What is the Standard life Innovation Lab?

The Innovation Lab is a dedicated space within Standard Life House, Edinburgh for identifying member challenges, to showcase existing and new propositional developments, and collaborate with clients, advisers, Employee Benefit Consultants (EBCs), pension trustees and other key stakeholders in an immersive way.

The Lab is used to showcase all the exciting things we're working on, with a specialist team on site who run interactive sessions for visitors. It gives an opportunity for guests to immerse themselves in the latest aspects of our digital experience - including member journeys and features of the Standard Life app, as well as investment strategies, our vulnerable customer programme and wider customer service support.

 

Using virtual reality to connect with customers

The latest addition to the Innovation Lab is a fully immersive Virtual Reality (VR) experience, utilised to bring member calls and our award-winning Vulnerable Customer Programme to life. The VR capability complements an existing suite of technology aimed at highlighting issues of vulnerability, including gloves simulating the experience of arthritis and glasses showing various visual impairments.

Clare Moodie

Head of Innovation Lab at Standard Life

"

The current scale of customer vulnerability is unprecedented, and we are using our technology to bring the issues that face savers to life, which is so much more powerful than quoting statistics from a page or even talking about them in a presentation. The more we, as an industry, engage with characteristics of vulnerability and really understand diverse and complex needs the more success we will have with innovating our propositions to make them relevant for all.

"

Clare Moodie

Head of Innovation Lab at Standard Life

"

The current scale of customer vulnerability is unprecedented, and we are using our technology to bring the issues that face savers to life, which is so much more powerful than quoting statistics from a page or even talking about them in a presentation. The more we, as an industry, engage with characteristics of vulnerability and really understand diverse and complex needs the more success we will have with innovating our propositions to make them relevant for all.

"

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The Innovation Forum

Last year, we launched our first ever Innovation Forum in collaboration with FinTech Scotland and TCS COIN (Co-Innovation Network). The Forum was created to explore innovative solutions for industry challenges. It invites entrepreneurs to pitch their ideas on using technology to address wider societal challenges around financial wellbeing.

The first two areas addressed were improving digital literacy and financial inclusion. The winner was Behavioural Finance and we are now working closely with them to enable further development of their product.

In March 2023, our first Innovation Forum challenge targeted new Workplace scheme members, with new or existing clients. It was aimed at customers with little or no knowledge of investing and/or sustainability. The challenge was: “How can we help our pension customers understand and engage with Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investing?”

The Forum had two joint winners for this challenge: InvestSuite & The Joy Club. We are progressing with both winners and are planning phased rollouts for next year with a pool of Standard Life Workplace clients and their members.

In August 2023, we launched our second Innovation Forum of the year, focusing on engaging women for better financial futures. Specifically, the challenge looked at: “How can we innovate to more effectively engage women in their financial future and improve women’s retirement outcomes?”

Find out more about the challenge.

For those keen to take it further, apply to the challenge here – deadlines for applications are 10th September. The final pitches will take place in the Innovation Lab in December to a panel of senior stakeholders.  

Gail Izat

Standard Life Workplace

"

The immersive experience offered in person or virtually at the lab sets the tone for ongoing communications with Workplace members. Particularly in the current climate, it’s so important that we find new and innovative ways to engage with Workplace members and provide support and information that has meaning and relevance at key and critical financial moments in life.

"

Gail Izat

Standard Life Workplace

"

The immersive experience offered in person or virtually at the lab sets the tone for ongoing communications with Workplace members. Particularly in the current climate, it’s so important that we find new and innovative ways to engage with Workplace members and provide support and information that has meaning and relevance at key and critical financial moments in life.

"

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