Building the case for Vanguard to enter into a new market
Vanguard, February 2025 – March 2025
Activities
Design thinking, User flows, UX, UI
Contributions
I led the design of a proof of concept (POC) for a microsite aimed at expanding Vanguard's offering to include hybrid annuity target retirement trusts, essentially another way for participants to diversify their retirement portfolio.
Overview
Over the course of a 3 week design sprint, I needed to design a microsite POC to arm senior leadership with a concept to include in a roadshow to consultants and plan sponsors in the record-keeping industry.
The microsite needed to be seamless, a quick & digestible experience, informative and engaging for participants who either default or opt in for the hybrid annuity target retirement trust. It needed to encompass the journey from onboarding to annuitization, clearly demonstrating how annuitizing a portion of a participants' retirement plan can help them achieve their financial goals.
The requirements
Education and guidance: Provide straight-forward education and guidance, including personalized site details, a demonstration of hybrid annuity target retirement trust features and benefits, key considerations for annuitization, and answers to frequently asked questions.
Not all participants will have the same level of knowledge on this new product, so cater to different knowledge levels.
Modeling experience: Include both a static hypothetical modeling experience and a dynamic modeling experience to illustrate how annuitized amounts translate into guaranteed monthly income, and to compare annuitizing a portion of the TDF balance with a traditional monthly drawdown.
Annuitization process: Deliver a step-by-step guide on the annuitization process, complemented by additional support from an annuity provider representative.
The constraints
No dev team during the 3 week sprint, as the dev vendor contract had not been established yet. We needed to use existing patterns that we know the feasibility of.
Balancing this off the side of the desk work with ongoing product team work on the financial wellness product.
No time for new project specific research.
Timeline shifted from a 4 week sprint to a 3 week sprint.
User flows
I first created user flows to understand the short journey a participant would take in understanding, modeling, and making decisions on hybrid annuity target retirement trusts (HATRT). We dissolved the 3 main user groups into:
I have no idea what a HATRT is
I know what a HATRT is, but I want to know what it could look like for me
I've made my decision, show me how I can start the annuitization process
Information architecture
From the list of requirements I was given, I created the information architecture of the microsite. This would provide me the base foundation of what needed to be covered in each section of the microsite
Overcomplicating modeling
While I ran through multiple iterations of wireframes for the microsite, a key component was the modeling experiences, both static and dynamic. Looking at competitor examples and letting the complexity of annuities influence me. There were many components to annuities, different inputs that you could tweak, so I initially tried to reflect that in a participants modeling experience.
Being the designer putting these together, I quickly became confused and saw the need for simplification and a human touch to the experience.
Making things simple
After more iterations and looking at the key data points that participants needed to understand, I led the design into a conversational approach. This would feel natural to users and let them adjust any input field they wanted to in order to get the outcome they needed.
By modeling the HATRT balance, annuitization percentage, retirement age, and monthly annuity income – participants could now understand what annuitization could look like for them.
The microsite POC
After multiple wireframes, hi-fidelity mockups, and rounds of feedback, I landed on the final POC prototype that our senior leadership team would take out to consultants and plan sponsors on their roadshow.
Landing page
Balance and fund data is displayed to affirm participant’s personal information
Pathways guide participants further into the microsite based on their level of understanding/desired next steps
Short, easy to digest video series supports alternate learning styles
Education quickly highlights the benefits of annuitizing and FAQs provide the option to go deeper
Learning pathway
Side navigation establishes hierarchy with tabbed sections highlighting key participant areas of focus
FAQ option to go deeper persists at the bottom of the page
Hypothetical modeling
Hypothetical scenario helps participants think practically about what an annuity could look like for them
Connect with an agent encourages human support and guidance during the modeling phase
Dynamic modeling
Conversational approach supports dynamic modeling
Input fields allow participant to personalize their guaranteed income scenarios
Conclusion
“I have never felt more prepared and confident walking into a client meeting in my life”
-Senior leader presenting to consultants
Overall, this design sprint was a huge success. With having limited resources and timing, our small team successfully delivered a proof of concept prototype that exceeded consultants expectations. Our work directly contributed to the microsite getting fully funded and assigned to a dedicated team to take the concept further and develop it.