Driving Retirement Enrollment with Dual-Track Agile
For many workers, enrolling in a 401(k) felt harder online than on paper. Our client needed to make digital enrollment simpler, faster, and more accessible.
Opportunity
Workers struggled with a tedious 401(k) online enrollment. The client needed a smoother experience to boost completions and reduce service calls.
Results
- More 401(k) enrollments completed online
- Increased contribution rates
- Fewer customer service calls logged
Client
Partnering with Employers to Support Retirement Readiness
Our client is a leading financial services provider specializing in retirement plan administration. By helping employers offer 401(k) benefits, they empower millions of workers to save for the future.
About the Client
Industry
Financial Services
Headquarters
Indianapolis, IN
Type
Private
Market
United States
Opportunity
A Paper-First Experience Held Back Digital Adoption
Many employees still preferred paper forms over online enrollment. The digital process was slow, complex, and confusing—leading to drop-offs, incomplete registrations, and more calls to customer service. The client needed to shift users online, increase completions, and improve the retirement savings experience.
What We Did
Experience Mapping
Full Stack Development
Journey Mapping
Personas
Product Discovery
Responsive Design
Web Development
Wireframes
Solution
Mapping Journeys, Running Dual-Track Agile, Delivering Results
We began with workshops to map user journeys, build personas, and refine the problem statement. These insights guided a product roadmap focused on clarity and simplicity.
Future‑Ready Architecture
To ensure adherence to financial and regulatory requirements, we used two-week sprints with demos and story check-ins for different stakeholder groups.
Design and development advanced in parallel, keeping workstreams aligned with user needs and compliance standards. One week featured product demos, the next focused on user stories—creating a continuous cycle of design feeding development and development informing design.
We built a responsive web application, optimized for mobile enrollment. User testing guided refinements include:
- Simple paycheck allocation benchmarks (low/mid/high) grounded in behavioral finance research
- Streamlined enrollment flow for most users
- Alternate paths for complex cases
Tech Stack
Results
Simplifying 401(k) Enrollment for Millions of Employees
The redesigned enrollment app increased digital adoption, reduced customer service calls, and gave users a smoother, mobile-friendly experience. With dual-track agile, the client could deliver updates quickly and meet compliance demands while supporting more employees on the path to retirement savings.
More users completing online enrollment
Higher adoption vs. paper-based forms
Fewer UX issues and support calls
Mobile-first design improved access