Finance | Experience Design | B2B | Future Vision Prototype
Financial Adviser Platform Integration
Client
MLC Australia
Timeline
4 months
Role
UX Lead
Overview & Challenge
The challenge was to create a one-stop-shop for financial advisers, where they could manage targeted and personalised interactions online with their clients and colleagues. Financial advisers were using six different platforms at the time, creating inefficiency and fragmentation in their workflows. We needed to demonstrate an inspiring future vision prototype, where a single dashboard design could seamlessly connect collaborators and replace these disparate systems.
Key Challenges
- Integrating functionality from six separate platforms into a cohesive experience
- Mapping complex relationships and interactions between Advisers, Admins, paraplanners, and customers
- Balancing comprehensive functionality with usability and simplicity
- Creating a demonstration compelling enough to secure funding for development
- Designing for multiple user types with different needs and priorities
My Approach & Contribution
I led the creation of a futuristic concept of an adviser dashboard based on key scenarios identified after understanding the needs of adviser businesses. The resulting video prototype showcased a simple and usable interface where different user groups collaborate and make the platform the central focus of their day-to-day interactions with clients.
What I did
1. Created 40+ user scenarios to map the relationships and interactions between Financial Advisers, Admins, paraplanners, and customers
3. Developed skeletal Personas and task models for each user type
5. Prioritised which stories to tell in the future vision prototype
7. Produced detailed wireframes that were transformed into visual designs
2. Conducted a mini-research study with the target audience to validate scenarios
4. Ran workshops with MLC stakeholders to map multiple tasks and interactions
6. Created storyboards showing screen content and flows for the video prototype
To make deadlines, I implemented an efficient production process where detailed wireframes were moved to visual design one by one, while in parallel, a flash prototype was being produced with low-fidelity screens to be replaced with visual designs later. This approach allowed us to move faster and deliver the prototype on time and within budget.
Results & Impact
01
Created a comprehensive future vision prototype that demonstrated the potential of platform integration
03
Produced a narrated video that had great impact internally, visualising the future state in a simple yet engaging storytelling format
05
Established a vision that guided subsequent platform development efforts
02
Enabled MLC to communicate their online strategy for online servicing capability effectively to other business units and funding bodies
04
Secured stakeholder buy-in and funding for further development
06
Demonstrated tangible benefits of a unified approach for both advisers and their clients
Using our future vision prototype, MLC was able to effectively communicate their online strategy to other business units and funding bodies. The narrated video had tremendous internal impact, visualising the future state of the MLC platform in a simple yet engaging storytelling format that resonated with stakeholders at all levels.
Key Learnings
Show the future instead of just describing it. Our video prototype made abstract ideas real for stakeholders in ways that presentations and documents never could, securing buy-in far more effectively than traditional methods.
Map the relationships between users, not just individual journeys. The most complex part of financial platforms is how different people work together. Getting these collaboration patterns right was essential to creating something that would actually work in real life.
Tell stories that make technical concepts relatable. By framing our vision through realistic user scenarios, we helped stakeholders connect emotionally with the potential value, making complex technical ideas accessible and meaningful to everyone involved.
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Adviser is able to open multiple client portfolios side by side to compare information
Client Portfolio redesign- showing asset allocation and other account related information
Video prototype screens
The video prototype effectively visualised collaboration between Advisers, Admin staff, paraplanners, and customers. The narrated format created an engaging storytelling experience that made the complex interactions clear and compelling to stakeholders.