Santiago
Caicedo

OVERVIEW

Santiago guides teams with strategic thinking, creative solutions, and captivating narratives.

For more than a decade, Santiago Caicedo has refined a methodology at the crossroads of strategy, design, and research that reframes challenges as opportunities for innovation. His focus goes beyond just solutions; Santiago is passionate about improving people's lives. Always seeking to learn and improve, he advocates for experimentation as a way to nurture confidence in his clients as they embark on new ventures that connect, strategy, product and narrative

Project Delivery

Santiago has been instrumental in delivering successful programs. He has a passion for guiding teams and projects through the often-uncertain, yet undeniably impactful and rewarding, process of innovation. By focusing on crafting solutions that resonate with both people and businesses, he helps companies and organizations improve business outcomes.
By focusing on crafting solutions that resonate with both people and businesses, he helps companies and organizations improve business outcomes.

Business Development

Innovation is  a critical internal driver of growth and sales. During his current tenure at Slalom Boston, Santiago helped to establish the company’s innovation capabilities. He developed a framework called “The Innovation Funnel” to proactively generate sales with key accounts for the business, while also pioneering a masterclass on immersive workshops.

Leadership

Beyond project delivery, Santiago fosters an environment for nurturing talent and business development. Throughout his career, he has enjoyed the privilege of leading teams, strategically utilizing his colleagues' skills and experience to deliver high-quality projects, while providing mentorship for them to grow in their chosen career paths. During his current tenure at Slalom Boston, he established a grassroots team to sell and delivery business transformation initiatives.

PROJECTS

Client Industries: higher education, healthcare, real estate, life sciences, finance, architecture, professional services, and retail.

Client Size:  Fortune 500 companies, start-ups, and non-profits.

Case
Case
studies
Studies
A marketplace for dentists to sale and buy their dentistry practice.
A leading US dental professional organization recognized the need to enhance the value proposition for its members. Playing a key role within a dedicated team, Santiago contributed to the development of an entirely new business model and its accompanying digital platform and customer service experience. This noble solution streamlines the process of buying and selling dental practices by leveraging the expertise of dedicated transition advisors. Through comprehensive ethnographic research conducted across the US, the team gained valuable insights into the needs of dentists. This user-centric approach continued with multiple rounds of evaluative testing, ensuring the solution effectively addressed identified challenges. The resulting experience is user-friendly and supported by a robust service blueprint for customer care teams. Initially launched in two states, the program has since expanded nationwide, demonstrating its positive impact.
Domain: Professional Services | Year: 2020Contributions: Product & Service Innovation, Design Strategy, Business Case, Value Creation, Ethnographic Research, Service Design, Experience Design, App Development
A strategic playbook for a university to improve the student experience.
A Peruvian higher education institution on an ambitious national expansion journey sought a strategic approach that resonated with the country's unique economic and historical context. As part of a collaborative team of designers, strategists, and researchers, Santiago played a key role in a six-month ethnographic research endeavor. Through in-depth interviews with students, staff, and parents, the team gained a comprehensive understanding of the evolving needs of Peruvian higher education. This research informed a two-pronged approach: a Student Success Playbook empowering staff to improve the student experience, and Ideal Staff & Faculty Personas guiding recruitment efforts. Universidad Continental swiftly implemented the strategy, leading to a modernized curriculum, a stronger staff profile, and collaborative learning spaces.
Domain: Education | Year 2018Contributions: Ethnographic Research, Service Design, Service Innovation
A financial experience
for car dealerships to manage their finances and inventory
A financial institution focused on floor plan lending wanted to improve the customer experience for managing credit during vehicle purchases at dealerships. Leading the research and design phase, Santiago helped the team create their very first mobile app. Understanding customer behavior and usage patterns was crucial for success. The team conducted qualitative research across the US to gather critical insights. By identifying key friction points, the team developed a user-focused digital solution implemented as a native app since 2023. The app's impressive average rating of over 4 stars on both app stores reflects its positive user experience.
Domain: Financial  |  Year: 2021Contributions: Product Innovation, Design Strategy, Value Creation, Market Research, Business Optimization, Ethnographic Research, Experience Design
An employee benefits management experience for HR employees
A major insurance company in the US and Canada sought to enhance the user experience for benefit administrators. Leveraging his strategy and design expertise, Santiago played a key role in a large business transformation program. The focus was on improving both the customer and employee journey within benefits administration.The team utilized generative research to identify key challenges and opportunities, while evaluative testing ensured the envisioned improved experience resonated with users. The anticipated long-term success of the project hinges on two key objectives: empowering customers with a more user-friendly self-service experience, and ultimately reducing call center volume.
Domain: Insurance  |  Year: 2023Contributions: Product Innovation, Business Transformation, Design Strategy, Ethnographic Research, Experience Research,
OTHER
Other
Projects
Projects

The previous case studies represent a fraction of Santiago’s diverse experience. His collaborative approach has benefited clients across a wide spectrum of other industries, including:

Two medical device companies,

for one, developing and testing next-generation defibrillators for EMTs and other healthcare professionals. For the other, developing the mobile experience of weight control medically-grade device.

A retail
company,

creating a mobile native app for patients and caregivers to manage health and medication medications needs.

Two health care
providers,

for one, creating a strategy to reduce burnout and dropout rates among respite nurses. For the other, imagining a new insurance model for single mothers in the Peruvian market.

A material science
institute,

creating a storytelling strategy and tool for a wide range of scientist.

An LGBTQ+ youth organization,

developing the strategic plan for the next five years - from growth, to operationalization.

APPROACH

What's Santiago's approach to working with clients and internal teams? what does he bring to he table?

Passion as a driving force

User Advocacy

Visual Communication & Collaboration

Work Experience

Skill Set

TESTIMONIALS

Testimonials from clients and colleagues.

"Santiago Caicedo's leadership and respectful challenging helped us to create the highest quality outcome. He created and shared tools that we can leverage in the future. He was adaptable, and open to allowing us to "cook in the kitchen" and collaborate in the best way for us. He is a partner." - Insurance Client
"I loved the in-person brainstorming session they did with the [nursing] staff. It was super engaging and practical. I appreciated having an outside perspective engage with us in that way and get the creative juices flowing on how we can create a greater sense of teamwork based on the feedback staff were given. It was super relevant and made intangible concepts tangible.." - Healthcare Client
"Where others face challenge in making it happen, you showed leadership by starting and managing the Innovation Task Force with a multidisciplinary team. This taskforce is set to be instrumental in promoting more imaginative and broader thinking, thereby shaping the strategic program opportunities we aim to secure." - Managing Director
“Santi showed up with passion, patient, and experience. His positive attitude got us out of sticky situations when the internal team was swirling. He stepped in to moderate and help us get aligned on a path forward. He did all of this while under less than ideal circumstances and turbulent times, which demonstrated his unwavering ability to find the best path regardless of the situation.” – Senior Director
“You’ve pioneered new methods of engaging with clients. You effectively converted a space on the third floor into “war rooms” for different client opportunities, displaying well-planned problem-solving and solution-framing approaches. Your strategies have been commended by your colleagues.” - Managing Director
“You finessed some skeptical clients and helped them see the impact of the research and empathetic service design you were undertaking. Our internal team were wowed by the output of your work and experience of working with you” – Senior Director
“Santi is an extremely passionate thought leader, customer strategist, and listener. The way he planned and crafted questions for 1:1 interviews with nurses and human-centered design workshops showcased his deep understanding of the problem we were trying to solve for our client. The workshop execution was enjoyed by the client, and they highlighted multiple times that the process was so well thought out and conducted that it gave them a new way to ideate within the nursing team for future initiatives or problem solving.” - Senior Principal
Get in
get in
touch
touch
Reach out

Have a challenge you'd love to tackle? Santiago thrives on finding creative solutions.

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