In 2012, forms and tables were the backbone for presenting large sets of data. However, by 2018, this magic had faded—users no longer wanted just raw data. They expected systems to offer insights, contextual guidance, and actionable narratives to make informed decisions effortlessly. I was part of an ambitious project to redesign the Investor Profile/Fact Find experience for one of the leading financial research company of Australia.
To comply with my non-disclosure agreement, I have omitted and obfuscated confidential information in this case study. All information in this case study is my own and does not necessarily reflect the views of Morningstar.
Design by accretion
Fact Finder helps financial advisors truly understand their clients—gathering key insights on their finances, goals, and risk appetite—so they can provide smarter, more personalized advice. Over the years, the system faced several challenges, including:
Conversion rates dropped from 8% to 1%.
From 5,083 users in 2018 to a loss of 1,200 users annually—by 2020, the system’s shortcomings had cost us 3,600 users.
Clunky, slow, and outdated —users struggled with complex tables, frustrating load times, and a system that couldn’t keep up with their needs.
Fig.2 - legecy designs.
The Challenge
Make It Usable Again in 6 Months
Our goal was to realign with user needs and design a best-in-class experience. From data entry to surface with critical information with real-time insights should happen in no time. Our high level goals were to:
Make it fast and easy to use for everyone.
Empower users to deliver precise advice, work efficiently, and make confident decisions.
Create a platform for deeper engagement.
My Role
I led the design of investor profile/factfind between Nov 2019 to End of 2020. My cross-team was formed by amazing and talented people, including Atul Kumar as Product Manager, Ken as SME, Neha, Ishant, and Devesh as developers, Neha Kumari as QA engineer, and Kulesh as Tech lead.
I was very well supported by the design community of Morningstar. The tool launched in December 2020.
I am still part of this team as a part of continuous discovery process.
My key responsibilities were:
Conducting workshops and interviews to gather requirements and insights.
Establishing the success matrix of the project.
Conceptualising, designing, and testing the solutions.
Communicating and collaborating effectively with stakeholders and the project team at each and every step of the process.
The Kick off
Picking up the pieces
Without pre-existing insights, I partnered with our product and SMEs team to explore how advisers were getting around.
We tested the existing tool with 6 participants and collected different survey results. Our goals were to understand the needs & challenges our user faced.
Early Insights
Numbers were bad
The SUS, NPS and support queries made it clear—this product was a blocker, not a helper. One user put it best: “Your UI means "Ultra Irritating."
Client engagement was suboptimal
Advisors struggled to engage clients because the tool relied on dense, text-heavy data instead of visual insights."
Updating data was cumbersome
Collecting and updating data felt like a chore. Without a user-friendly way to prompt updates, engagement dropped, and operational challenges grew."
Issues with compliance
Compliance became a challenge as outdated or incomplete data made it harder to meet regulatory requirements, increasing risk for advisers and firms."
Deeper Insights
While talking to our users, we wanted to understand the true impact of the Fact Finder. By mapping how and when financial advisers use it, we uncovered something eye-opening, this tool isn’t just a step in the process; it’s embedded at every stage of financial advice.
Adviser Expectations Changed Over Time
As financial advisors increasingly rely on digital tools, their expectations have evolved. What once worked—static forms and tables—now feels clunky, slow, and outdated. With exposure to modern, intuitive applications, advisors now expect effortless, seamless workflows that keep up with their pace. But our current system? It lags behind, creating unnecessary friction instead of enabling efficiency.
“To stay relevant and valuable, we needed to rethink the experience—not as a digital form, but as a smart, frictionless platform that works for them, not against them.”
It isn’t just a tool—it’s advisers first impression
Before a meeting even happens, this module shapes how advisers perceive and prepare for the client conversation.
Source of truth for downstream modules
Tool isn’t just a data collection form—it’s the foundation for every financial decision within the platform.
Ripple Effect
Digging into the data revealed major inefficiencies. Almost every adviser had to do extra documentation, manually fill in gaps, or rely on third-party tools just to make the system work. This was far from the seamless, integrated experience they expected.
"The inefficiency wasn’t just frustrating— it had real business costs, leading to lost productivity and missed opportunities.”
Prolonged Meetings
Advisers spend extra time clarifying financial data instead of focusing on strategy.
Extra Documentation
Manual workarounds are needed to fill gaps in missing or unclear data.
3rd Party Tool Usage
The tool’s inefficiencies forced advisers to rely on third-party tools like xplan, myprosperity— leading to increased operational costs.
Increased Support Dependency
The tool’s inefficiencies forced advisers to rely on third-party tools like xplan, myprosperity— leading to increased operational costs.
Define Success
Measuring the Experience
Before designing, We tracked key metrics like task success rate, completion time, SUS, and Single Ease Question. We also analyzed support tickets, past conversations, and user feedback. Digging into the data revealed some big insights. It took 60-90 min to complete an onboarding of new investor with minimum fields entry with 30% completion rate. 1.1k ticket was raised in a month.
Redefining the Problem
The Fact Finder’s inefficiencies lead to inaccurate data, compliance risks, and reliance on workarounds—forcing advisers into extra effort, delays, and frustration.
“...how might we help advisers & investor to engage better?”
This begged the question, how might we help advisers & investor to engage better? Our proposal was Investor Profile, a tool created on behalf of advisers and investors.
The solution
Introducing Investor Profile
By bridging gaps in data clarity and engagement, we empower advisers to focus on what truly matters, building trust and driving smarter financial decisions.
Fixing the Basic
Onboarding required 20 different forms, turning a crucial first step into a frustrating bottleneck. Cutting steps wasn’t enough—we needed a smarter, more intuitive approach.
Our approach:
Auto-fetching data to eliminate redundant manual entry.
Adaptive forms that dynamically adjust based on user type and context
Progressive disclosure to surface only what’s necessary at each step
Pre-filled responses from past interactions for a seamless experience
Deep integrations with financial databases for accuracy and compliance
Streamlined Data Access
By redesigning it from the ground up, we’ve brought what’s relevant – personal details, asset & liability, income & Expense, insurance, goal, real-time status, and personalised actions at a glance. Everything is a one-tap way.
360 View
Uplifting our users life with clients' relevant information put right at a glance, fast to scan, and easy to understand.
Insights
To empower our user to make informed decisions by identifying any gaps or suggesting better approaches in financial decision-making.
Easy navigation
Clear layout and logical organisation, users found it effortless to navigate between sections.
Real-time Status
Allowing users to stay informed and make decisions quickly based on the most up-to-date data
Engagement with Simplicity
We wanted our user understand the story of each data point, so we combined high level data(overview), the breakdown of data(graphs and trends) and data driven insights with all new and super intuitive data table. Now our users are more confident while talking to a prospects or clients.
Impact & Executive praise
The redesign has received praise from the company's top executives. The design patttern became a strategic asset for all the upcoming redesigns.
By improving the quality of the visual and interaction design, we saw a major improvements in conversion rate (14%), retention rate (92%), SUS (85), nps (45), avg engagement time (10 min) and decrese in support tickets(95%). This showed that we improved user engagement and retention.
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