Foresight and Research
Mitigating Unintended Technological Harms
Exploring Technological Consequences for a Leading Canadian Bank
How might we use financial literacy, ethically and inclusively, to minimize unintended consequences in the shifting financial landscape?
In support of a leading bank's (one of the Big 5 Banks) mission to build “for every future” and its mandate to transform the way banking technology is delivered, the Design4 team from OCAD University were tasked with exploring the potential risks and harms posed by new technologies to individuals, society, and the environment. To achieve this goal, we explored emerging signals and key drivers of change, examined evolving customer needs, and mapped critical dimensions to explore the banking and financial landscape in 2032. Over a five-month period, the Design4 team undertook research to understand the negative consequences of rapid technological shifts on people, societies, and the planet. The financial landscape was rapidly shifting due to Fintechs, decentralized finance, AI, and green banking, creating both opportunities and unintended consequences such as exclusion, bias, and health and safety concerns.
Client
Services
YEAR
Client
Services
YEAR
LEADING CANADIAN BANK (BIG 5 CANADIAN BANK) + OCAD UNIVERSITY (DESIGN4 TEAM)
Secondary Research | Signal and Trend Forecasting | Stakeholder MappinG | Foresight Research | Futures Thinking Frameworks | Persona Mapping | Scenario Generation | Strategy Development Tools & Frameworks | Systems Thinking | Wind Tunnelling | Foresight Report
2022
Client
Services
YEAR
BRIEF
Our mandate was to explore how design could mitigate these unintended harms by shaping inclusive and sustainable business models—specifically focusing on two areas:
Design for Safety: Addressing technologies that may foster harmful behaviours or self-serving business practices.
Design for Health: Minimizing risks to physical and mental health while promoting individual and societal financial well-being.
TASK
The Design4 team was tasked with:
Investigating how financial literacy could be used ethically and inclusively to minimize unintended consequences in this changing financial landscape.
Exploring emerging signals, drivers of change, and evolving customer needs to map critical dimensions of the future of finance in 2032.
Defining opportunities to design inclusive and sustainable business models that defend the health and safety of individuals, society, and the planet.
ACTION
To address this, the team conducted a three-month foresight research project using a mix of systems, foresight, and strategy tools.
RESEARCH PROCESS
Horizon scanning & trend analysis to identify signals and key drivers of change.
Scenario generation to explore four possible futures in 2032.
Persona mapping to understand the perspectives of four key impacted groups.
Stakeholder mapping, systems thinking, and wind tunneling to identify opportunities, test ideas, and evaluate potential harms.
Integrated research feedback from the bank’s leadership team to refine scenarios, validate assumptions, and align opportunities with strategic priorities.
Focus areas included bias in AI, ethical banking, decentralization, and financial literacy as key intersections for exploration.
RESULTS
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Produced a foresight report outlining four future scenarios, risks, and opportunity spaces.
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Equipped the bank with insights to anticipate and mitigate unintended consequences of new technologies.
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Supported the bank’s ability to build safer, healthier, and more inclusive financial systems, strengthening connections between individuals, society, and the planet.
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Highlighted that while technology closes some gaps in financial inclusion, it also introduces new forms of exclusion, underscoring the need for ethical and inclusive strategies in future innovation.
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Presented an engaging foresight report to the Bank's leadership and internal teams, engaging 120+ attendees.
LEARNINGS
The dual nature of technology in financial inclusion – While innovations like fintech and AI expand access, they also create new forms of exclusion and bias. This reinforced the importance of embedding ethical and inclusive frameworks into foresight and design processes.
Building on the opportunities outlined in the Foresight report, not only helped adapt, but also built an understanding of new technologies, allowing the leading Canadian bank to be in a position to mitigate harms and build deeper connections between individuals, society, and the planet.
The value of integrating leadership feedback early in the design process – Actively engaging the bank’s leadership team provided critical insights that not only validated assumptions but also ensured that scenarios and opportunities were aligned with strategic priorities, making the research more actionable and impactful.
The project showcased is a team project completed a key researcher of the Design4 team from OCAD University. Design4 is a program run by OCAD University’s RBC Centre for Emerging Artists & Designers (CEAD). The program combines experiential learning with paid professional opportunities to support the learning journey for graduate students.
CREDITS - A. Liu, L.Roberts, S.Banerji and T. Fernandes (DESIGN4 TEAM AT OCAD UNIVERSITY, CANADA)