Vanguard’s Digital Advisor

The Challenge: Lead users through the enrollment process for Vanguard’s Digital Advisor robo-investor.

Solution: Work with development, design, research, and legal teams to create a seamless user experience.

Summary: Vanguard’s Digital Advisor has been named one of NerdWallet’s best robo-advisors for 2024. Investing is often seen as a daunting and complicated process, so our team was tasked with creating a simple, yet positive experience to help users on the path to financial freedom.

As the Senior UX Writer on the team, I worked on a variety of design challenges that resulted in crafting in-app copy, FAQs, error states, microcopy for modals, emails, tool tips, and more.

FAQs

Simplifying the investing experience was critical in guiding users through the enrollment process. One of the best ways to address user concerns is through a robust set of FAQs. I collaborated with Vanguard’s content strategist to identify top keywords and search terms our users were consistently entering when enrolling. Armed with this knowledge, I updated the content to reflect the value of Digital Advisor and define terms around eligibility.

Welcome Modal

There were several areas of the flow that were proving to be roadblocks for users. Our research team conducted user interviews that showed us how users were interacting with Digital Advisor and instances where they were falling out of the flow, getting stuck, or needed more information.

Using this data, I created copy that introduced users to the key requirements for signing up for Digital Advisor, including minimum balances and accounts. Working with the designer, we decided the best solution was to have a “ready to enroll” modal pop up during the early stages of the enrollment process.

Communicating with Legal and other stakeholders

Any copy that appears on Digital Advisor must be fully approved by Vanguard’s legal team. A large part of our process involved front-running content to make sure it wasn’t flagged by legal or compliance. We met with Vanguard lawyers every week to ensure that all UX copy adhered to strict financial regulations.

Throughout this project, I worked in an Agile environment with product owners, designers, researchers, and content strategists in two-week sprints. I kept a keen eye on every aspect of the content creation process, from initial drafts through to QA.

Results

Vanguard is currently gathering data on key elements of the enrollment process via user testing and analytics. (NDA on publishing actual data here.)