Northwestern Mutual

Northwestern Mutual

Northwestern Mutual

Reduce Financial Advisor Turnover

Stats

Financial Advisors

6.7k

Users

Adoption

70%

DAU

Overview

According to a Top Office retention study, where a sampling of Financial Representatives from each office were invited to participate in a brief survey (23 of 28 invited participated). There were 12 questions on the survey, a mix of open-ended and subjective, that invited their feedback on various topics including career choice, motivation, office culture, coaching, and resources.

Their answers reinforced that new representatives, within their first 2-5 years of service, faced challenges in learning effective practice management.

Our goal was to reduce the turnover of Financial Advisors specifically those that are within their first 5 years of service by implementing a comprehensive guidance system.

If we enable early-stage Financial Advisors to track and manage their performance, we will support them in running their business, managing clients effectively, and fostering overall success.

Britt is a Financial Advisor who has been in the field for 4 years. She has a book of business with roughly 200 medical professionals. Peter is a Managing Director with 14 years of Service who mentors Britt.

Financial Advisors lack the motivation to record their activity data and achieve activity targets

For Leadership, there is no easy way to see which Advisor is off track

Individual advisor data is more helpful than aggregate data for coaching

Time consuming to collect the gaps in data

In conclusion, the 5-year vision for the Book of Business application and the development of Northwestern Mutual's first homegrown dashboard were achieved through close collaboration with five diverse teams—Success Profiles, Model Advisor, My Business Plan, BI, and CRM—and the acquisition of Posting Plus. From concept to execution, this project exemplifies the design process from 0 to 1.

Intervention

IA Workshop

An open card-sorting workshop informed the new navigation structures, followed by tree testing the different versions. With this method of research, we pinpointed the best possible navigation scheme according to the top 10 tasks that a Financial Advisor would want to do.

The future sitemap for Book of Business compared to the MVP.

Problem

We aimed to minimize the time-intensive process of gathering information and eliminate redundancies in data entry. To achieve this goal, effective collaboration with existing data teams were essential components.

Solution

Using card sorting exercises, we utilized internal resources and synchronized inventory to create a new UX architecture that aligns with the user journey. We conducted a series of moderated open card sorts and Tree Jack tests that involved both stakeholders and end users.

Intervention

Roadmap & Future Vision

Roadmap & Future Vision

The Advisor and Leadership Persona slide from the Vision Workshop.

Slides from the Vision document on how Book of Business can solve for Financial Advisor attrition

A workshop that resulted in persona definition (Top). Excerpts from the Vision document of how Book of Business can solve for Financial Advisor attrition (Bottom).

Problem

To further alignment among stakeholders in building the Book of Business, clear and evocative communication of what we were going to build was essential. We needed a method of representation for our vision.

Solution

We opted for storyboarding as the method to convey a meaningful sequence of events through the lens of our end users. Narrating the story from the perspectives of our personas effectively conveyed the goals and needs that this undertaking aimed to address.

Intervention

Book of Business MVP

Book of Business MVP

Wireframes of the Book of Business Goal Setting flow and dashboard.

Branding applied to the Book of Business Goal Setting flow and Dashboard.

A workshop that resulted in persona definition (Top). Excerpts from the Vision document of how Book of Business can solve for Financial Advisor attrition (Bottom).

Problem

The vision document served as a high-level overview, encompassing multiple use cases far into the future. To realize this vision, the approach needed to begin at the core of the experience, focusing on empowering Financial Advisors to lead their business.

Solution

A dashboard that provides real-time data visualization of sales, revenue, pipeline, and activity targets, replaces intricate spreadsheets with dynamic charts, graphs, and metrics. Users can easily understand the current state of their business, enabling data-driven decision-making.

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How I Can Help

End to end design initiatives, website and mobile apps

Market trends and competitor analysis

Analysis of user behavior and feedback

Diagnosing bounce rates and increasing conversion