CASE STUDY · WEALTHTECH PLATFORMS
Building a goals-based investing dashboard for a WealthTech client.
- 38%Monthly active clients up from 38% to 55%
- 0.6Client satisfaction up 0.6 points
01 · PROJECT OVERVIEW
The client and the brief.
An anonymised wealth-management firm. Name withheld under confidentiality.
A goals-based dashboard. Each client sees their goals, such as retirement or education, with progress shown against a plan, in plain language. Views explain what changed since the last visit and what the client may want to do next. Advisors can add notes that appear in the client view when they choose to share them.
- 1The firm had a client portal that few clients used.
- 2It listed holdings, balances and past performance in tables built for advisors.
- 3Clients who did log in could not tell whether they were on track, so they called their advisor, who then explained the same things in each meeting.
- 4Advisors kept their own notes in separate files, and the portal did not reflect what had been agreed with the client.
- 5Leadership saw low engagement and wanted clients to understand their position without a phone call.
02 · WHAT WENT WRONG
What went wrong, and how we fixed it.
Every engagement hits problems. These were the ones that mattered here, and what we changed so they did not come back.
- PROBLEM 01In the pilot, a few clients saw progress figures that differed from their last statement
The cause was timing: the dashboard used the latest prices, while the statement used month-end values. Both were right, but the difference looked like an error. We labelled every figure with its as-of date, added a short note explaining the difference, and showed statement values where clients expected them.
- PROBLEM 02We also added a check that flags any figure that moves unusually between loads
- PROBLEM 03A second hurdle came after launch
Advisors differed in how often they wrote notes, so some clients saw a rich view and others saw an empty box. Clients with empty notes read it as neglect. We added a gentle prompt in the advisor's meeting-prep screen to write one line on each goal, and a default message when no note exists.
- PROBLEM 04We also gave leadership a view of note coverage by advisor, used for coaching and not for ranking
03 · THE PROCESS
How we ran it.
We started with two weeks of interviews with advisors and a small group of clients, and a review of the portal's usage data. We built in weekly sprints. Early sprints delivered the goal model and plan calculations. Later ones added the plain-language views, advisor notes and notifications. Advisors reviewed each sprint, and compliance reviewed the wording of everything clients would read. We piloted with a small group of clients before opening to all, and met the firm's leadership weekly to review usage.
- 01Step 1
We started with two weeks of interviews with advisors and a small group of clients, and a review of the portal's usage data.
- 02Step 2
We built in weekly sprints.
- 03Step 3
Early sprints delivered the goal model and plan calculations.
- 04Step 4
Later ones added the plain-language views, advisor notes and notifications.
- 05Step 5
Advisors reviewed each sprint, and compliance reviewed the wording of everything clients would read.
- 06Step 6
We piloted with a small group of clients before opening to all, and met the firm's leadership weekly to review usage.
04 · RESULTS
What changed.
Measured against the way the work ran before the engagement began.
- NOW 01
Advisors open meetings from the same view the client sees, so the conversation starts with goals instead of reading out holdings.
- NOW 02
Notes are written with the client view in mind.
- NOW 03
Leadership reviews engagement monthly and changes content based on what clients actually open.
- NOW 04
Clients call less for basic questions, and more to talk about decisions.
- 38%
Monthly active clients up from 38% to 55%
- 0.6
Client satisfaction up 0.6 points
05 · WHAT WE BUILT
How it works.
- The dashboard reads from the firm's existing data store through a read-only service layer, so the new interface never writes to the system of record.
- Goal progress is computed by a documented calculation module, with unit tests built from cases the advisors had worked by hand.
- Language for each view comes from templates that compliance approved, so wording cannot drift.
- Access is role-based, with clients limited to their own household, and every view of client data is logged.
- Advisor notes carry a visibility flag, and nothing is shown to a client until the advisor releases it.
- Usage events are tracked to measure engagement.
06 · QUICK ANSWERS
The short version.
- What problem did the client have?
- The firm had a client portal that few clients used. It listed holdings, balances and past performance in tables built for advisors. Clients who did log in could not tell whether they were on track, so they called their advisor, who then explained the same things in each meeting. Advisors kept their own notes in separate files, and the portal did not reflect what had been agreed with the client. Leadership saw low engagement and wanted clients to understand their position without a phone call.
- What did Brandsmashers build?
- A goals-based dashboard. Each client sees their goals, such as retirement or education, with progress shown against a plan, in plain language. Views explain what changed since the last visit and what the client may want to do next. Advisors can add notes that appear in the client view when they choose to share them.
- How was the work run?
- We started with two weeks of interviews with advisors and a small group of clients, and a review of the portal's usage data. We built in weekly sprints. Early sprints delivered the goal model and plan calculations. Later ones added the plain-language views, advisor notes and notifications. Advisors reviewed each sprint, and compliance reviewed the wording of everything clients would read. We piloted with a small group of clients before opening to all, and met the firm's leadership weekly to review usage.
- What were the results?
- Monthly active clients up from 38% to 55%; client satisfaction up 0.6 points.
YOUR TURN
Have a similar requirement?
Tell us what is stuck. We will come back with a plan and matched, pre-vetted engineers.
