The Company & My Role

TD Ameritrade is a brokerage firm and financial advisory company. I worked as a Senior UX Designer in TDA’s Digital Guidance unit where I designed experiences for automated investment portfolios, otherwise known as robo-advisors.

The Problem

When TDA users open a portfolio, they input their time period, target amount, risk tolerance, and other information that TDA uses to recommend an investment model and chance of reaching their goal. Once users have opened their portfolio, they need a tool to change their investment model as their finances and goals change. The goal of this project was to give users the ability to compare investment models, understand their options, and adjust their goals to meet their finances.

The Covid-19 pandemic hit the country three months after the project kicked off. Users were flooding the call center with requests to change their investment model and withdraw their funds. My team and I had to work quickly to deliver a tool that restored customer confidence in a timely and pragmatic manner.

The Process & Delivery

I began by reviewing our design patterns, looking for components that we could reuse to reduce development time. I put together a set of wireframes and flow diagrams using Sketch and Invision. I shared the designs for RMS with my product owner, developers, and the company’s design leadership. I worked with QAs and developers in making sure the designs were accessible for disabled users. Over the course of several, rapid iterations I produced a set of designs that met the user need and went beyond expectations by providing users additional guidance.

The result of this project was an experience that provided customers with an easy and understandable path towards re-aligning their portfolios. My decisions decreased development time and allowed customers to remain confident in their financial futures.

Here is a collection of my designs.

The user sees their current investment model on the left juxtaposed with other suitable models.

The user then selects a portfolio model to see the details, including the allocations, investment strategy, and other information.

Finally, the user views their current model alongside their newly chosen model to see the differences as well as any updated model settings.