Improving Financial Wellness

I spearheaded the iterative (seven year) design, usability, content, and implementation of self-service and planner-led retirement planning tools. Initially this resulted in an increase of 61% in new retirement contributors and existing contributions by 51%, empowering them to take control of their financial future.
Active Members
This tool focuses on planning during the accumulation phase by providing a simple user experience and rapid feedback.
Retired Or Inactive Members
This tool enables a member to develop a retirement income plan that helps maximize their retirement savings and other income sources by providing robust planning capabilities.
Active Nearing Retirement
This tool will enable active members to bridge the accumulation and distribution planning phases.

Situation

  • Only 17% of plan members were on track for a comfortable retirement.
  • Less than 20% contributed pre-tax towards retirement.
  • Existing financial planning resources were underutilized.

Task

  • Manage ambiguous direction and sometimes competing stakeholder input to develop user-friendly retirement planning tools to increase member engagement and action. For example, "We should build a one-step planning tool so members can enter three pieces of information and get a savings recommendation."

Action

  • I led the user experience design strategy by collaborating with a cross-functional team to design the end-to-end tool.
  • I employed rapid prototyping and iterative usability testing for efficient discovery.
  • Defined the user interface with a third-party vendor, managed content strategy, and naming conventions.
  • I drove implementation and ongoing improvements based on user feedback and market changes throughout the product lifecycle.

Results

  • Increased User Engagement: Self-service tools catered to member preferences, leading to higher adoption.
  • Improved Retirement Readiness: User-friendly guidance empowered members to make informed decisions. This resulted in an increase of 61% in new retirement contributors and a 51% increase in existing contributions.
  • Enhanced Financial Planning Support: Tools facilitate communication between members and in-house financial planners by allowing a shared experience the user can interact with alone or in conversation with their planner.

Success Metrics

  • 61% increase in new retirement contributors.
  • 51% increase in member participation in pre-tax retirement contributions.
  • 229% pretax retirement contribution increase over six years
  • Suitable replacement income doubled in four years
  • Member satisfaction scores of 85% in the top two box (NPS)
  • Improved utilization of new financial planning services.

Learnings

Dynamic Design: Tailored experiences were needed based on the user's proximity to retirement. Support for company financial planners didn't come until two more tool experiences had been delivered.In-house Development: Internal control over UI code streamlines future changes.Engaging Content: Users do not read. Interactive elements are crucial for user comprehension and motivation.
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