The problem

This project involved a rebuild and redesign of multiple products. The goal was to create scaleable, efficient products that are easier to navigate and provided greater transparency to users. Another objective was to transition the company to more of a self-serve model than a higher-touch service. This would have a positive impact on business goals and increase efficiency in clients' workflows.

My role

I owned and executed all aspects of the product design, while collaborating with our team of 4 developers and 1 QA person. I established and continue to maintain the design system, and was the sole designer on the project.

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I continuously worked closely with the internal subject matter experts in this complex and highly regulated domain.

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Research

to gain an understanding of pain points with the legacy system, wha needs existed, and to acquire domain knowledge, I listened to and observed 1-2 people from each internal team. 

I also interviewed current clients, learning how they do their jobs, what their main goals are and empathizing with their frustrations and needs that weren't being met with the system they were using at the time and had been using for 7+ years.

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Users

The users of the system are PenChecks' clients. They are either a third-party administrator (TPA) or a plan sponsor (PS). 

Some clients prefer closer contact and assistance, while the bulk of users interviewed preferred to be more self-sufficient.

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The main needs I found were efficiency and transparency on the process, and hierarchy of data. 

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The perfect amount of communication in the distribution process is key, as clients are generally very busy and have limited bandwidth.

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Constraints

This project was required to launch before the busy end of year season for clients. This meant the products had to be launched 10 months after my start date. The short timeline was the main constraint.

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In the finance and retirement industry there are many regulations and rules that have to be worked around, as well as security concerns dealing with personally identifiable information and other people's money. All of these things remained at top of mind throughout the entire project - and I often collaborated with the compliance & privacy departments throughout the project.