Rapid prototyping through design sprints to create a streamlined retirement planning experience, improving user engagement and clarity in financial decision-making.
Old Mutual Wealth needed a user-friendly retirement planning app to help customers track their retirement savings, manage investments and receive personalised guidance. The challenge was to rapidly prototype a solution within a design sprint, focusing on clarity, ease of use and trust in financial decision-making.
⬩Seamless fund transfer process, reducing confusion and manual effort.
⬩Simplified financial planning through an intuitive, step-by-step journey.
⬩Data-driven insights and progress tracking to help users stay on track.
⬩Clear and accessible UI, making financial literacy more approachable.
⬩Rapidly prototyped a retirement app within a tight design sprint.
⬩Improved usability with a structured and intuitive experience.
⬩Enhanced financial clarity with clear projections and personalised guidance.
Problem
Retirement planning can be overwhelming and complex, leading to low engagement and incomplete applications. Many users struggle with understanding their financial standing, move funds to Old Mutual Wealth, tracking their progress and making informed decisions. During the design sprint, it was revealed that many first-time users felt overwhelmed by financial terminology and the number of steps involved in managing their retirement funds. Drop-off rates were high at key decision points, indicating friction in the application process.
Goal
To design a smart, intuitive retirement planning app that empowers users to manage their retirement funds efficiently. The goal was to provide clarity, transparency and ease of use in financial planning while ensuring a smooth digital experience.
Plan of Action
A design sprint was conducted to gather information, rapidly prototype and validate ideas.
The design process isn't always as linear as we hope it to be but I followed it as best I could in the time frame.
Discovery - Analysed user pain points related to retirement planning and fund transfers. Then conducted stakeholder interviews to align business goals with user needs. Lastly, I explored financial literacy gaps and ways to enhance user trust in the process.
Design - Developed low-fidelity wireframes to outline the core functionality. Created interactive prototypes to test user flows, ensuring clarity in navigation. Designed a personalised dashboard experience for real-time financial insights.
Testing - I conducted a feasibility test with internal stakeholders to refine features and UI interactions. I didn't have the opportunity to test our assumptions with actual users, which was unfortunate but once implemented - I received feedback.
Not all of these features would be implemented but they were added to a feature roadmap for future consideration:
⬩Personalised Dashboard provided users with a clear snapshot of their retirement savings and milestones.
⬩Retirement Goal Tracker allowed users to set and adjust their retirement goals based on real-time projections.
⬩Simplified Application Process with guidance on transferring funds and making retirement-related financial decisions.
⬩Engagement and Motivation with an integrated progress tracker and nudges to keep users engaged.
To improve engagement and simplify navigation, I introduced:
⬩Progressive disclosure showing users only relevant information at each step.
⬩Guided onboarding with simple explanations of financial terms.
⬩One-click actions to automate fund transfers and goal-setting.
Thankfully, I didn't run into any problems or need to pivot in a different direction. Much of the groundwork was concluded during an in-person design sprint workshop and rendering the data into a functional and appealing app design, was seamless.
This project reinforced the importance of simplicity in financial UX design. Many users need guidance, not complexity, when managing their retirement. By focusing on clarity, automation and progressive learning, I was able to bridge the gap between financial decision-making and intuitive digital experiences.