Enrollment For Employer-Based IRAs
You're a B2B fintech startup noticing a major opportunity for a new product line. Legislative and industry trends show you potential but you have to move fast.
We need a concept piece to attract investors and beta clients. How might we create a product vision that will generate buy-in from investors and potential clients?
Outcomes
22 Million Series C
These designs were used in pitches which resulted in a 22+ million series C round. The designs visually grounded a major opportunity — legislative changes mandating retirement plans for small employers would increase the market for low-cost employer-based IRAs.
Sales and Client Relationship Resource
As the startup scaled its employer-based IRA offerings, it needed to generate buy-in with current and prospective payroll partners. These designs were successful in generating interest from several major payroll companies.
Documentation of Legislative Details
In-depth research into SIMPLE, SEP, and Payroll Deduction IRAs grounded the designs in deep expertise for this subject matter. The UX writing created a living document that could educate internal stakeholders on the distinctions between different programs.
Design Process
Very tight timeframe: 3 weeks with all-nighters
- Collect initial requirements from the business
- Thoroughly research and document IRS rules and differentiations between SIMPLE, SEP, and Payroll Deduction IRAs
- Conduct a brief competitive analysis of similar enrollment experiences for employers creating retirement plans
- Create a whiteboard onboarding flow chart and a concept for an advice quiz
- Present the proof-of-concept designs to the C-Suite, making edits before the work is presented in sales calls and in investor pitches
Key Features
Legislative Guidance
Content text on new legislative considerations and clear layout of decisions required for enrollment, helping employers understand their obligations and options.
Decision Support Quiz
A guided quiz to support informed decision-making on retirement programs. Questions include topics such as company size, salary budget, hiring plans, and employee retention concerns. Quiz results provide crucial details on legislative rules employers will need to follow.
The quiz results screen is also where the program comparison and cost estimation below surfaced — a 3-week concept sprint didn't allow time to design those as separate standalone screens.
Program Comparison
Graphics provide at-a-glance differentiators for each program type, with detailed information on legislative rules employers will need to follow. Surfaced within the quiz results screen shown above, rather than as its own screen.
Cost Estimation
Employers receive feedback on the estimated program cost, enabling them to select a match that fits their budget. Also surfaced within the quiz results screen shown above, rather than as its own screen.
Reflection
Missions accomplished: Three weeks of legislative research compressed into visuals is what actually closed the gap here — the designs held up in investor and payroll-partner pitches because the underlying SIMPLE/SEP/Payroll Deduction distinctions were right, not because the screens looked polished.
Room for improvement: A single 1-hour engineering review before these designs went into pitches wasn't enough, and it worked mainly because the concept never had to survive real implementation scrutiny. If I'd pushed leadership earlier for a heads-up on their pitch calendar, I'd have built in a real technical review instead of asking engineering to rubber-stamp work under a deadline — a compromise I'd only accept again for a concept piece, never for something shipping to users.