Client

Vanguard Investments

Project

UK Personal Investing

My role

Senior Product Designer

Summary

Vanguard wanted to overhaul their UK presence and make personal investing transparent and accessible for everyone. The first step was to show customers the impact fees have on their portfolio and how lower fees can make a big difference compounded over time.

The problem

Even experienced investors massively understimate the huge negative impact that fees have on their portfolio over their lifetime.

Goals

Clearly communicate Vanguard’s low fees

Show the impact of high fees on your portfolio over time

Transparently show how much a customer will pay in fees

Overhaul the UK site look and feel to suit the local market

My role

I was the sole designer working on the site revamp. I conducted initial research, created user journeys, developed wireframes and then worked with a user researcher to conduct lab testing and iterate upon the designs.

Goals

Clearly communicate Vanguard’s low fees

Show the impact of high fees on your portfolio over time

Transparently show how much a customer will pay in fees

Overhaul the UK site look and feel to suit the local market

My role

I was the sole designer working on the site revamp. I conducted initial research, created user journeys, developed wireframes and then worked with a user researcher to conduct lab testing and iterate upon the designs.

The process

Identify problem

Competitor analysis

Behavioural research

Establish key objectives

Stakeholder review

Initial wireframes

User journey

Customer personas

Lab test with customers

Iterate designs

UI Exploration

The process

Identify problem

Competitor analysis

Behavioural research

User journey

Customer personas

Establish key objectives

Initial wireframes

Stakeholder review

Lab test with customers

UI Exploration

Iterate designs

The process

Competitor analysis

Review analytics

Establish key objectives

Consult
stakeholders

Customer personas

Journey maps

Initial UI exploration

Initial wireframes

Stakeholder review

Concept test with customers

Final design

Iterate designs

Present to stakeholders

Lab
user testing

Iterate

Development

Competitor analysis

I reviewed competitors within the finance and investment sector but also looked further afield to understand how other industries present cost breakdown.

Some of the clearest fee breakdowns were presented as comparisons between tiers or memberships.

User Journeys

We focused on 2 key customer segments, new and experienced investors, and their process for selecting investments.

Insights

Other than available capital the key barriers for savers and unengaged investors are:

  • Understanding the risks & potential rewards
  • Having better financial knowledge
  • Understanding information (less jargon)
  • Lower costs

    • Other key factors:

  • Returns and fund performance were considered more important than fees
  • Brand reputation was very important
  • Past performance was considered a good indication of future performance
  • Low fees were perceived negatively by less educated investors

    • Conclusion

    I passed these positive research findings and wireframes onto a UI designer upon leaving the company to pursue a new opportunity. 12 months after leaving the new fees page went live with revised content.

    Data

    If you’re making a 4% return and paying 2% in fees then you’re losing half of your return.


    If you invested £10,000 for 30 years with a 7% return and paid 2% in fees you would lose 30.92% of your profits.


    FCA research highlights that even experienced investors don’t realise the cumulative effect fees have on their returns.

    Wireframes

    With the research insights in mind and my evaluation of pricing on other sites done, I got to work developing a wireframe for the fees page. The aim was to clearly show a breakdown of Vanguard’s fees but also to educate the viewer about the impact fees were having on their objectives.

    User testing

    We conducted a round of lab testing with 12 participants to understand how both new and experienced investors perceived the impact of fees before and after reviewing our new fees page. We also wanted to understand how customers interpreted the pricing tables and whether they clearly understood what fees would be charged.


    The user testing was very successful with customers shocked at the impact fees had on their portfolios over time. They were also able to clearly articulate what fees they would pay for different types of Vanguard funds and felt the breakdown was clear and simple.

    Conclusion

    I passed these positive research findings and wireframes onto a UI designer upon leaving the company to pursue a new opportunity. 12 months after leaving the new fees page went live with revised content.

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    Copyright Alison Howard