Goal Funding Over Time - Feature Redesign

Product: GDWM – An internal web application used by financial advisors for wealth management of clients

Feature: Goal Funding Over Time - A comprehensive, interactive, and data-driven view of how client goals are funded over time

My Role: UX Designer & Researcher (Team 5 - Subteam of Project Manager and Engineers, Design Manager)

Timeline: Aug '23 - Jan '24

Tools Used: Figma, Miro

Note: This case study includes select screenshots and partial design iterations. Full designs and research artifacts are not shown due to confidentiality.

Context

The Goals Driven Wealth Management (GDWM) web application is an internal tool used by financial advisors to manage client assets and goals during client meetings. A key aspect of these meetings involves discussing how clients' goals will be funded over time, and aligning those goals with their available assets. A gap existed in providing a clear, consolidated view of this information, potentially leading to misinterpretations and inappropriate asset allocation recommendations.

The Challenge

Business stakeholders identified a critical need to improve how advisors and clients understand the relationship between financial goals and asset allocation over the planning period. The existing system lacked a holistic view of goal funding sources and the proposed asset allocation for achieving those goals. This could lead to advisors presenting incomplete or potentially risky funding strategies.

The Solution

I led the design and research for the "Goal Funding Over Time" feature, aiming to provide a clear, visual, and data-rich interface that would:

Consolidate all client goals and their funding sources in one place.

Clearly illustrate how each goal is projected to be funded over the client's planning period.

Show the proposed asset allocation (risk assets, risk control assets) aligned with these goals.

Highlight the role of investable excess in funding goals.

Objectives

Provide advisors and clients with a centralized view of the proposed asset allocation across all their goals.

Enhance understanding of asset-goal alignment by visualizing Investable Excess data, thereby improving the quality of advisor recommendations and mitigating the risk of presenting unsuitable funding strategies.

Research Process

To ensure the feature effectively addressed advisor needs and workflows, I employed a phased research approach:

Phase 1: Exploratory / Qualitative Interviews (Internal)

Participants: 2-3 Designers and 1 Portfolio Advisor

Purpose: To gather initial perspectives on the design problem and potential solutions. We used design provocations (early-stage concepts) to stimulate discussion and gather feedback.

My Role: Led the design of the provocations and participated in the interviews, contributing to the initial understanding of the problem space.

Phase 2: 1:1 Facilitated Interviews with Senior Portfolio Advisors

Participants: 4 Senior Portfolio Advisors (utilized for ongoing research)

Purpose: To gain in-depth understanding of how advisors currently conduct client conversations around goal funding and asset allocation, the importance of this information in their workflow, and what successful support would look like.

My Role: As the main designer, I was responsible for:

Developing the future state screens and comps for Round 1.
Designing the two layout options for Round 2.
Facilitating the research interviews.
Analyzing the feedback and synthesizing key insights to inform design decisions.
Collaborating with designers who assisted with note-taking and post-research analysis.

Round 1: Evaluating Future State Screens/Comps:

Objectives: Understand advisor perspectives on the initial visualization of goal funding over time and the organization of data in the supporting table.
Key Feedback:
- Strong need to visualize asset allocation of risk assets and risk control assets over the planning period in relation to goals.
- Value in explicitly showing excess assets and inflows in the data table (and the ability to toggle their visibility).
- Open question on the best way to represent investable excess on the visual chart.

Round 2: Comparing Layout Options:

Objectives: Compare two different layout options for organizing the data and understand advisors' preferences for clarity and ease of understanding.
Key Feedback:
- Preference for a persistent legend in the visual chart and donut chart area for risk assets, risk control assets, and excess assets.
- Strong preference for a consolidated chart showing all goal funding sources (investable, non-investable, inflows) rather than separate sections.
- Value in showing inflows and non-investable assets as separate line items in the data displayed next to the donut chart.

Phase 3: Qualitative Interviews - Refining the Design

Participants: 3 Senior Portfolio Advisors

Objectives:

Review the latest iterations of the design comps.
Discuss the concept of indicating "achieved goals."
Gather feedback on overall page and content refinements.

My Role: Conducted the interviews and incorporated the feedback into the final design.

Key Design Decisions Informed by Research

Visualizing Asset Allocation Over Time

The strong feedback in Round 1 led to the central design element: a line graph showing the progression of risk assets, risk control assets, and investable excess over the client's planning horizon.

Data Table Customization

The request to control the visibility of columns like inflows and excess assets resulted in the "Display Options" feature, allowing advisors to tailor the data view to their needs.

Consolidated Funding View

The clear preference for a single chart showcasing all funding sources led to the design of the main visual, avoiding segmented views.

Persistent Legend

The need for a constant reference point resulted in the inclusion of a persistent legend for the visual and donut charts.

Emphasis on Key Data Points

The feedback highlighting the importance of quickly understanding funded amounts led to the prominent display of "Funded by Investable Portfolio," "Funded by Inflows," and "Funded by Non-Investable Assets" in the right-hand section.

Indicating Achieved Goals

The discussion in Phase 3 led to the design of visual cues (green arrows and "Achieved" labels) to clearly identify completed goals within the table.

Initial version of the “Goal Funding Over Time” feature. The graph lacked a clear key, the donut chart was less effective in communicating allocation, and supporting information was harder to scan. This early design revealed opportunities to improve visual hierarchy, clarity, and alignment with advisor needs.

Updated iteration with improved graph design, a clear legend for asset types, and reorganized donut chart. Added “Funded by” values to highlight key numbers advisors wanted to see at a glance. These changes created a more intuitive and information-rich experience, increasing usability during client conversations.

Edge case state highlighting an investable shortfall. When allocation targets could not be met, the interface triggered a warning banner and flagged the shortfall in both the chart and goal breakdown. This guided advisors to proactively address risks with clients and explore adjustments.

Progress state - Age 80 view illustrating how specific goals, like discretionary spending, are funded at that point in the planning horizon. Advisors could tap or hover to explore future scenarios, making long-term planning more tangible and interactive.

Final view showing all goals achieved by the end of the planning horizon. Success states are clearly marked for each goal category (lifestyle, discretionary, philanthropic, family, tax), offering advisors a simple, confidence-building way to conclude conversations with clients.

Final Design Components

The "Goal Funding Over Time" feature was designed with a clear hierarchy and focus on providing critical information at a glance, while allowing for deeper exploration. The key components are:

Header

Clear title: "Goal Funding Over Time"

"Display Options" button: Allows users to customize the data table view by selecting which columns to display (aligned to inflows, portfolio, non-investable) and choosing between dollar or percentage view.

Asset Allocation and Excess, by Client Name's Age

Main Visual Graph: A line graph spanning the client's recorded age to 100, visualizing risk assets (RA), risk control assets (RCA), and investable excess over time using distinct colors.

Interactive Elements: Hovering over the graph lines or the age numbers at each point reveals a popover displaying the dollar amount and percentage for RA, RCA, and Excess at that specific age.

Legend: A small, persistent legend below the graph clearly labels the colors representing RA, RCA, and Excess.

Age Navigation

A subtitle line with an age entry box and up/down arrows. This allows users to quickly jump to a specific age on the graph, and the data table below dynamically updates to reflect the estimated data for that age.

Key Data Summary

Left Box (Donut Chart): A small donut chart visually represents the percentage and dollar amount of risk assets and risk control assets. Investable excess is displayed as a dollar amount overlaid on the risk assets portion of the donut.

Right Box (Funding Sources): Three prominent data points displayed in a larger font:

Funded by Investable Portfolio (dollar amount)
Funded by Inflows (dollar amount)
Funded by Non-Investable Assets (dollar amount)

These provide advisors with a quick overview of the primary funding sources.

Detailed Data Table

Displays each goal type with its associated risk control, risk assets, and present value.

Expandable Rows: Users can expand each goal type row to see a breakdown of individual goals within that category.

Customizable Columns: The "Display Options" in the header controls which additional columns are visible in the table.

Dollar/Percentage View: Users can toggle between displaying data in dollar amounts or percentages.

Total Present Value: A row at the bottom of the table displays the total present value of all goals.

Investable Excess Row: A dedicated row at the bottom shows the investable excess amount.

Achieved Goal Indication

Collapsed Row: A small green arrow next to the goal category name indicates that at least one goal within that category has been achieved.

Expanded Row: Green arrows are displayed next to the labels of each individual achieved goal. Data columns for achieved goals show dashes, and the present value column displays a faded "Achieved" label with an information icon.

Popover: Hovering over the "Achieved" label reveals a popover with details about when the goal was achieved and its present value. (Further research was planned to determine the specific information to include in this popover).

Edge Case Scenarios

Investable Shortfall: Visual warnings and alerts were designed to clearly highlight situations where there is insufficient investable excess to meet the goals. Different design options for these warnings were tested with advisors.

No Assets or Goals: A specific design was created for scenarios where the client has no assets or goals added to the system.

Assets, No Goals: Another design addressed the case where assets are present but no goals have been defined, showing the risk asset amount, a graph fully covered by the investable excess overlay, and an empty data table.

Impact

While the feature was in the development phase at the time of this case study, the research and design process yielded significant insights and a well-received solution. The strong emphasis on user research, particularly involving senior portfolio advisors, ensured that the design directly addressed their needs and workflows.

Key Learnings

Power of Visualization

The visual representation of asset allocation over time proved to be a powerful tool for understanding complex financial data.

Next Steps (as of project handover)

Continued development and testing of the feature.

Further research on the content and functionality of the "Achieved Goal" popover.

Monitoring user adoption and gathering feedback post-launch to identify areas for future iteration and improvement.

Note:

Due to the confidential nature of this project and non-disclosure agreements, only select screenshots and partial design iterations are included here. These visuals highlight key interactions, edge cases, and design decisions, but do not represent the full scope of deliverables.

I’d be happy to walk you through the complete case including research artifacts, design rationale, and final interface components in a private interview setting.

If you’re interested in learning more, feel free to reach out to me directly at mehtanish24@gmail.com.

NM