Overview
Morgan Stanley, a leading global financial services firm, faced the challenge of modernizing its digital tools for financial advisors. As a Design Director at EY, I led several key projects to address these enterprise UX challenges.
Financial institutions like Morgan Stanley deal with complex systems, specialized users, high-stakes decisions, legacy constraints, and multiple stakeholders. Our designs needed to balance user needs with business requirements and technical limitations.
Key Projects
Wealth Platform: Envisioned a new experience with data visualization and improved navigation, resulting in a prototype that demonstrated quicker opportunity identification for advisors.
- Learning Platform: Designed tools for custom curriculum building and accessing educational materials, leading to an implemented system for personalized learning plans.
- Business Planning Tool: Developed a concept integrated with the learning platform to guide advisors through team formation, goal setting, and progress tracking.
- Practice Evaluation: Created an efficient onboarding experience with custom iconography, receiving positive stakeholder feedback for potential implementation.
- Book Management: Designed solutions to enhance team management, revenue-sharing, and portfolio management, streamlining processes for advisor teams.
Impact
These projects played diverse and important roles in Morgan Stanley’s digital transformation journey for financial advisors. Some designs directly improved existing tools and workflows, enhancing daily operations. Others served as powerful communication tools, securing stakeholder buy-in for future initiatives. Several projects functioned as north-star visions, guiding long-term strategy and inspiring further innovation.
My role as Design Director involved:
- Leading design strategy across various project types
- Partnering with user research teams to understand advisor needs
- Creating wireframes and prototypes for both immediate implementation and future visioning
- Collaborating with stakeholders to align designs with user needs and business goals
+ Design Strategy
+ Design Direction
+ Prototyping
+ Wireframes
+ High Fidelity Design
This is the type of work involved in advancing UX in large financial organizations. It addresses the unique challenges of developing enterprise software in the financial sector, such as complex data systems, regulatory constraints, and diverse user needs. By balancing practical improvements with strategic vision, this approach helps modernize tools and processes within established institutions, ultimately enhancing advisor efficiency and client satisfaction.
More Work
Lights, Camera, Corporate Action: Inside A Media Company’s Event Video
Turning boardroom breakthroughs into blockbuster viewing for the team.
Transforming Financial Advisor Tools
Strategic UX design reshapes digital tools for global investment bank, transforming financial advisory workflows.
Calculated Change: Mortgages Go Digital
UX strategy transforms complex lending decisions into engaging digital experiences, helping financial institutions envision their digital future.