SigFig
SigFig Path — Financial Empowerment and Independence
When I joined SigFig as a principal designer, I was asked to take a holistic look at the product ecosystem and identify gaps and opportunities, both in the experience and in the business. I worked collaboratively and cross-functionally to learn perspectives, observations, pain-points, goals, etc.
From here I laid out two primary goals:
• Expand revenue opportunities within existing products (Digital Wealth)
• Develop innovative new products to acquire new customers and retain existing customers (SigFig Path)
This project takes a look at developing a new and inclusive product space that give representation and empowerment to underserved population segments traditionally ignored by financial institutions.
Develop innovative new products
Identify untapped population segments, and develop hypotheses on why they’ve been excluded
Conduct research to validate assumptions
Design concepts around findings
Further validate concept(s)
Create product strategy, define MVP, get on product roadmap
My process for identifying opportunity gaps was to have stakeholder interviews with cross-functional partners to learn their perspectives, observations, pain points, etc.
Through this work, I identified what I felt was a significant opportunity, and led the team in concentrating on specific personas that the retail banks had as clients, but for whom investing was unknown and unaffordable.
While SigFig’s investment products have been successful, there’s a large segment of the population that has historically been excluded from investing, and being able to build wealth and financial security.
This is due to many factors, including a lack of access, lack of education, and ironically, not having the financial resources to fund an investment account or afford the fees that come with working with an advisor.
Research
To get a deeper understanding of who these users and their needs were, we created designs around a typical financial planning tool and conducted user interviews, so we could assess knowledge within the demographics we were targeting.
“The term ‘financial plan’. I don’t know what that is or what that looks like.”
— Goals & Planning research participant, March 2022
We’re new to thinking about retirement. I was 100% under the illusion that if we did a 401k, we’d be fine. But now I’m thinking that may not be enough. It’s like being invited to a basketball game and not understanding the game. There are so many terms.
— Integrated Banking research participant, July, 2022
We spoke with 12 participants who were between the ages of 25 and 65, combined household income between $60k and $200, and investable assets between $5k and $100k.
Following two rounds of qualitative research — the second being informational/conversational interviews — many of our assumptions about the needs, and who we should be targeting were validated. But we also underestimated how little trust people have in financial institutions, which could be a barrier to adoption.
Participants liked the idea of goal-setting and planning, but lacked the knowledge for a self-guided experience and there were affordability issues with advisor-led planning. Additionally, there were deep issues of trust, with many participants skeptical of banks’ motivations to support them, or operate in their best interests.
I am making an assumption that banks are ripping me off. I walk into a bank, and I’m just a number. I’m not known there.
— Integrated Banking research participant, July, 2022
I grew up with not enough, so that motivates me. I am focused on saving. I don’t ever want my daughter to go through [what I went through].
— Integrated Banking research participant, July, 2022
To go from concept to viability, we conducted a workshop and design sprint. I ensured this was a cross-functional workshop, with participation from product managers, engineers, relationship managers, sales, and executives, including the CEO.
Blurred for confidentiality
Final Designs
Following the sprint, we had the opportunity to pitch our core Digital Wealth product to one of the largest financial institutions in the country. I felt it was important to include Path in our pitch, so on an accelerated timeline, I led the design and strategy for completing & prototyping the end-to-end experience. The results ultimately landed Path on the roadmap.
