Capital Group
WEB APP DESIGN
Trusted Financial Services
Capital Group is one of the world’s oldest and largest investment management firms with a strong commitment to people and service. As part of an initiative to better serve its customers and stay current with the times, it set out to build a user-facing investment platform for customers to manage and have stronger visibility into their investments.
Project Goal(s)
The platform needed to break down a lot of complex investment processes, be accessible for a rather broad demographic, and be exceptionally mindful of financial laws and regulations—Capital Group’s approach was typically very conservative.
Provide Support & Clarity
This was a first-of-its-kind product for Capital Group. Investors were not initially used to interacting with the company in this way, so support and transparency throughout the process was needed to build trust around it.
Increase Investment Amounts
As with any investing product, giving investors access to a platform like this was done so alongside a business need to increase investments into the Capital Group financial products.
Best Serve the People
Capital Group’s top value as a company is people and finding new and innovative ways to serve them. This platform needed to ultimately fulfill this goal as it is at the core of everything they do.
A Lengthy Account Setup
There were many steps involved in completing account setup, not all of which needed to be completed to actually use the product, but some of which needed to be completed to get the most out of the product.
Biggest User Challenge
Investors would often drop off and not finishing setting up their account, which would leave it feeling empty and somewhat less useful.
Our Solution
We introduced UI that encouraged investors to complete unfinished steps while maintaining a look for their account that didn’t feel empty.
A variety of moments which encouraged an investor to complete setup, but didn’t bar them from using the product.
A completed account setup.
Adding a (Recurring) Contribution
Creating a recurring contribution is at the heart of any investment product. Without it, there is no investing.
Biggest User Challenge
Investors struggled to understand how much and how often they should be contributing in order to reach their investing goals.
Our Solution
We nested an “explorer” tool within the contribution flow which would branch a user out to a separate side flow that let them fill in a few blanks to be gently (and lawfully) guided towards choosing an amount and frequency.
High-level flow for adding a contribution and viewing the explorer tool.
Let’s Take a Look at the Details
Providing insight into investment details was one of the driving motivations of this product.
Biggest User Challenge
Investors needed to easily view and digest the funds within and performance of their account(s). Given the conservative nature of Capital Group’s approach, there was also a lot of information to share within these details, which could often feel overwhelming.
Our Solution
A mix of charts and progressively disclosed information helped give visual ease around viewing all account details while maintaining the accuracy and quality of information required both by Capital Group and the law.
Overall Results
The platform was received well by the investors it was rolled out to. Initially, there was a moment of friction around the investors being onboarded into this product; some were of an age where paper statements and management were preferred, while others were inheritors of their accounts and weren’t even aware they were an investor.
Aside from these individuals, investors who successfully onboarded onto the platform both appreciated how ‘hand-held’ the experience felt and how strongly the commitment to better serving its people Capital Group came across as.
Team
I worked with the Capital Group ESI product & design teams on this project:
Sarah Reinhoff, Sally Do, Darryl Harris
My Role
User Testing, UX, UI