Aviva Simple Wealth

Although an agency delivered the initial discovery, concepts, and testing, I joined two designers for a journey-mapping session to break down what we’d inherited. We analysed the flow end-to-end, pinpointing friction points, simplification opportunities, and moments where we could add genuine delight.

Very quickly, I spotted that the onboarding question set wouldn’t meet FCA or Consumer Duty standards. Working closely with BAs and the Senior Propositions Manager, I mapped every regulatory requirement and surfaced the gaps so we could redesign the journey compliantly without compromising experience.

I also ran a trendscape analysis — looking at how FS competitors structured onboarding, how non-FS brands simplified complex disclosures and education, and how we could make goal-setting both digestible and motivating. This work reframed the early journey and set the foundation for a cleaner, compliant, and more user-centric onboarding experience.

With compliance and legal pushing for heavy FCA-aligned content, I flagged that the onboarding journey was becoming overly complex and would create significant cognitive load. I recommended a simplified structure that still met regulatory requirements but protected the user experience.

Concerned about fatigue and drop-offs, I designed celebratory moments at the end of each section to reward progress, along with chapter screens that set expectations — what’s next, how long it takes, and why it matters for their financial goal. These elements turned a dense, compliance-driven flow into a clearer, more motivating journey.

Once we’d defined the sprint priorities, I moved into designing delivery-ready screens for onboarding — covering all states, edge cases, and kick-outs — while simultaneously exploring concepts for the Hub, Investment Style, and Investment Forecast sections.

One issue stood out immediately: if a customer was removed from the journey due to eligibility or affordability, simply blocking them wasn’t good enough. They needed to understand why they couldn’t proceed and what alternatives existed. I redesigned the kick-out experience to provide clear reasoning, guidance on what to improve, and signposting to other Aviva or partner services — turning a dead end into a constructive moment.

After completing onboarding, I applied the same clarity-first approach to the psychometric question sets that shaped the user’s investment style. I simplified the output into an easy-to-navigate experience (tea-based metaphors included — and yes, they landed well with stakeholders).

I then designed the Investment Forecast area, giving users a visual model of their projected outcomes, along with a seamless call-booking flow to access adviser support when needed. This work created a coherent, end-to-end foundation for the proposition’s core journey.

I partnered closely with developers throughout the sprints, joining planning, refinement, and playbacks while creating new design-system components and walking engineers through the logic behind each experience. This ensured the build stayed aligned with the intent of the design.

Midway through, we hit a complication in the goal-setting flow: updated ISA rules meant users could easily exceed their annual allowance, which directly affected contribution logic. I sat down with the Proposition PO and BA to map every scenario, redefine the rules, and design clear labelling and error states that guided users to adjust their contributions without breaching limits.

Throughout delivery, I ensured all designs met WCAG AA standards, providing detailed accessibility mark-ups for every screen so the final product was compliant and genuinely usable for all customers.