Our Goal

To successfully design for the end-user by transforming how we conceive, design, measure, develop, and deploy digital experiences to clients, driving Vanguard’s culture shift to put the customer at the center of everything we do.

The Challenge

Vanguard was transforming into a digital-first company, and our challenge was to integrate customer insights into all digital platforms, ensuring the customer’s voice guided every design and development decision.

The Team

My Role as Program Lead:

• Program Direction: I led the research program from kickoff to implementation, ensuring that each phase was aligned with our strategic objectives.

• Collaboration: I partnered closely with a dedicated researcher, consultants, and Masters students, working with cross-discipline teams to ensure diverse perspectives.

• Leadership: I facilitated workshops and agile sprints, ensuring team alignment and promoting collaboration.

• Synthesis & Presentation: I coordinated all findings, creating clear and actionable insights, which I then presented to stakeholders, ensuring buy-in and alignment.

Key Collaborators:

• Vanguard research 2

• Vanguard Cross-Discipline Teams 10 design, business, product, and engineering

• Philadelphia University 12 Masters Students

• Consultant Spark DSG 3 DSG Strategists and 8 Vanguard team members

• In-Home Interviews 20 clients in PA, NJ, DE, GA, CA

Strategy

1. Google Sprint

A five day process developed at Google Ventures. It is utilized to answer critical business questions through prototyping, design, and testing ideas with customers.

Goal Increase client satisfaction and reduce client effort for tax related “journeys.”

Story Vanguard over staffs during tax season due to high call volumes, highlighting unmet investor needs in the digital space.

Process

2 Week agile sprints View the entire google sprint process >

Tax Center Prototypes

Retiree http://vanguard-lwd-taxes-sprint-2-retiree.webflow.io/my-accounts-taxes-dashboard

Pre-retiree http://vanguard-lwd-taxes-sprint-2-pre-retiree.webflow.io/my-accounts-taxes-dashboard

Accumulator http://vanguard-lwd-taxes-sprint-2-accumulator.webflow.io/my-accounts-taxes-dashboard

2. Spark DSG Design Studio—Secure Site Pilot Guide

Goal To create the world’s best self-directed secure experience.

Story Investors receive 95% factual data but lack guidance on how to interpret it, so we explored ways to provide additional context when viewing secure information.

Process

Research > Interviews > Sketch > Discuss & Critique > Prototype > Test

Concept for Modular Advice

Through the lens of a mobile app, the team visualized an experience that puts savings goals front and center, while offering Vanguard’s unique content and point of view to nudge, guide and prioritize client actions and behaviors.

Prototype https://invis.io/T87W1Q5EX

3. In-Home Interviews

Goal Meeting clients in their homes allowed us to connect and gain deeper insight into their emotional and rational needs by observing their environment and lifestyle.

Story We had never done this type of research before and were curious about what we’d discover.

Process

Empathize > Learn > Analyze > Synthesize > Envision > Design > Prototype > Test

Concept for Retirement Guidance

The Result

By leading this comprehensive research initiative, we achieved several key outcomes that directly influenced the business and future strategy:

• Led the retail business in shifting to a digital-first platform, aligning the strategy with evolving customer needs.

• Utilized three distinct research methods to embed customer insights directly into the design process.

• Improved user satisfaction and engagement significantly through data-driven design iterations.

• Developed scalable research techniques that became integral to Vanguard’s ongoing UX strategy.

• Ensured the customer's voice remained central to all future digital initiatives, embedding a customer-centric approach across teams.