How can we create a web app that fits into the overall advisor workflow and helps them build trust and personability with their clients?
My role:
Discovery and exploratory research
UX design (end-to-end)
Usability test
“The current tool feels outdated and difficult to use.”
The discovery phase started with stakeholder interviews and 1:1 interviews with advisors to understand their day-to-day workflow. A follow up survey was sent out to quantify common behaviour and pain points for financial advisors.
Design
The design process went through iterations to define the main user flows. The report builder flow was split up over multiple screens to break up content into smaller digestible chunks.
Usability test
First round of design was tested with a private group of users to assess usability and gain a general understanding of how the tool meets the needs of the advisors.
A group of 7 users participated in 1:1 in-person interviews. The users were given 6 task-based scenarios to complete. At the end of the session, each participant completed a SUS survey. Based on the user feedback, designs were updated focusing on improving findability and navigation labels.
Top areas to be improved were:
Dashboard navigation
Placement of CTAs
Information groupings
Iterations and final design
Dashboard findings
Users felt the current visual and content hierarchy led them to scroll past useful information.
Users were confused by the similarly named dashboard titles and the main left-hand menu.
Design Solution
Advisors were more interested in detailed data of their customer’s investments. The average section was removed to bring the detailed breakdown above the fold.
The side navigation was adjusted to action verbs to make it action-oriented.
Portfolio creation findings
Users were consistently impressed with the search feature. All users were able to complete the task with little or no effort. This task had the lowest average time to completion.
Users often scrolled by the information on the top because it was not relevant.
Design Solution
The search feature was given more space since it was a prime function for the user.
The reorganization of tools at the top of the screen created a more intuitive hierarchy for users.
The result
The clients were extremely satisfied with the delivery in terms of work and scale. Since going live in July 2018, within the first two weeks of the release, we gained 1496 registrations.