For example, its SnapTax app, inspired by consumers’ migration to smartphones, led one user to write, “I want this app to have my babies.” The company acquired one start-up, called Mint, and collaborates with another, called ZenPayroll, to improve customer experience.Īlthough most people don’t think of financial software as a category driven by emotion or design, Smith writes, Intuit’s D4D (“design for delight”) program has paid off. They bring in people who have created exceptionally designed products, such as the Nest thermostat and the Kayak travel website, to share insights with Intuit employees. They increased the number of designers by nearly 600% and now hold quarterly design conferences. They changed the layout of the office, reduced the number of cubes, and added more collaboration spaces and places for impromptu work. He and his team set out to integrate design thinking into every part of Intuit. What was missing was an emotional connection with customers. That’s because Quicken was so well designed that using it is intuitive.īut by the time Smith became CEO, in 2008, the company had become overly focused on adding incremental features that delivered ease of use but not delight.

Although 46 similar products were on the market when Intuit launched Quicken, in 1983, it immediately became the market leader in personal finance software and has held that position for three decades.

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