The Compliance Pizza: A Design Thinking Approach to a Tastier Compliance Culture

Nicole Rose & Luiz Carlos de Oliveira Junior

?No one wants to eat an entire pizza in one bite, and employees shouldn’t be forced to consume compliance that way either.

The Pre-frame: A Slice of Compliance, A Dash of Design Thinking

Imagine a world where every pizza place served only plain cheese. No toppings, no choices—just one universal, one-size-fits-all slice. That’s how many organizations treat compliance: one policy, one annual training, one rigid approach for everyone.

But people crave variety, and employees engage better when compliance is tailored to their specific roles and risks. Design thinking, a human-centered approach to problem-solving, helps us rethink compliance—moving from rigid, one-time policies to small, flexible compliance moments woven into daily workflows.

The Secret Sauce: Design Thinking in Compliance

Design thinking encourages organizations to focus on how people experience compliance rather than just enforcing rules. Instead of overwhelming employees with long, one-off training sessions, smaller, contextual compliance actions can be embedded into their work—making compliance easier, more relevant, and even engaging.

Building the Perfect Compliance Pizza (with a Design Thinking Mindset)

1. Empathize: Understanding the "Taste Buds" of Employees Just like great chefs understand their customers, compliance leaders must identify employee pain points. Why does compliance feel tedious? Where do employees struggle? What motivates them? Data, surveys, and behavioural insights provide answers.
2. Define: Clarifying the Compliance Challenge A one-size-fits-all approach assumes everyone loves anchovies. Instead, compliance should adapt to different roles, risk levels, and learning styles. What are the biggest gaps? Where do employees need more guidance?
3. Ideate: Creating a Menu of Engaging Compliance Actions This is where the fun begins. Just like a pizzeria offers classic and creative toppings, compliance programs should mix different formats—interactive challenges, real-time nudges, brief scenario-based activities, and peer-driven learning moments.
4. Prototype: Serving Up Small Compliance Slices Instead of launching massive compliance overhauls, organizations can test smaller interventions first. Maybe a quick compliance check-in works better than a lengthy e-learning module. Maybe brief reminders in work tools are more effective than mass emails. For example: A finance team working in Microsoft Teams receives a pop-up reminder: Before approving this vendor, double-check for conflict of interest compliance. Click here for a quick 30-second refresher. A sales rep in Salesforce gets a notification: "Reminder: Customer data privacy rules apply when entering client notes. Need a quick refresher? Click here."
5. Test: Gathering Feedback & Adjusting the Recipe Design thinking thrives on iteration. Measuring engagement, collecting feedback, and adjusting compliance approaches over time ensures that compliance is actually working—not just sitting on a shelf.

Final Bite: The Future of Compliance—Small, Tasty, and Tailored

No one wants to eat an entire pizza in one bite, and employees shouldn’t be forced to consume compliance that way either. By using design thinking and small, personalized compliance actions, organizations can create a compliance culture that is engaging, adaptive, and effective.

Let’s ditch the bland, one-size-fits-all model and start designing compliance programs as thoughtfully as we craft the perfect pizza. What’s your compliance flavour? ??

?Nicole and Luiz