The Challenge
Navy Federal Credit Union sought to expand its financial wellness offerings by providing 13 million+ members with a low-barrier entry point into the stock market. As the Sole UX Designer, my mission was to architect a differentiated, competitive end-to-end investing experience that felt approachable for novices while remaining robust for seasoned investors.
The project required a rigorous process spanning strategic direction, competitor analysis, user research, persona creation, information architecture, and delivery of end-to-end wireframes.
Key Outcomes
- > 25% Increase in digital assets within the first year.
- Integrated and promoted within Navy Federal's award-winning online banking platforms.
- Sub-12 Month Launch: Moved from initial discovery to full production in under a year.
Strategy & Discovery
I led the discovery phase by first identifying the core needs of novice investors. Creating personas aligned with Navy Federal member characteristics, I went on to conduct competitive analysis seeking to differentiate the product within a crowded market.
Based on research findings I created user journeys focused on simplifying complex onboarding requirements, defining jargon, and tightly integrating investing education into every step of the user's path.
Standardizing the review and approval lifecycle across cross-functional teams to bridge UX, Writing, and Business Units.
To further differentiate the product and meet the needs of targeted personas, I architected a "dual-path" investing tool that allowed credit union members to choose their own investments, select from curated "investment bundles", or make use of a roboadvisor tool that selected an investment strategy based on the user's financial profile.
Mapping the multi-channel experience for Managed and Self-Directed investing accounts.
Prototyping & Validation
Having identified a clear product vision, I created a clear information architecture and detailed task flows that clarified the applications complex logic for business stakeholders and engineering collaborators. These user flows spanned the highly-regulated onboarding flows, browsing and selecting investments, buying and selling stocks and securities, monitoring portfolio performance, and interacting with automated investing tools to identify an appropriate investment strategy based on risk tolerance and financial assets.
Visualizing over 25 distinct interaction flows and edge cases—like document verification or funding failures—for developer handoff.
Stemming from this detailed documentation, I prototyped end-to-end responsive wireframes for usability testing while working with visual designers to create a distinctive art direction expanding on the existing enterprise design system.
Translating high-level business goals into granular functional requirements, specifically for high-friction areas like billing onboarding.