I was asked to complete an audit of the bank’s existing financial wellness review (FWR) tool and provide recommendations for improvement. What began as an audit evolved into a full software redesign after research revealed the need for broader improvements to support both prospects and current clients. As the Senior UX Designer on this initiative, I led the research, synthesis, and design work over a seven-month period, partnering with the UI team to bring the new experience to life.
While I can’t share proprietary details, this case study provides insight into my process for auditing and redesigning the bank’s financial wellness software to drive more meaningful, personalized conversations between teammates and clients.
Goals
- Increase usage of the financial wellness review for every prospect and client interaction
- Enable more meaningful, personalized conversations between teammates and the people they serve
- Improve the experience to better support both prospects and existing clients
- Integrate questions and goal-setting capabilities that help teammates get to know clients personally
Competitive Research & Audit
- Conducted mystery shopping at 12 competing banks to evaluate how they approached prospect and account-related conversations
- Visited each competitor branch to assess whether and how they conducted financial wellness-style reviews
- Surveyed internal teammates and audited the bank’s current financial wellness system
- Synthesized findings to identify a clear opportunity for broader improvements to the product
- Presented findings and recommendations to the retail executive team, securing approval to move into a full redesign
Teammate Research & Affinity Mapping
- Interviewed 30 branch teammates about the questions they naturally ask to get to know clients
- Affinity mapped the interview data to identify common question themes and patterns
- Used these themes to write new financial wellness questions, surfacing information teammates were previously gathering informally but that the tool never captured
Design & Prototyping
- Translated research into experience requirements and partnered with the UI team to design a new version of the financial wellness software
- Designed low-fidelity wireframes and held a group feedback session with the same 30 teammates to validate direction
- Refined designs into high-fidelity screens with an interactive prototype
- Conducted a second group feedback session with teammates using the high-fidelity prototype to gather final input before executive review
- Presented the finalized design to the executive team for approval
- Currently in development following executive approval
- Introduced broader improvements for prospects and clients, along with new question sets and goal-setting capabilities designed to deepen client relationships
Financial Wellness Software Redesign
I led a competitive audit and full redesign of the bank’s financial wellness software, driving research-backed improvements to create more meaningful, personalized conversations between teammates and clients