Ryan La

Work

About

Resume

Ryan La

Ryan La

Work

About

Resume

Delivery preference management

Redesigned how users manage their consent and delivery preferences for various types of activities and communications.

TIMELINE

October 2023 - March 2024

ROLE

Lead designer

TOOLS

Figma

Miro

Jira

UserzoomGO

STATUS

MVP #1

TIMELINE

October 2023 - March 2024

ROLE

Lead designer

TOOLS

Figma

Miro

Jira

UserzoomGO

STATUS

MVP #1

TIMELINE

October 2023 - March 2024

ROLE

Lead designer

TOOLS

Figma

Miro

Jira

UserzoomGO

STATUS

MVP #1

Introduction

Context

Principal Financial Group’s delivery preference management is an enterprise solution allowing customers to easily manage consent and delivery preferences for various types of activities and communications. The company has partnered with the consulting company, PossibleNow to assist in this work. PossibleNow will be providing a clear roadmap to provide consent and preference management at an enterprise level and ensure our platform maintains compliance as regulations change, new technology is introduced, and business units evolve.

Principal Financial Group’s delivery preference management is an enterprise solution allowing customers to easily manage consent and delivery preferences for various types of activities and communications. The company has partnered with the consulting company, PossibleNow to assist in this work. PossibleNow will be providing a clear roadmap to provide consent and preference management at an enterprise level and ensure our platform maintains compliance as regulations change, new technology is introduced, and business units evolve.

My role and my team

As the design lead on this project, I worked closely with the product manager, engineers, and the PossibleNow team. It was my responsibility to conduct user research, create the designs, and test the products.

Problem

The current Delivery Preferences UI has grown antiquated, providing customers with a subpar experience when attempting to update their document delivery preferences. Customers heavily rely on this interface to enroll in electronic notifications for the availability of their key documents online. Swift access to these forms is crucial for timely retrieval, and it holds significant business value by minimizing printing and mailing costs.

Key issues

Outdated UI: The existing UI is outdated and fails to offer an optimal user experience, hindering customers' ability to efficiently manage their document delivery preferences.


Timely Document Retrieval: Customers depend on the UI to enroll in electronic notifications, enabling them to retrieve their documents promptly. The current system's limitations jeopardize timely access to essential forms.


Business Value: The transition to digital enrollment not only enhances the customer experience but also presents a substantial opportunity for cost savings through the reduction of printing and mailing expenses.


High Volume Tax Season Calls: An improved Delivery Preferences UI could significantly reduce the volume of incoming phone calls during peak tax seasons, streamlining customer interactions and enhancing operational efficiency.

Opportunities for improvement

Enhanced Customer Experience: A revamped UI will provide customers with an enhanced and user-friendly experience, facilitating swift and convenient retrieval of documents when needed.


Reduced Phone Calls: The implementation of an improved UI is expected to lead to a reduction in phone calls during high-volume tax seasons, alleviating pressure on engagement centers and enhancing overall customer service.


Cost Savings: Transitioning to electronic enrollment presents a substantial opportunity for cost savings, with an estimated $2 million potential savings for tax forms through 100% digital conversion (or $1.2 million at a 60% conversion rate) and an additional $700,000 annually for plan documents with a mere 5% increase in electronic enrollment.

CURRENT STATE

Problem

The current Delivery Preferences UI has grown antiquated, providing customers with a subpar experience when attempting to update their document delivery preferences. Customers heavily rely on this interface to enroll in electronic notifications for the availability of their key documents online. Swift access to these forms is crucial for timely retrieval, and it holds significant business value by minimizing printing and mailing costs.

Key issues

Outdated UI: The existing UI is outdated and fails to offer an optimal user experience, hindering customers' ability to efficiently manage their document delivery preferences.


Timely Document Retrieval: Customers depend on the UI to enroll in electronic notifications, enabling them to retrieve their documents promptly. The current system's limitations jeopardize timely access to essential forms.


Business Value: The transition to digital enrollment not only enhances the customer experience but also presents a substantial opportunity for cost savings through the reduction of printing and mailing expenses.


High Volume Tax Season Calls: An improved Delivery Preferences UI could significantly reduce the volume of incoming phone calls during peak tax seasons, streamlining customer interactions and enhancing operational efficiency.

Opportunities for improvement

Enhanced Customer Experience: A revamped UI will provide customers with an enhanced and user-friendly experience, facilitating swift and convenient retrieval of documents when needed.


Reduced Phone Calls: The implementation of an improved UI is expected to lead to a reduction in phone calls during high-volume tax seasons, alleviating pressure on engagement centers and enhancing overall customer service.


Cost Savings: Transitioning to electronic enrollment presents a substantial opportunity for cost savings, with an estimated $2 million potential savings for tax forms through 100% digital conversion (or $1.2 million at a 60% conversion rate) and an additional $700,000 annually for plan documents with a mere 5% increase in electronic enrollment.

CURRENT STATE

Problem

The current Delivery Preferences UI has grown antiquated, providing customers with a subpar experience when attempting to update their document delivery preferences. Customers heavily rely on this interface to enroll in electronic notifications for the availability of their key documents online. Swift access to these forms is crucial for timely retrieval, and it holds significant business value by minimizing printing and mailing costs.

Key issues

Outdated UI: The existing UI is outdated and fails to offer an optimal user experience, hindering customers' ability to efficiently manage their document delivery preferences.


Timely Document Retrieval: Customers depend on the UI to enroll in electronic notifications, enabling them to retrieve their documents promptly. The current system's limitations jeopardize timely access to essential forms.


Business Value: The transition to digital enrollment not only enhances the customer experience but also presents a substantial opportunity for cost savings through the reduction of printing and mailing expenses.


High Volume Tax Season Calls: An improved Delivery Preferences UI could significantly reduce the volume of incoming phone calls during peak tax seasons, streamlining customer interactions and enhancing operational efficiency.

Opportunities for improvement

Enhanced Customer Experience: A revamped UI will provide customers with an enhanced and user-friendly experience, facilitating swift and convenient retrieval of documents when needed.


Reduced Phone Calls: The implementation of an improved UI is expected to lead to a reduction in phone calls during high-volume tax seasons, alleviating pressure on engagement centers and enhancing overall customer service.


Cost Savings: Transitioning to electronic enrollment presents a substantial opportunity for cost savings, with an estimated $2 million potential savings for tax forms through 100% digital conversion (or $1.2 million at a 60% conversion rate) and an additional $700,000 annually for plan documents with a mere 5% increase in electronic enrollment.

CURRENT STATE

Objective

Building an enterprise consent delivery preference management capability which:

  • Allows us to mitigate risks, including negative brand impact, fines/litigation, customer discontent and mistrust

  • Unifies our data and creates a central source of truth around all consents and preferences that other enterprise systems can consume

  • Eliminates siloed, inconsistent manual processes, while allowing us the ability to capture and store consent and preference decisions across multiple channels.

  • Retain more prospects and customers for marketing communications

Research

Discover sprints

During the discovery sprints, our team engaged in intensive collaborative sessions aimed at uncovering key insights and defining project goals / outcomes. We utilized various techniques such as stakeholder interviews, and customer research to gain a deep understanding of user needs and business objectives.


Here’s a summary of what our stakeholders had to say:

“Global unsubscribe — there isn’t granularity which means opting out of all communications”

“Customers would like more self-service capabilities instead of having to call engagement center.”

“The delivery preference page presents lots of confusing options, making it frustratingly difficult to navigate and update my preferences effectively.”

Three key themes from the discovery sprints are:

Marketing list erosion

Unsubscribe all (atomic opt-out) negatively impacts all business segments

Harness paperless delivery

Shift to do more proactive electronic enablement where applicable

Product over need

Internal terminology is more product centric vs. audience centric

Research

Three key themes from the discovery sprints are:

Marketing list erosion

Unsubscribe all (atomic opt-out) negatively impacts all business segments

Harness paperless delivery

Shift to do more proactive electronic enablement where applicable

Product over need

Internal terminology is more product centric vs. audience centric

Discover sprints

During the discovery sprints, our team engaged in intensive collaborative sessions aimed at uncovering key insights and defining project goals / outcomes. We utilized various techniques such as stakeholder interviews, and customer research to gain a deep understanding of user needs and business objectives.


Here’s a summary of what our stakeholders had to say:

“Global unsubscribe — there isn’t granularity which means opting out of all communications”

“Customers would like more self-service capabilities instead of having to call engagement center.”

“The delivery preference page presents lots of confusing options, making it frustratingly difficult to navigate and update my preferences effectively.”

Competitors analysis

I thoroughly evaluated existing solutions within the financial services industry, focusing on their delivery preference management capabilities and user experience. By benchmarking against leading competitors, we identified key features, design patterns, and best practices to inform our redesign strategy.

Competitors analysis

I thoroughly evaluated existing solutions within the financial services industry, focusing on their delivery preference management capabilities and user experience. By benchmarking against leading competitors, we identified key features, design patterns, and best practices to inform our redesign strategy.

Competitors analysis

I thoroughly evaluated existing solutions within the financial services industry, focusing on their delivery preference management capabilities and user experience. By benchmarking against leading competitors, we identified key features, design patterns, and best practices to inform our redesign strategy.

Journey maps

Creating a journey map for this project involves charting the user's experience from initial interaction with the delivery preference interface to completing their preferences update. This process of creating a journey map creates an aligned mental model for the whole team.

Journey maps

Creating a journey map for this project involves charting the user's experience from initial interaction with the delivery preference interface to completing their preferences update. This process of creating a journey map creates an aligned mental model for the whole team.

Journey maps

Creating a journey map for this project involves charting the user's experience from initial interaction with the delivery preference interface to completing their preferences update. This process of creating a journey map creates an aligned mental model for the whole team.

First iteration (sketches)

As ideas brewed in my mind, I began sketching out ideas I could test and try. I focused primarily on how user wants to view categories and communication.

As ideas brewed in my mind, I began sketching out ideas I could test and try. I focused primarily on how user wants to view categories and communication.

First iteration (sketches)

As ideas brewed in my mind, I began sketching out ideas I could test and try. I focused primarily on how user wants to view categories and communication.

User testing #1

Goal: To understand layout preferences and ease of consuming preferences and actions

Tool: UserzoomGo

Number of users: 6

Metric: Qualitative feedback


Usability testing played a crucial role in refining our delivery preferences page to ensure optimal user experience. Through testing, we gauged layout preferences and the ease of consuming preferences and actions, allowing us to fine-tune the design for maximum usability. Additionally, we assessed the overall desirability of features, functionality, and content, ensuring that the page met user expectations and needs effectively. Furthermore, usability testing helped determine the hierarchy of preferences offered, preferred communication channels, and the naming of content categories, allowing us to prioritize elements based on user preferences.


Key findings from the testing revealed that:

6/6 users preferred the card view over the list view

5/6 users found checkboxes clear for opting in and out

6/6 users said the number of communications did not overwhelm them

6/6 users identified the correct categories and communication channels

Accessibility review

By implementing an accessibility checklist on our delivery preferences page, I ensured an inclusive and universal experience for all users. First, I checked color contrast against WCAG standards, guaranteeing that text and background elements provided sufficient differentiation for users with visual impairments. Additionally, I utilized semantic HTML and heading tags (e.g., H1, H2, H3) in my designs to establish a logical page structure, facilitating smooth navigation and comprehension for screen reader users. Furthermore, I avoided complex interactions, simplifying the interface and ensuring usability for users with cognitive or motor impairments.

Final designs

Delivery preferences page

The visual design for the new delivery preferences page follows the characteristics of the brand. With the creation of this page, we hope to address the concerns regarding the outdated UI, as well as improve cost savings by reducing printing and mailing expenses. This page outlines clear categories and communication channels that users may want to engage with. Also on this page, you can see which communications are mandatory and which are optional.

Paperless settings page

The new paperless settings page provides the user with an easy-access toggle to receive documents electronically. Additionally, users can manually choose whether to receive paperless or paper documents associated with their accounts.

Delivery preferences page

The visual design for the new delivery preferences page follows the characteristics of the brand. With the creation of this page, we hope to address the concerns regarding the outdated UI, as well as improve cost savings by reducing printing and mailing expenses. This page outlines clear categories and communication channels that users may want to engage with. Also on this page, you can see which communications are mandatory and which are optional.

Paperless settings page

The new paperless settings page provides the user with an easy-access toggle to receive documents electronically. Additionally, users can manually choose whether to receive paperless or paper documents associated with their accounts.

Conclusion

Takeaways

Data-driven decision making

Utilize data from usability testing, user feedback, and analytics to inform design decisions and prioritize features that have the most significant impact on user satisfaction and business outcomes.

Utilize data from usability testing, user feedback, and analytics to inform design decisions and prioritize features that have the most significant impact on user satisfaction and business outcomes.

Utilize data from usability testing, user feedback, and analytics to inform design decisions and prioritize features that have the most significant impact on user satisfaction and business outcomes.

Simplicity enhances usability

Simplifying interactions and presenting information clearly reduces user frustration and promotes ease of use, leading to higher user satisfaction.

Compliance and security

Focused on designing opt-in and opt-out processes to comply with government mandated regulations as well as carrier mandated regulations. Stayed vigilant about compliance with relevant regulations (such as GDPR or TCPA) and prioritize data security to build trust with users and maintain legal compliance.

Focused on designing opt-in and opt-out processes to comply with government mandated regulations as well as carrier mandated regulations. Stayed vigilant about compliance with relevant regulations (such as GDPR or TCPA) and prioritize data security to build trust with users and maintain legal compliance.

Next steps

Launch and communication

Plan a launch strategy for the updated delivery preferences page, including communication to users about the changes and any new features or functionality.

Copyright

2024 by Ryan La.

All rights reserved.

Contact

ryanla0227@gmail.com

linkedin.com/in/lar0227/

Location

Orange County, CA

Copyright

2024 by Ryan La.

All rights reserved.

Contact

ryanla0227@gmail.com

linkedin.com/in/lar0227/

Location

Orange County, CA

Copyright

2024 by Ryan La.

All rights reserved.

Contact

ryanla0227@gmail.com

linkedin.com/in/lar0227/

Location

Orange County, CA

Delivery preferences page

The visual design for the new delivery preferences page follows the characteristics of the brand. With the creation of this page, we hope to address the concerns regarding the outdated UI, as well as improve cost savings by reducing printing and mailing expenses. This page outlines clear categories and communication channels that users may want to engage with. Also on this page, you can see which communications are mandatory and which are optional.

Paperless settings page

The new paperless settings page provides the user with an easy-access toggle to receive documents electronically. Additionally, users can manually choose whether to receive paperless or paper documents associated with their accounts.