Intelligent Portfolios
Category
Research-driven UX Design
Time Frame
May 2014–December 2016
Role
Senior UX Designer
Senior Researcher
What is Intelligent Portfolios?
Introducing Intelligent Portfolios
Redefining Accessibility and Simplicity in Investing
Schwab Intelligent Portfolios, a cutting-edge platform, reimagines the investment landscape by offering an effortlessly intuitive interface. This innovative solution not only fosters a deeper understanding of investment strategies but also significantly reduces the workload for everyday investors. Empowering users with professional insights, this platform guides them towards their financial aspirations. Through interactive digital planning tools, a personalized investing roadmap is at their fingertips.
Embracing the latest in user experience (UX) design, our automated tool expertly constructs, monitors, and adjusts diversified portfolios. This comes without the burden of service or management fees. An automatic tax-loss harvesting feature intelligently offset taxes on investment gains, maximizing the return on investments. With over $21 billion in assets managed through Schwab Intelligent Portfolios, the product was a huge success.
Business Problem
In response to evolving demands, we embarked on refining a MVP web app post-launch. The primary goal was to enhance consistency and introduce key features. Beyond the web, our mission expanded to creating sleek native compact and tablet apps for iOS and Android.
Design Process
Research Actions
We kicked off with defining outcomes, researching, forming hypotheses, then moved onto designing, prototyping, testing, and learning. Collaborative discussions were key in creating a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) that we could learn from.
Process Overview
As the lead designer, I collaborated with the research team, product managers and development teams. Our teamwork led to innovative feature designs and native application development. We refined initial wireframes, initially combining retirement savings and withdrawals, into a more user-friendly separation of Retirement Savings and Retirement Income, thanks to insights from UX, Research, Product and Development teams.
Documenting Research
Personas
In partnership with the Charles Schwab UX team, we crafted detailed consumer personas. These personas were further enhanced through collaboration with an external research agency.
Customer Journey Map
The UX Team was instrumental in creating a comprehensive customer journey map, which vividly traced the user’s experience from engagement to celebration of their goals.
Exploration
Goal Set-up Interaction Sketches
Exploratory sketches paved the way for innovative interactions, among them, the transformative Monte Carlo simulation chart, a visual gateway to future return scenarios.
We sought a natural, conversational data entry approach. Users could now effortlessly input goal details using their voices, progressing through prompts seamlessly.
Different sketches explore goal setup interactions. A horizontal meter to communicate confidence and progress against a goal seemed simpler at first.
Sketches show our shift toward data entry being more natural and conversational. We wanted customers to use their voices to enter goal set-up data, advancing through forms one prompt at a time.
Low fidelity wireframe displaying multiple years, projections as well as a goal. This wireframe wasn't pursued. The chart did not meet our requirements for simplicity.
Solution
Goal Tracker
Elevating Investment Tracking
The Goal Tracker, a daily companion, monitors goal progression: On Target, Off Target, or At-Risk. By projecting portfolio performance scenarios, users are empowered to make informed decisions.
Relevant performance information surfaces at a glance, ensuring users remain informed effortlessly.
“I literally had to do nothing else but sign up and transfer the funds. I can't speak highly enough of it.”
— Schwab Intelligent Portfolios Customer
Performance
Relevant performance information surfaces at a glance, ensuring users remain informed effortlessly.
Multiple Account View
Clients managing multiple accounts can effortlessly navigate through them with a simple swipe, allowing them to access and manage their investments with ease.
Learnings
The Unseen Effort Behind Success
The journey from research to successful launch highlighted the considerable effort, time, and resources invested in building and maintaining a digital product. Building and maintaining a digital product demands focus, time, and coordination, and it is easy to underestimate what that truly entails. Through the complexity, strong collaboration and a shared commitment to quality kept the work moving in the right direction.
Significant Accomplishments
Despite an ambitious timeline, the team delivered a solution that made investment tasks clearer and more approachable. Partnering with three engineering groups allowed us to align patterns, interactions, and expectations across platforms, which ultimately strengthened the overall experience.
What Could Have Been Done Differently?
Balancing user research, conceptual design, and an MVP launch posed many challenges. introduced real challenges, yet each one created space for learning and growth. Collaboration, steady leadership, and a focus on craft helped the team navigate those moments and keep momentum.
During the project, the design team was operating with limited bandwidth, which shaped how quickly we could explore and validate concepts. Even with those constraints, a strong cross-functional partnership helped us stay aligned and deliver meaningful progress. The experience reinforced how valuable it is for teams to have the time, space, and staffing needed to fully support thoughtful design work.