
M A P S
?

34. E M PAT H Y M A P
“It was comforting to be able to talk to
someone about fundraising before signing
up.”
“It’s intimidating to just come in - people
have their groups and everyone knows
what to do and just does it.”
Signed up to meet
new people, spend
time with friends.
Top new rider motivators
= physical challenge +
meet new people + cause
Top new rider fears = physical
challenge + breaking into “the
group” + fundraising Had started running
marathons and wanted to do
something more.
S a y i n g / S e e i n g
D o i n gF e e l i n g
T h i n k i n g

35. E M PAT H Y M A P S - S T E P 1
Interview your users.
Capture findings on Empathy Map (1 map / person).
TIPS
- Interview 6-8 people for each potential proto-persona.
- Consider both “current’ and “future” users.
- Limit your proto-personas to 4 or less.
Direct quotes, what they
see /say
Actions and behaviours
Motivations, goals, needs
Emotional state

36. E M PAT H Y M A P S - S T E P 2
Consolidate your Empathy Maps.
Look for common themes / insights on your
consolidated Empathy Map.
Common Themes - findings that keep
coming up across multiple users.
Insights - an exciting discovery that
changes your organization’s viewpoint
about a user and the problem you’re
tackling.
TIPS
- This is also a good time to engage others in your
organization to share what you’ve learned.
-You should have 1 consolidated Empathy Map per proto-
persona.

37. E M PAT H Y M A P S - S T E P 3
What ideas / recommendations do you have
based on what you’ve uncovered? What
actions can you take?
Ideas - could be tactical changes you need to make
as an organization, or bigger strategic shifts required.
Recommendations - which of the ideas should you
move forward with? What information gaps still exist
and how will you fill them?
TIPS
- Try to align on the highest priority proto-persona(s) to
action on.
- Continue to evolve your proto-persona(s) as you learn
more about your users.

38. N E W R I D E R P R O TO - P E R S O N A : A P P LY I N G
I N S I G H T S TO M A R K E T I N G
Top new rider motivators = physical challenge + meet new people + cause

39. N E W R I D E R P R O TO - P E R S O N A : A P P LY I N G
I N S I G H T S TO F U N D R A I S I N G
Top new rider fears = physical challenge + breaking into “the group” + fundraising
FUNDRAISING
SUPPORT
RESOURCES
FOR EVENTS /
DIGITAL
INTRODUCTORY
FUNDRAISING
MINIMUM FOR
NEW RIDERS
1:1
FUNDRAISING
COACHES

40. TOOL 3
Proto-Design the
Future Experience

41. P R O TO - D E S I G N T H E F U T U R E E X P E R I E N C E
HIGH-LEVEL EXPERIENCE MAP
Used to identify strategic
opportunities and to help determine
where to focus volunteer efforts.
DETAILED EXPERIENCE MAP
Used to understand each
touchpoint from the perspective of
new riders at “moments that
matter”.
FUTURE-STATE EXPERIENCE MAP
Used to proto-design the future
experience and align on who is in
charge of execution.
New Rider Onboarding Experience

42. ONBOARDING INSIGHT
New riders skimmed emails and were
missing important information - now, mail is
PART of our digital strategy.
ONBOARDING INSIGHT
New riders wanted to get to know their team
leaders before choosing a team - now, team
leaders are PART of our recruitment strategy.
M A K E C H A N G E S B A S E D O N Y O U R P R O TO -
D E S I G N A N D M E A S U R E T H E R E S U LT

43. TOOL 4
Implementing a
Prototyping &
Experimentation Process

44. P R I O R I T I Z AT I O N F R A M E W O R K & P R O C E S S
Q u i c k
W i n s
L o w -
H a n g i n g
F r u i t
B i g
P r o j e c t s
N o t
W o r t h I t
High
Effort by Organization HighLow
Low
Value
to User
PROTOTYPE /
EXPERIMENT
SUNSET OR
SCALE
DOCUMENT

45. PROTOTYPE /
EXPERIMENT
Success (Scale) = 25
Failure (Sunset) = 12
SCALE OR
SUNSET?
Playbook to document what
was done (successes and
failures) and the results
DOCUMENT
T R A C K A N D C E L E B R AT E R E S U LT S
37prototypes
or experiments
over the last 2
years

46. A G E N D A
CASE STUDY: BIKE
RALLY
Our journey of transforming
the event’s target market,
recruitment strategy, and
branding.
PROTO-DESIGNING
YOUR FUTURE
The 3 mindsets that were
critical to our success.
4 TOOLS TO
GET STARTED
Begin to apply these
tools within your own
organization to drive
change.
ADDITIONAL
RESOURCES
Additional resources,
templates, and articles.

47. PROTOTYPING

48. BRINGING
EVERYONE
ALONG

49. KNOWING
YOUR USER

51. A D D I T I O N A L
R E S O U R C E S
TOOL 1: PROTO-MAKING
Rapid Prototyping
https://www.designkit.org/methods/26
Iterative Design / Prototyping
https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/design-
iteration-brings-powerful-results-so-do-it-again-designer
TOOL 2: BUILDING PROTO-PERSONAS WITH
EMPATHY MAPS
Empathy Mapping
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/empathy-mapping/
https://www.interaction-design.org/templates/empathy-map
Free Empathy Mapping Template
https://www.copyblogger.com/cdn-origin/downloads/
empathy-map.pdf
Proto-Personas vs. Personas
https://medium.com/@karimcmahon/proto-personas-vs-
persona-s-db8873a2d2e4
TOOL 3: PROTO-DESIGN THE FUTURE
EXPERIENCE
Experience Mapping
https://uxplanet.org/a-beginners-guide-to-user-journey-
mapping-bd914f4c517c
Free Experience Mapping Template
https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/
customer-journey-maps-walking-a-mile-in-your-customer-
s-shoes
TOOL 4: IMPLEMENTING A PROTOTYPING &
EXPERIMENTATION PROCESS
Prioritization Frameworks
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/prioritization-matrices/

52. THANK YOU!
Warren Duffy
warren.duffy@capitalone.com
Michael Reid
mreid@pwatoronto.org