Because EXL has strong client relationships with financial institutions who need access to their databases of potential clients, there was an internal business opportunity to create a wealth management search tool, but the initial design that was created for the proposal was merely based on business requirements and did not consider insights from the end user or technical feasibility.
For 6 months, I led the design of the wealth management search tool, collaborating with two other designers, two product managers, a senior engineer and his engineering team.
*To comply with my non-disclosure agreement, I have omitted and obfuscated confidential information in this case study. The information in this case study is my own and does not necessarily reflect the views of EXL.
*This case study is condensed for easier viewing. To view the full case study, please shoot me an email.
We wanted to translate the business opportunity into a high-fidelity prototype with end-to-end user journeys that considered user needs.
Our high-level goals were to:
Create a powerful search tool that simplifies the complex search process
Give wealth manager more control over their searches through narrowing down target lists based on region, income, and other customizable signals/features
Create a wholistic platform that considers all edge cases and secondary/tertiary journeys such as campaign creation, campaign management, and analytics of campaign performances
Explore opportunities to incorporate GenAI
Process
Wireframing & Concept Testing
After gathering the requirements, we internally tested wireframes to ensure all the use cases wanted to target were covered. We learned that the search criteria was the most important component for the user and therefore, prioritized its position and prominence in the layout.
Prototyping
Once we had trimmed and finalized our wireframe concepts, we designed high-fidelity mockups, applying EXL's branding. Then, we linked our mockups into an interactive prototype that showcased the user's main journeys.
Feedback
After several rounds of internal user testing and initial presentations to potential users, we acquired helpful feedback that would help us improve the product for final development and release. Many users were excited about the potential of the product and conceptually sold on the idea.
However, users were unable to figure out how to accomplish the tasks nor follow the main user journey with ease.
They found the layout to be unintuitive and overwhelming, and they were getting distracted by features that were bells and whistles at this point.
Unconventional
The learning curve to use the tool was too steep. Users found features unintuitive and unfamiliar, making it difficult and inefficient to accomplish tasks.
Friendly Copy
The stakeholders wanted to rebrand to make the tool more approachable.
Scalability
In our next iteration, we needed to consider the scalability of the product so that we could continue to grow and enhance features without having to tear down the existing design.
Iterations
Three primary questions informed my design strategy in the second stage of HENRY's design.
1. Where can we simplify unnecessary complexities?
2. How do we encourage deeper engagement?
3. How do we build for future scalability?
Redefining the scope
To declutter unnecessary features that were distracting the users, we trimmed user stories of features that users reported as not useful, as well as features and pages that were not ready to be fully fleshed out. We found from usability tests that users did not find a lot of the graphical information useful or easy to understand. Then we added user stories that would enhance the user's ability to work their way through the flow. For example, users reported that being able to select a persona would help them narrow down a scope.
Concept testing for campaign creation layout
The initial design had a two-step stepper that allowed users to enter the details of the new campaign in step one and finalize/confirm the information in step two. As we refined the target list creation process, we decided that the campaign creation could also be simplified. After some debate about whether to keep a consistent layout as the target list creation process, we landed on wireframe C as our final design because it allowed users to see the impact of their choices and clearly visualize their campaign.
Concept testing for target list creation layout
Though the initial design contained all the functionalities listed in the product's requirements, users found the journey confusing to navigate because all the information was congregated on one page. Furthermore, the design made development challenging because to run the search on large populations required time, which to the user appeared as a lag in the system. To simplify the user's experience and improve technical feasibility, we pivoted the design to segmented steps that would focus the user's attention on one task at a time. This worked well because it helped to reinforce the linear nature of the user journey, allowing the user to comb through each step. From the three wireframes (i.e., A, B, and C above), we conducted a concept testing, which helped us discover that wireframe B worked best because (1) keeping the primary buttons outside the main container naturally guided users to their main CTA and built the association of being transitioned to another page, while keeping secondary and tertiary buttons inside the container helped users associate those actions as part of the step itself, and (2) a horizontal stepper was preferable to a vertical stepper because it could more effectively accommodate increasing complexity and size in the content.
Concept testing for particularly problematic areas
Step three of the target list creation posed the most challenging usability issues because of its plethora of user stories it needed to incorporate. Since our goal was to streamline the experience into simple steps, we also needed to consider how to reduce complexity on this page and maintain design patterns users would've become accustomed to in the first two steps. Wireframe A shows all the components that needed to be part of this step. Wireframe B, C, and D were concept tested to see which users found most intuitive. Users found it difficult to locate the secondary tasks of "Save Signals" and "Update Graph". In wireframe C, too many actions were congregated into one area, which posed usability issues, and in wireframe D, it seemed to users as though there were two steps rather than one. The final design, which was the most effective in concept testing, shows the solution, which organizes the actions on one side to reiterate that it is a singular step, and structures the actions in hierarchies using different level of buttons and containers, which helps the user to instinctively understand their primary and secondary tasks.
Impact
The second iteration of HENRY was much more successful in its testing. Users were easily able to navigate the end-to-end journeys and accomplish the tasks they needed to do. Moreover, the product left much room for future scalability to incorporate more functionalities.
Reflections
Less is more
Simplifying complex solutions optimized user experience.
Use your words
Using words was more effective at guiding users towards the next task than icons or other visual cues.
Details, details…
Thoughtful solutions equipped users to complete their tasks and do much more.
Final Product
To honour my non-disclosure agreements, the final product is not available on this site.
Please contact me if you would like a walkthrough!