What was the project Scope?
This was a 3 day project as part of a pitch to Wells Fargo. Three days meant we had to jump straight into designing a feature that would show the most value. We picked onboarding.
Why onboarding?
Because onboarding is the most boring part of starting a new service. What better place to show value than the most cumbersome part of the process?
Why 6 figure investors?
Because there’s a gap in the market. Products like Robinhood do a great job of targeting the everyday investor. Almost all brokerages have private exclusive services for the uber-rich. This leaves the market for 6 figure investors open.
The business case:
6 figure investors bring enough business to justify having financial advisors on staff to provide curated personalized advice. However, to be financially lucrative, these financial advisors need to be able to efficiently service multiple customers - something that can be achieved by creating an app that needs no handholding.
“How might we create a hyper-personalized experience for 6 figure investors while minimizing resourcing needs?”
Initial Research
A 3-day turn-around gave us very little time to do any research. Here’s what my file looked like at the end of the usual data/image/asset collection process.
It’s a bit of a jump, but I went straight to high fidelity.
What are the key features?
Alfred - The chatbot
The very first step of the process is an introduction to Alfred- the chatbot. Alfred asks you a series of questions- mostly to get to know you. Alfred then used this information to match you with a personalized recommendation for an advisor.
Personalized Advisors
Alfred gives you recommendations for advisors based on your risk appetite and investment goals. You get a list you can pick from. The advisor then serves as your single point of contact for all things investment. They give you personalised stock recommendations, articles to read, etc.
Automated Scanning
Onboarding is messy- and never a lot of fun. Little tricks like automatically scanning your driver’s licence to get details instead of making the user type them out makes the process a little more fun.
Here’s the happy path prototype- feel free to click through it.
What did I learn?
Push for longer deadlines. It pays to take your time and do a project properly.
Sometimes three days is all you’ll get no matter how much you push. It helps to keep calm and carry on.
Quick turnarounds can be fun, but quick decision-making is vital. You never have time to try option B or to second guess your decisions.
