I designed an integrated feature that surfaces real-time, actionable insights to Northwestern Mutual financial advisors
Background
For financial advisors at Northwestern Mutual, timing is critical. The promptness with which they respond to a significant change in a client’s finances or life situation can mean the difference of earning or losing an opportunity for increased earnings. Multiple studies conducted by Northwestern Mutual’s research team have corroborated this, maintaining that advisors would benefit greatly from having more visibility into specific client updates that require their immediate attention, as well as the ability to act upon those updates quickly.
Against this backdrop, I, as Design Lead, was tasked with designing a feature that would meet this user need and enable advisors to capitalize on lucrative events occurring within their practice.
Team and Timeline
Cross-functional team consisting of Design Lead, Product Manager, Research Lead, and Engineering Lead
October 2021 Kickoff; Ongoing
Problems
Poor visibility into time-sensitive client info.
Inefficient, time-consuming, and unreliable processes to access client info.
Goals
Surface relevant info and drive “next step” interactions.
Minimize toggling between systems.
Drive engagement on platform.
Initial Designs
I created a simple card concept in my earliest mocks, with each card representing an individual “update” and containing all the relevant information and actions for an advisor to process and act on the update accordingly.
I iterated on the initial design by adding icons, which would help differentiate the types of updates and thus facilitate easier scanning for the user. Additionally, I reshuffled the information hierarchy slightly to emphasize the update itself over all other data points.
For clients with ISAs pending termination, I gave the advisor the ability to simply click on the CTA within the card to open a modal displaying all the relevant information. Previously, advisors had to comb through a separate page on the platform to access this data.
Advisors can access a separate table where they can see an aggregate view of their outstanding updates. This mock shows how advisors can filter by date range and update type.
Testing
With the initial designs established, it was time to assess their effectiveness. Using my designs as well as a clickable prototype that I created, we conducted concept tests and usability tests with Northwestern Mutual Financial Advisors.
As part of the test plan, we asked participants to rank a list of hypothetical updates in order of relative importance. This helped us determine the types of updates that would be prioritized for development.
Test Results
The response from test participants was overwhelmingly positive. Participants affirmed that the feature would help them keep up with client-related events and act upon them in a timely manner, bringing considerable value to their practice.
No usability issues were identified.
Some participants noted that including the client segment (Northwestern Mutual’s practice of indicating affluence level on an A-F scale) within the card would help them better prioritize their tasks according to value.
Iterations Based on Feedback
The final concept includes the client segment and highlights the “call” and “message” buttons, as these were identified by test participants as priority actions.
Modal showing details of a client’s recent windfall.
The table view was updated to include client segment and to bring the “call” and “message” buttons out into the row as opposed to tucked within with the “more” button as they were in the previous design.
Next Steps
Release MVP, gather insights.
Iterate based on learnings.
Explore opportunities for personalization (enabling advisors to pick and choose which update types they would like to have displayed).