Self-directed | My Site 1

Self-directed Product Background

Self-directed product is a service where clients will self guide themselves to make investments. Enrollment in the service is determined by clients' responses in the percussion questionnaire where they reveal their needs.

Value of Ownership (VOO) Advertising Campaign:

The idea that "(the company) isn't owned by shareholders; it's owned by the people who invest in our funds"
This idea was embedded in the self-directed investment service, but the metrics showed that the core message was not conveyed effectively
- Low click-through rates (CTR) to the home page and landing site
- Low view of VOO video content
- Clients indicated low brand liking or connection (feeling appreciated, supported, and loyal to the brand)

Percussion Survey: a journey to reveal user needs

After onboarding, clients were expected to complete an online survey to determine the service that suited their needs most
Due to technical constraints, there was a ~10 days gap between clients getting onboard and being invited to fill out the survey which led to a decrease in the effectiveness of the survey
- Low survey completion (~8%)
- Low enrollment in the self-directed service
- Low awareness of the investment journey

my impact

$3-5m

Profits generated for the self-directed product line

7-10%

Increase in investments during market volatile time

the team

I worked closely with a senior behavioral scientist and 2 strategists from the self-directed product line to understand stakeholders' intentions, uncover users' frustrations, and provide final deliverables on potential changes.

methodology

My team and I spent 2 weeks interviewing product owners to learn product intentions, business goals, and the accuracy of current metrics
Then I worked with strategists from the product team for a month to conduct usability tests to uncover user needs and frustrations throughout the self-guided investment journey

diagnosis

self-directed investments: Value of ownership (VOO) Campaign

Stakeholders wanted to see increase in CTR as better performance metric, but it was NOT the core measurement that captured the advertising campaign's effect
Through in-depth interviews, it was clear that what the business team really cared was the exposure of VOO on clients and whether that led to clients' positive actions
Upon analysis of the user interfaces, new metrics were set to be % of clients who opened the following email and started the percussion questionnaire
Possible barriers:
- Unclear benefits to action: clients could not see the benefits they can get from taking actions
- Disinterest in information: clients did not believe in the VOO message and thus did not see the value of following the advice that came along with VOO
- Present bias (I will do it later): clients could be occupied when the message came in and they did not have time to take actions immediately

self-directed investments: percussion questionnaire

Clarified the business team's goal to be putting the most-fitted clients into the service and made their journeys rewarding, instead of relying on the previous metric to bring as many clients as possible to get onboard
Possible barriers:
- Unclear benefits of action: clients did not know the purpose of filling out the survey and were unaware of the benefits of doing (or not doing) so
- Hesitation in providing data: clients did not understand why the survey requested their personal data and were afraid of privacy
- Present bias (I will do it later): clients could be occupied when the message came in and they did not have time to take action immediately

VOO solution

How this solution worked: My team and I changed the passive languages in the advertising campaign into positive languages to help users resonate with the idea that they are the owners of the product. Also by drawing to users' emotional attachments and competitive nature, we addressed their emotional needs and encourage them to take action after viewing the campaign message.

Why this solution was effective:

Highlight benefits to action by emphasizing what clients can get by completing the action
Make information more personally relevant and evocative by starting a conversation
Bring benefits to the present or a sense of urgency to acting

percussion questionnaire solution

How this solution worked: My team and I changed the phrasing of the survey questions to a more personalized tone along with more actionable items on the webpage to nudge for in-time responses.

Why could this solution be effective:

Highlight benefits to action by emphasizing what clients can get by completing the action
Flip the script on providing data (It is for you, not Vanguard) to consistently nudge for completion
Use concrete language to aid advancing momentum