Document Center Redesign
Document Center Redesign
Document Center Redesign
Improving Findability of Statements & Tax Documents in a Consumer Financial Platform
Improving Findability of Statements & Tax Documents in a Consumer Financial Platform
Improving Findability of Statements & Tax Documents in a Consumer Financial Platform
Role
Lead UX / Product Designer
Primary user: Olivia
Primary user: Olivia
Primary user: Olivia
Role: Primary household financial manager
Context:
• Manages finances for her family
• Has two young children and limited time
• Needs quick, reliable access to financial documents
Goals:
• Find Statements to support budgeting
• Locate Tax Documents for filing
Behaviors:
• Visits the Document Center with a specific task in mind
• Prioritizes speed and clarity over exploration
• Expects important documents to be easy to find and immediately visible
Pain Points:
• Frustrated by cluttered experiences and competing content
• Misses important documents when they are hidden or below the fold
• Has little tolerance for complex navigation due to time constraints
Olivia became a key reference point in design decisions, reinforcing the need to prioritize speed, clarity, and immediate access to high-value documents.
Role: Primary household financial manager
Context:
• Manages finances for her family
• Has two young children and limited
time
• Needs quick, reliable access to
financial documents
Goals:
• Find Statements to support
budgeting
• Locate Tax Documents for filing
Behaviors:
• Visits the Document Center with a
specific task in mind
• Prioritizes speed and clarity over
exploration
• Expects important documents to be
easy to find and immediately visible
Pain Points:
• Frustrated by cluttered experiences
and competing content
• Misses important documents when
they are hidden or below the fold
• Has little tolerance for complex
navigation due to time constraints
Olivia became a key reference point in design decisions, reinforcing the need to prioritize speed, clarity, and immediate access to high-value documents.
Discover: understanding the problem
Discover: understanding the problem
Discover: understanding the problem
Customers were struggling to locate critical financial documents—especially Statements and Tax Documents—leading to frustration and increased call center volume.
To understand the problem space:
• Conducted a heuristic audit of the existing Document Center
• Reviewed customer feedback and existing research insights
• Performed competitive analysis across financial platforms
Customers were struggling to locate critical financial documents—especially Statements and Tax Documents—leading to frustration and increased call center volume.
To understand the problem space:
• Conducted a heuristic audit of the
existing Document Center
• Reviewed customer feedback and
existing research insights
• Performed competitive analysis
across financial platforms
Audit of the original user flow
Mapping the existing document ecosystem revealed fragmented entry points and complex navigation paths.
Mapping the existing document ecosystem revealed fragmented entry
points and complex navigation paths.
Why this approach:
I wanted to quickly identify both usability breakdowns and systemic issues in how content was structured, while grounding decisions in real customer behavior rather than assumptions.
Key Insights
The primary user intent was clear:
→ Most customers came specifically for Statements and Tax Documents
Why this approach:
I wanted to quickly identify both usability breakdowns and systemic issues in how content was structured, while grounding decisions in real customer behavior rather than assumptions.
Key Insights
The primary user intent was clear:
→ Most customers came specifically for Statements and Tax Documents
Exploration of original entry points into Document Center
One entry point hid a whole section from the user. The categories page and the doc center landing page was also very overwhelming
One entry point hid a whole section from the user. The categories page and the doc center landing page was also very overwhelming
However, the experience introduced too much competing content, including:
• Paperless preferences
• Receipts
• Disclosures
• Reports
Additional friction points:
• Important entry points were hidden or unintuitive
• Search and filtering interactions pushed results below the fold, causing users to miss them
Why this mattered:
Users like Olivia were not exploring—they were trying to complete a task quickly. The experience was optimized for breadth of content rather than speed of access.
However, the experience introduced too much competing content, including:
• Paperless preferences
• Receipts
• Disclosures
• Reports
Additional friction points:
• Important entry points were hidden or
unintuitive
• Search and filtering interactions
pushed results below the fold,
causing users to miss them
Why this mattered:
Users like Olivia were not exploring—they were trying to complete a task quickly. The experience was optimized for breadth of content rather than speed of access.
Diagram of the complexity of the original statements document search
Diagram of the complexity of the original statements document search
Diagram of the complexity of the original statements document search
This diagram showed the unnecessary complexity of the original landing page that broke the documents into categories
This diagram showed the unnecessary complexity of the original landing page that broke the documents into categories
Define: framing the problem
Define: framing the problem
Define: framing the problem
Synthesizing research and audit findings revealed a core issue:
Users were overwhelmed by competing content and unclear navigation, making it difficult to quickly locate high-priority financial documents.
Design Goals
• Prioritize Statements & Tax Documents
• Reduce cognitive load and content competition
• Improve visibility and discoverability
Why these goals:
Focusing on high-priority documents aligned both user needs and business priorities, allowing us to simplify the experience while addressing
a high-impact pain point.
Business Alignment
• Tax Document accessibility was a critical business priority
• Customers frequently contacted support to locate these documents, increasing call center volume
Why this mattered:
Improving findability had a direct impact on both customer satisfaction and operational efficiency.
Synthesizing research and audit findings revealed a core issue:
Users were overwhelmed by competing content and unclear navigation, making it difficult to quickly locate high-priority financial documents.
Design Goals
• Prioritize Statements & Tax
Documents
• Reduce cognitive load and content
competition
• Improve visibility and discoverability
Why these goals:
Focusing on high-priority documents aligned both user needs and business priorities, allowing us to simplify the experience while addressing
a high-impact pain point.
Business Alignment
• Tax Document accessibility was a
critical business priority
• Customers frequently contacted
support to locate these documents,
increasing call center volume
Why this mattered:
Improving findability had a direct impact on both customer satisfaction and operational efficiency.
Develop: exploring solutions
Develop: exploring solutions
Develop: exploring solutions
The final experience focused on simplifying access to what users needed most.
Key Improvements
• Brought Statements and Tax Documents front and center
• Reduced visibility of lower-priority content in primary flows
• Improved clarity of document access and interaction patterns
The final experience focused on simplifying access to what users needed most.
Key Improvements
• Brought Statements and Tax
Documents front and center
• Reduced visibility of lower-priority
content in primary flows
• Improved clarity of document access
and interaction patterns
Explorations of solutions
Why this approach:
By prioritizing high-value content and reducing distractions, we aligned the experience with user intent—enabling faster task completion with less effort.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
Engineering Partnership
• Identified feasibility constraints late in the process
• One high-performing concept required redesign
Why this mattered:
Balancing ideal solutions with technical feasibility ensured we delivered a viable experience without compromising core usability.
Product Partnership
• Aligned closely on business priorities, particularly around Tax Documents
• Ensured the solution addressed both user needs and operational pain points
Why this mattered:
Strong alignment ensured the work delivered measurable value
beyond UX improvements.
Why this approach:
By prioritizing high-value content and reducing distractions, we aligned the experience with user intent—enabling faster task completion with less effort.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
Engineering Partnership
• Identified feasibility constraints late in
the process
• One high-performing concept required
redesign
Why this mattered:
Balancing ideal solutions with technical feasibility ensured we delivered a viable experience without compromising core usability.
Product Partnership
• Aligned closely on business priorities,
particularly around Tax Documents
• Ensured the solution addressed both
user needs and operational pain
points
Why this mattered:
Strong alignment ensured the work delivered measurable value
beyond UX improvements.
Design validation through RITE testing
Usability testing revealed that a document-type-first approach provided a more streamlined path to key documents, informing the final interaction model.
Deliver: refining & aligning the solution
Deliver: refining & aligning the solution
Deliver: refining & aligning the solution
The final experience focused on simplifying access to what users needed most.
Key Improvements
• Brought Statements and Tax Documents front and center
• Reduced visibility of lower-priority content in primary flows
• Improved clarity of document access and interaction patterns
Why this approach:
By prioritizing high-value content and reducing distractions, we aligned the experience with user intent—enabling faster task completion with less effort.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
Engineering Partnership
• Identified feasibility constraints late in the process
• One high-performing concept required redesign
Why this mattered:
Balancing ideal solutions with technical feasibility ensured we delivered a viable experience without compromising core usability.
Product Partnership
• Aligned closely on business priorities, particularly around Tax Documents
• Ensured the solution addressed both user needs and operational pain points
Why this mattered:
Strong alignment ensured the work delivered measurable value
beyond UX improvements.
The final experience focused on simplifying access to what users needed most.
Key Improvements
• Brought Statements and Tax
Documents front and center
• Reduced visibility of lower-priority
content in primary flows
• Improved clarity of document access
and interaction patterns
Why this approach:
By prioritizing high-value content and reducing distractions, we aligned the experience with user intent—enabling faster task completion with less effort.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
Engineering Partnership
• Identified feasibility constraints late in
the process
• One high-performing concept required
redesign
Why this mattered:
Balancing ideal solutions with technical feasibility ensured we delivered a viable experience without compromising core usability.
Product Partnership
• Aligned closely on business priorities,
particularly around Tax Documents
• Ensured the solution addressed both
user needs and operational pain
points
Why this mattered:
Strong alignment ensured the work delivered measurable value
beyond UX improvements.
Before and After
Before and After
Final experience streamlined document retrieval into a clear, guided flow—from search to preview to download—reducing friction and improving task completion.
Outcome
Outcome
Outcome
The project reached a development-ready state but was paused due to organizational changes.
However:
• The solution was validated through usability testing
• It directly addressed a high-impact customer pain point
• It aligned with key business priorities
• It remains a top-priority initiative pending resourcing
Why this still matters:
Even without immediate launch, the work reduced uncertainty, validated a clear direction, and positioned the team for future execution.
The project reached a development-ready state but was paused due to organizational changes.
However:
• The solution was validated through
usability testing
• It directly addressed a high-impact
customer pain point
• It aligned with key business priorities
• It remains a top-priority initiative
pending resourcing
Why this still matters:
Even without immediate launch, the work reduced uncertainty, validated a clear direction, and positioned the team for future execution.
Key Learnings
Key Learnings
Key Learnings
What I’d do differently:
• Engage Product earlier to align on priorities and constraints
• Partner with Engineering sooner to validate feasibility
• Advocate for dedicated research support earlier
What went well:
• Strong end-to-end ownership of UX strategy and execution
• Effective use of rapid iteration (RITE testing)
• Ability to adapt quickly to constraints while maintaining design integrity
What I’d do differently:
• Engage Product earlier to align on
priorities and constraints
• Partner with Engineering sooner to
validate feasibility
• Advocate for dedicated research
support earlier
What went well:
• Strong end-to-end ownership of UX
strategy and execution
• Effective use of rapid iteration (RITE
testing)
• Ability to adapt quickly to constraints
while maintaining design integrity
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