Morgan Stanley Wealth Management Landing Page Redesign 

In this project, I worked with a design researcher and a product manager to redesign the landing page of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. 12 usability test sessions were conducted to reveal user pain points and narrow down the design goal. I led several design iterations for the future MVP built.

Timeline

2 months

(Sep 2021- Nov 2021)

My Contributions

Led design iteration, facilitated usability sessions, synthesized notes, and analyzed findings.

Teammates

1 Researcher  

1 Product Manager

PROBLEM STATEMENT 

Based on the level of investment power and self-service, there are 4 different types of wealth management that Morgan Stanley provides. We need to design an experience that’s more usable and approachable for clients so that they can easily find a suitable wealth management service and be pushed through the funnel.

Some examples include...

• We need a better way to compare the cost
• “Help me help myself” (users)
• No difficult terms or jargons
  

DESIGN OUTCOME

Before

After

KEY DESIGN CHANGE

Quiz Module

Before

Users don’t expect a quiz module to pop out so soon, they’d like to know what services/choices they have before taking a quiz.                  

After

Put the “Take Our Quiz” box after the services are introduced. Users can know what services they can choose. If they don’t know how to choose, then take a quiz. The new design matches the mental flow of users.

Service Module

Before

Each service was hidden. It's hard for users to know what Morgan Stanley has on the table. Users must click through the vertical side menu to view the content, which kept the potential clients away.

After

Design the service in 4 column layout. Give users the content and the benefits right at the first glance. Users can know all the services at once and choose the right one for themselves. 

Comparison Module

Before

It took up lots of space for a single comparison button. The image didn’t speak to the users and had nothing to do with comparison.

After

A better location to put comparison is right after the services are told. Users appreciate the design this way as they can dive deeper for the details if needed and their thoughts won’t be cut off due to lots of white space. A table comparison also shows the difference which is easily digestible.

Editorial Content Module

Before

1. Users weere not enticed to click on the articles due to the insufficiency of the information & unrelatable images.
2. Users were unsure of what distinguished the below 2 sections and they were found a bit redundant.
3. Users prefer a quicker way to get to the articles they like instead of getting lost in the library.
   

After

1. Provide images that are contextually matched articles to grab users’ eyes and bring subtitles on the card design to give a high-level summary of what each article is about.
2. Integrate both sections to avoid confusion.
3. Provide labeling features to help users quickly get access to the topics they’re interested in.

Before

The carousel design confused users. Users didn’t know how to get to the next articles because the arrow design was not very obvious. They were not sure how the pictures would be displayed.

After

Change the design to a more conventional article card design to make it easier for users to quickly browse the articles, read the content and operate, so users can focus on the texts and images, not the unusable design.

THE IMPACT

Clients included the new design in the product roadmap as a MVP.

The rate is based on 12 usability sessions conducted in Sep 2021.

THE PROCESS

Define user personas and understand different user goals

There were 3 different types of persona identified by the previous studies. Each one has their own goals and preferences, risk tolerance when it comes to wealth management. The design needs to consider the perspectives and provides methods fit for different personas. 

Conduct usability testing to understand users’ pain points and expectations

12 usability test sessions were conducted using Usertesting. I helped facilitate the sessions while the researcher was leading the conversation. The first-hand insights from users were gathered and notes were taken in Google doc.

Synthesize notes in Miro board for qualitative findings. Analyze statistics in excel sheet for quantative discovery

After testing, we built the affinity diagram in Miro board to capture the common themes mentioned by the users and tracked the quantitative data in the excel sheet to calculate the rate, eg user satisfaction, preference. 

Conduct comparative analysis and iterate design alternatives based on usability test findings 

Based on the testing results, I conducted the comparative analysis to see what's the better design approach for our scenarios and what's the industry standard when it comes to some module design. I owned and led the whole design iteration,  leveraging the current MS design system.

REFLECTION

Be prepared for the initial meeting to gain trust immediately.

When working with new clients, it's hard to build trust in the beginning. To speed up the process, come to the meeting fully prepared (even it's a kickoff meeting) and ask good questions. It could help form the connection smoothly and instantly.   

What are the top 3 findings for each of usability sessions?

With 12 sessions in a week, researchers and designers might be overwhelmed by the quantity of data they consume in a day. To be more efficient, there’s a pretty nice and easy approach to sync with teammates by asking, “what are the top 3 you get from these sessions?” we can learn quickly to see if there’s consensus.