Context

The idea for this project came from the business team after they noticed a recurring pain point raised by Investment Advisors (IAs) across several branches. In Wealth Management, advisors are responsible for creating and maintaining their personal profiles, which appear on client-facing reports and other internal tools. Over time, this simple task became a burden. Advisors had to update the same information across multiple disconnected platforms, each serving different functions. The process was repetitive, time-consuming, and confusing especially when employees went on vacation or leave and colleagues had to update information on their behalf. To solve this, the business team approached design to explore the idea of a centralized tool, a single source of truth for all employee data that other platforms could pull from automatically.

The Work

When the project first landed with design, the business team already had an idea of what they wanted. They presented an Excel file with a proposed solution, complete with user stories and flows they believed we just needed to “make visual.” This was a pivotal moment for me as a designer. I took the time to walk the team through what the design process actually looks like, from discovery to validation, and how important it is to deeply understand the user problem before jumping to solutions. Once we aligned on approach, I started by learning the current process through walkthroughs with the Product Owner and Business System Analyst. It quickly became clear that what we were building could be more than a one off tool, it could support the larger initiative to consolidate outdated systems across the organization.

I led several discovery sessions with the Product Owner, Business Analyst, and Developers to map out how the system currently worked and where friction existed. Together, we:

• Created user flows to visualize the process from end to end.
• Identified unaccounted scenarios (like delegation, team structure, and role transitions).
• Discussed technical constraints early on to avoid design rework later.

Through these sessions, we realized the tool needed to support three key user flows:

1. Create a Team
2. Modify a Team
3. Edit Employee Information

I started with low-fidelity wireframes to explore early ideas, collaborating closely with the product and development teams to refine flows and ensure technical feasibility. Once aligned, I moved to high-fidelity designs that captured real scenarios such as approvals, delegation, and error handling. We then validated the prototype through eight user interviews with Associates and Branch Managers. Overall, users found the tool intuitive, efficient, and appreciated having all information centralized in one place.Feedback like “It felt easy to use right from the start” reinforced that we were on the right track. The sessions also surfaced key pain points, mainly around missing notifications, unclear delegation access, and limited visibility into approvals, which we addressed before handoff. This process not only improved the product but strengthened alignment across design, product, and business teams.