Henry Ford once said "if I asked what people wanted, they say faster horses." Creating great user experiences means going beyond people's expectations to create something better than they imagined. Let's do that together.
Per Stirpes Beneficiaries
My team at Vanguard was tasked with modernizing the beneficiaries experience. While some of the process was relatively straight forward, one sticking point was communicating the "per stirpes" option. Here's what we did...
During user testing, most clients read per stirpes as “per stripes.” The concept itself wasn’t familiar to many. While it’s relatively straightforward to explain, most solutions relied on lengthy text that users tended to gloss over.
To simplify the idea, we incorporated an image alongside the content. By pairing visuals with text, we accommodated a wider range of users. When we brought the updated designs back to testing, we saw less confusion and more successful outcomes.
Sure, some clients still called it “per stripes,” but we learned a valuable lesson: UX writing isn’t just about the words — it’s about how design and content coexist to elevate each other.
Internal Transfers Triage
The task of incorporating divorce transfers into our internal transfer experience was difficult. There were already several different types of transfers users could complete and each one would have different treatments. So we needed to create a triage page that was simple and short while accounting for all the different transfer types. Here's what we did...
We needed to determine whether the transfer was a gift, an internal transfer, or a divorce-related transfer. The best way to do this was to first ask the client for the delivering and receiving account types. Once we had that information, we could narrow down the next question.
For example, if a client didn’t select an IRA, we could rule out a divorce transfer. At that point, the only remaining question was: is it a gift?
By making the questions progressive, we asked fewer and more relevant questions tailored to each user. This reduced the number of questions from six to three, easing cognitive load. It also allowed us to provide more targeted information to help clients prepare for their transfer before starting the experience.
Advised Clients into Internal Transfers
Clients with personal advisors had voiced that they'd like to be able to complete self-service transfers rather than having to call their advisor. However the advising team wanted us to build in some safeguards to protect clients and ensure they received the best tax advantages possible. Here's what we did...
We had two primary concerns: the requested transfer could trigger a rebalance, potentially creating a taxable event; and users might choose a cost basis that wasn’t ideal for their tax situation.
To address the first concern, we created a warning banner and placed it above the holdings selection. This ensured clients would see the message before making any changes.
For the second concern, we designed a new page shown only to advised clients. Based on guidance from our advice team, we encouraged clients to switch their cost basis to FIFO for this transfer, helping preserve their most tax-advantageous shares.
The goal wasn’t to prevent clients from completing their transfer — it was to inform them. With their advisor just a phone call away, any hesitation caused by the warnings could lead to a quick, personalized conversation for further guidance.
