What We Do
We’re hard to categorize—and we consider that a good thing. We function like a design agency, but we also offer consulting and leadership advisory. We are researchers and practitioners, visionaries and technical experts. This cross-disciplinary approach is our biggest strength.
We are known for:
Product storytelling, visual and interactive design and campaign development.
Simplifying hard-to-understand concepts to deepen engagement.
Creating solutions that challenge conventional wisdom and accepted orthodoxies to shift participant mindsets, build financial courage, and increase trust.
Expertise gained from working with leading financial services companies and an interdisciplinary approach that brings fresh perspectives from outside the industry.
Results through motivating behavioral change using clear communications, best practices and intuitive design.
By combining the science of behavioral finance with the art of human-centered design, we’ve transformed communications and product experiences into powerful behavior-changing engagement tools.
Product Ideation & Testing
Content Strategy
User Experience
Visual Design
Front & Back End Development
Behavioral Change
Services
- Customer Journey Mapping
- Brand Development
- Marketplace Research
- Concept Testing
- Experience Design
- Trend Mapping & Analysis
- Communications Audit
We work to understand and visualize your customer experience, holistically, across touch-points to identify customer pain points, service gaps, and opportunities for innovation.
We create brand identity, brand hierarchy systems, and architecture platforms – including naming and visual elements.
We study, monitor, and analyze levels of consumer trust in the financial services industry.
As part of an iterative design process, we get target audience feedback at key stages to help troubleshoot, validate, and correct course before long-term investments are made.
We implement lessons from behavioral finance and human-centered design, we create experiential solutions in the development of human-centric products, services, processes, and ecosystems.
We uncover what’s happening in adjacent industries and broader macro trends. This helps us understand emerging consumer behaviors and meet challenges with fresh perspectives.
We analyze design and communication effectiveness (including websites, apps, campaigns, and marketing collateral) from the human perspective. This allows us to identify latent and overt messages, and to spotlight where gaps occur.
Case Study
1 of 7
Client:
State of Ohio
Challenge:
To increase voluntary enrollment and use of auto-escalation in retirement savings plan.
Method:
Stakeholder interviews, landscape research, audit and analysis of state’s communication strategy
Outcome:
Resulted in re-engineering enrollment materials using proprietary communications system.
+25%
enrollment
+600%
use of auto-escalation
Case Study
2 of 7
Client:
Wyoming Retirement System
Challenge:
To deepen and increase frequency of employee engagement in retirement savings plan.
Method:
Visual / content audit of existing materials, and assessment of optimal user journey.
Outcome:
Resulted in a strategy to simplify the experience and redesigned communications to bring the strategy to life.
Case Study
3 of 7
Client:
Los Angeles County / NAGDCA
Challenge:
To design new breed of campaign, and brand, for National Retirement Security Week.
Method:
Analysis of past campaigns, landscape and industry audit to inform strategic campaign direction.
Solution
Innovative communications strategy and print / digital campaign to be used by all members of NAGDCA, including messaging roadmap to guide subsequent years' campaign development.
+24%
enrollment
+47%
savings increase
+18%
improved portfolio
Case Study
4 of 7
Client:
Large Asset Manager
Challenge
To express an innovative vision to position the organization as a thought leader in the industry.
Method:
Thought leadership concept generation, refinement, and topic selection.
Outcome:
Resulted in strategic communications materials, series of webinars, industry white paper, and speaking engagements based on the selected topic.
Case Study
5 of 7
Client:
Large Union
Challenge:
To create an entirely new website for members to help with financial decision-making.
Method:
Conducted landscape audit and analysis of user-needs, including macro trends and brand perception.
Solution:
A complete reimagining of the user journey, resulting in an engaging web experience. Refreshed brand and messaging, transformed financial information into a holistic financial wellness experience.
Case Study
6 of 7
Client:
Leading Asset Manager
Challenge:
Introducing a new retirement income product to the market.
Method:
Brand assessment, macro trend analysis, and storytelling strategy.
Outcome:
Resulted in brand positioning and key product communications across the customer journey.
Case Study
7 of 7
Client:
Large Recordkeeper
Challenge:
To increase overall effectiveness of retirement savings communications across key touchpoints to drive participant engagement.
Method:
Stakeholder research to understand customer pain points and landscape audit to understand relevant user experience trends.
Outcome:
Resulted in redesigned materials to facilitate engagement throughout the customer journey.
We collaborate with all of the stakeholders in retirement savings including: asset managers, providers, plan sponsors, advisors and of course, participants.
We are inspired by clients who want to unlock new ways of connecting with people to improve financial decision-making. We have worked with:
- SSGA
- NAGDCA
- California Teachers Association
- International Paper
- Wells Fargo
- State of Wyoming
- Vanguard
- T. Rowe Price
- TIAA
- Principal
- Newport Group
- Charles Schwab