NATIONAL BANK OF CANADA | WEALTH MANAGEMENT
NATIONAL BANK | WEALTH MANAGEMENT
Rethinking a fragmented wealth management ecosystem
Rethinking a disconnected advisor ecosystem
NBC's advisor ecosystem had become fragmented and difficult to navigate. I redesigned it into a more coherent and flexible system that could support over 850 advisors.
Role: Product designer at Valtech, partnering with a PM, content strategist, and front-end developer
Scope: Advisor resource access, profiles and microsites, client discovery, and career visibility
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$6B
Improvement in AUM (+6%)
+3%
Increase in financial advisor headcount
3-month post-launch signals; direct attribution was not established*
3-month post-launch signals; direct attribution was not established*
SOLUTION
The redesign spanned the wealth management ecosystem
The redesign spanned the entire wealth management ecosystem
One system across wealth content, advisor experiences, discovery, and career visibility.
One system across wealth content, advisor experiences, discovery, and career visibility.
One system across wealth content, advisor experiences, discovery, and career visibility.
Wealth content and services:
Wealth content and services:
Aadvisor experience:
Aadvisor experience:
Career visibility
Career visibility:
BEHIND THE PRODUCT
The experience had to work better for advisors without fragmenting NBC's ecosystem
The UX had to work better for advisors without fragmenting NBC's ecosystem
NBC needed a more useful day-to-day experience while preserving the consistency and scalability required across a national advisor network.
PROBLEM
Advisors were working around the platform instead of relying on it
NBC's wealth management resources were hard-to-find, advisor pages limited, and career data scattered. These issues made the platform less useful for financial advisors.
NBC's wealth management resources were hard-to-find, advisor pages limited, and career data scattered. These issues made the platform less useful for financial advisors.
PROBLEM
Advisors were working around the platform instead of relying on it
NBC's wealth management resources were hard-to-find, advisor pages limited, and career data scattered. These issues made the platform less useful for financial advisors.
NBC's wealth management resources were hard-to-find, advisor pages limited, and career data scattered. These issues made the platform less useful for financial advisors.
“It’s a hassle to find resources for my clients.”
“It’s a hassle to find resources for my clients.”
Critical resources were difficult to find in the existing platform.
Competitors used clearer top-level navigation and made key resources easier to reach.
Critical resources were difficult to find in the existing platform. Competitors used clearer top-level navigation and made key resources easier to reach.
“I prefer using my own site to share my services.”
“I prefer using my own site to share my services.”
Financial advisor pages were too limited. Advisors lacked control over presenting their services, teams, and collaborators.
Competitors gave advisors more flexibility in how they presented their expertise.
Financial advisor pages were too limited. Advisors lacked control over presenting their services, teams, and collaborators. Competitors gave advisors more flexibility in how they presented their expertise.
“It’s hard to see why I should stay with NBC.”
“It’s hard to see why I should stay with NBC.”
Career and mentorship information was difficult to discover. Competitors surfaced career programs and mentorship opportunities more clearly.
Advisor interviews and a focused competitor benchmark reinforced the same three gaps, giving us a clear basis for prioritization.
PRIORITIZATION
A fixed delivery date narrowed the work to three recurring gaps
NBC's delivery date and engineering schedule constrained research depth.
To overcome this, I focused on the needs that appeared consistently across advisor feedback and the benchmark.
PRIORITIZATION
A fixed delivery date narrowed the work to three recurring gaps
NBC's delivery date and engineering schedule constrained research depth.
To overcome this, I focused on the needs that appeared consistently across advisor feedback and the benchmark.
DESIGN DECISION
Reorganizing the platform around advisor access needs
The IA needed to make critical resources easier to reach without adding another layer of complexity.
The IA needed to make critical resources easier to reach without adding another layer of complexity.
DESIGN DECISION
Reorganizing the platform around advisor access needs
The IA needed to make critical resources easier to reach without adding another layer of complexity.
The IA needed to make critical resources easier to reach without adding another layer of complexity.
I restructured the site structure and reviewed it with NBC stakeholders to match business goals.
This also gave career and mentorship content a clear home instead of scattering it across the experience.
I reorganized the site structure and reviewed it with NBC stakeholders to match business goals. This also gave career and mentorship content a clear home instead of scattering it across the experience.
Designing flexible advisor profiles within one system
Advisors needed flexible ways to showcase expertise. Meanwhile, NBC needed to maintain brand consistency.
Designing flexible advisor profiles within one system
Advisors needed flexible ways to showcase expertise. Meanwhile, NBC needed to maintain brand consistency.
Some advisors needed to highlight collaborators and broader teams. Others wanted a simpler individual presence. I designed modular profile sections and reusable variants to support both within one shared system.
Some advisors needed to highlight collaborators and broader teams. Others wanted a simpler individual presence.
I designed modular profile sections and reusable variants to support both within one shared system.
I extended the same approach to advisor discovery and redesigned advisor cards.
I then added filters for expertise, location, and credentials so clients could narrow the field more easily.
Improving career and mentorship visibility
Advisors didn't require a dedicated career portal. They needed clearer visibility into existing pathways and mentorship options.
Improving career and mentorship visibility
Advisors didn't require a dedicated career portal. They needed clearer visibility into existing pathways and mentorship options.
I guided the direction using team whiteboarding and competitor research. Our first release was simple.
We added career content to the site structure and built dedicated pages for mentorship opportunities.
VALIDATION
Rapid feedback changed the product before final design
A compressed schedule ruled out a full testing cycle. I had to use a low-fidelity prototype to get targeted feedback from advisors and NBC stakeholders.
The IA needed to make critical resources easier to reach without adding another layer of complexity.
VALIDATION
Rapid feedback changed the product before final design
A compressed schedule ruled out a full testing cycle. I had to use a low-fidelity prototype to get targeted feedback from advisors and NBC stakeholders.
The IA needed to make critical resources easier to reach without adding another layer of complexity.
Discovery: Different practices needed different team structures.
Change: I made team and collaborator modules optional.
Discovery: Clients needed clearer advisor discovery.
Change: I added richer advisor cards and filters.
DELIVERY
Preparing the redesign for a phased rollout
I completed the core pages, patterns, and interaction specs. After that, I handed the implementation-ready design to NBC engineering.
DELIVERY
Preparing the redesign for a phased rollout
I completed the core pages, patterns, and interaction specs. After that, I handed the implementation-ready design to NBC engineering.
KEY LEARNING
KEY LEARNING
Advisor flexibility depended on a shared system
Giving advisors more flexibility worked because that flexibility lived within a shared system. I learned to treat consistency as a constraint that enables variation, not something that competes with it.
Want the full story?
Happy to go deeper in conversation.
Want the full story?
Happy to go deeper in conversation.
Want the full story?
Happy to go deeper in conversation.
Wanna hear the full story?
Happy to go deeper in conversation.
Rethinking a disconnected advisor ecosystem
NATIONAL BANK | WEALTH MANAGEMENT
NBC's advisor ecosystem had become fragmented and difficult to navigate. I redesigned it into a more coherent and flexible system that could support over 850 advisors.
I designed an in-context feedback flow that captured their assessment beside the alert evidence. Meanwhile, Behavox analysts retained control of model changes.
Role: Product designer at Valtech, partnering with a PM, content strategist, and front-end developer
Scope: Rewards unification and Missions MVP (onboarding, activation, referral, and travel)
Contribution: Problem framing, interaction model, prototyping, testing, and MVP design
$6B
Improvement in AUM (+6%)
+3%
Increase in financial advisor headcount
3-month post-launch signals; direct attribution was not established*