Legal & General
Tools to help customers select investments that are right for them.
Each customer needs differing levels of guidance when selecting funds for their investments. We have to ensure that we are not directing them to take too much risk with their savings.
From ‘Simple fund choice’ tools to more advanced options, we have to think about accessibility and the cognitive ability of each customer. When switching your pension from one pre-chosen fund to a self-selected multiple-fund portfolio to the initial fund selection a customer has to be able to compare details for each.
Role: Product design / UX lead
The problem
Aimed at novice investors, both the ISA and personal pension allowed a customer to select one fund based on risk appetite for their money.
There was no way for an investor to quickly compare each fund inorder to decide which was right for their needs. As well as this, after opening an account and as a customer became more confident with their choices there was no way to change the fund that they were invested in.
The existing fund selection tool on L&G.com
Even though customers find the tool easy to use within the application process for an ISA / personal pension the feedback was that it could be improved to aid a customers’ ability to select the right fund.
The process of discovery
After running a series of surveys and user tests to find what information was critical to making a decision and competitor analysis on similar propositions to understand the market, we had a baseline of features and information that we could begin to design with.
Description
Investment split
Performance
Fact sheets and Investor documentation
Split breakdown - stretch target
Top 10 holdings - stretch target
Geographical holdings - stretch target
Projected value and calculator - stretch target
Financial advice - not in the pipeline yet
Testing fund descriptions
To make it simpler for a customer to select the right fund we tested a few options using plain English and metaphors to describe different risk levels of the funds.
Relating the funds back to value to make it easy for as a customer to understand how different risk levels might affect their investments.
Option 01 - Value
Option 02 - Walking
Using the metaphor of walking across different terrains to explain risk with the levels of difficulty and undulating paths relating to the peaks and troughs of investing.
Option 03 - Food
The most ambiguous of the three…
Thinking about the different types of cooking, using simple, easy to prepare predictable microwave meals vs home-prepared food from the garden which takes more effort.
In context
These descriptions were then tested in the context of the fund selection journey. We also used these sessions to gauge feedback on features that we were thinking of developing, such as projected value.
Feedback
We showed the test participants the three variations of the copy for the fund risk level description and asked them to vote on which was the most helpful when deciding on a risk level.
Option 01 (Value): 20 Votes
Option 02 (Walking): 8 votes
Option 03 (Food): 2 votes
Simplified choice and fund switch tool
Mobile first tool that allows customers to not only choose their funds based on risk but switch from one fund to another. To be used across acquisition and existing customer journeys across all of L&Gs personal investing products.
The outcome
Live on the Personal pension account page and is being launched with other digital products and journeys this year.
Current feedback has been positive from customers.