Case study
AXA Connect: Transforming Broker Efficiency
with an innovative Portfolio Management Dashboard
Timeframe:
The design phase, which included user research, wireframing, prototyping, and design handoff, was completed over a period of 8 weeks (approximately 2 months).  The entire project, from initial discovery to final launch, spanned approximately 7 months.
My role:
As the Senior UX/UI Designer, I was responsible for shaping the entire user experience, from initial concept to final implementation, ensuring that every aspect of the portal was aligned with AXA IM’s goals and the brokers’ needs.
Tools:

Figma, Sketch, Miro, UserTesting.com, Google Analytics, Heatmaps, Card Sorting

Techniques:

Moderated usability testing, tree testing, competitive analysis, stakeholder workshops, user interviews, card sorting

Executive Summary:

This project was a key initiative in AXA IM’s broader digital transformation strategy, aimed at leveraging technology to enhance broker efficiency and client engagement. The AXA Connect broker portal dashboard was specifically designed to provide brokers with an intuitive and powerful tool for managing client portfolios and streamlining client interactions for brokers within AXA IM.

Increasing

Broker efficency

Boosting

Broker satisfation

Optimising

Client engagement

Design Process

⬇️Jump directly to these sections:

1. Discover phase: Understanding the business and the context

The design process began with extensive research involving key stakeholders from various departments, including Sales, Risk, Compliance, Marketing, Content Writers, Operations, and IT to identify pain points and understand the core problems that needed to be addressed in the AXA Connect portal.

The context

AXA wanted to provide its network of brokers with a tool to streamline their workflows, improve access to essential insurance information, and centralise tasks related to client management, policy updates, and product offerings. Without a dedicated dashboard, brokers had to manually navigate through different systems, emails, and documents, which slowed down their ability to serve clients effectively and limited their ability to access key insights or updates in real-time.

The problem

Brokers were struggling to manage investment-related information and tasks efficiently without a centralised platform. They relied on manual processes, scattered resources, and multiple communication channels, which made it difficult to stay organised and access critical data. This led to inefficiencies, slower response times, and a lack of satisfaction for both brokers and their clients.

The objective

The goal was to design and implement the AXA Connect Broker Portal Dashboard as a central platform to enhance broker productivity, streamline operations, and improve user experience. This design solution aimed to solve the disorganisation and inefficiency that brokers were facing by giving them a single, integrated solution tailored to their needs.

Initial User Research

Participants: 10 brokers from diverse backgrounds (experienced, new, and across various regions). Interviewed 10 brokers and financial advisors to uncover pain points in managing client portfolios, with special attention to how they accessed financial data, tracked performance, and communicated with clients.
Techniques:
  • User Interviews: Focused on understanding brokers' daily workflows, pain points in managing portfolios, and preferred tools for client communication.
  • Domain Expert Interviews: Engaged risk managers and compliance officers to ensure that the system adhered to necessary financial regulations and security protocols.

User Reseach Questions (brokers dn financial advisors)

Key insights:
  • Brokers were spending excessive time finding key information about portfolios due to scattered data sources.
  • Client communication lacked personalisation, and brokers desired more real-time insights to enhance client engagement.

2. Define phase

Wireframes
In the Define Phase, based on the requirements gathered, I developed user stories to address the specific needs of brokers. The user stories help translate user needs and research insights into clear, actionable design solutions. They ensure that the product is centered around solving real problems for AXA IM users.

1. Dashboard Welcome Page:

▪️ User Story: As a broker, I need a comprehensive welcome page that provides an overview of my clients’ portfolio composition, access to important documents, a graph showing Year-to-Date (YTD) performance, quick contact with AXA IM, and visibility of new notifications.

▪️ Design Challenge: Brokers required a centralised starting point that combines multiple essential functions into a single, easily navigable interface. The challenge was to present diverse and complex information (portfolio composition, performance metrics, documents, and notifications) in a way that is both accessible and actionable, without overwhelming the user.

▪️ Design Solution: deisgned a clean, modular welcome page layout that prioritises ease of access and usability. The page features distinct sections for portfolio composition , YTD performance graphs, document access, and notifications. A contact widget for AXA IM was integrated prominently to ensure brokers can reach out without navigating away from the dashboard. This design not only centralises key information but also enhances the broker’s ability to manage client portfolios efficiently, leading to improved decision-making and quicker response times to client needs.

2. Portfolio Overview:

▪️ User Story: As a broker, I need to consult general information about my clients’ portfolios.

▪️ Requirement: Access all portfolios for which the broker has a role of owner, co-owner, or legal representative. View key metrics such as the value of the portfolio, asset allocation, and detailed insights into cash and securities accounts.

▪️ Design Challenge: Brokers needed a way to quickly and efficiently access critical financial data across multiple client portfolios. The complexity of this data required a solution that balanced detailed information with usability.

▪️ Design Solution: Implemented a streamlined tile-based layout, allowing brokers to quickly access critical information like Assets Under Management (AUM), portfolio performance, and asset allocation. This solution not only streamlined access to critical information but also enhanced the brokers’ ability to respond swiftly to client inquiries, improving overall client satisfaction.

3. Portfolio Composition:

▪️ User Story: As a broker, I need detailed breakdowns of my clients’ portfolios.

▪️ Requirement: View detailed breakdowns of equities, geographical allocation, bond allocation per asset class, and alternative fund allocations.

▪️ Design Challenge: Brokers needed a clear, intuitive way to differentiate between various client portfolios and understand the detailed composition of each.

▪️ Design Solution: Used color-coding and unique portfolio identifiers to visually differentiate portfolios. Clear visual hierarchies and interactive graphs were incorporated to provide a comprehensive view of each portfolio’s composition, including equities, bond allocations, and alternative investments. This approach ensured brokers could easily analyse and compare different portfolios.

4. Portfolio Performance:

▪️ User Story: As a broker, I need to view the performance of my clients’ portfolios.

▪️ Requirement: Access performance data, including year-to-date performance, performance since portfolio creation, and overall performance on specific date.

▪️ Design Challenge: Brokers required tools to not only view but also interact with portfolio performance data in a way that would enhance their decision-making and client communication.

▪️ Design Solution: Performance tracking was a key feature integrated into the portfolio performance tab, where brokers can view performance trends over time through interactive line graphs. The wireframe included date selection tools to allow brokers to customise the performance data view.

5. Transaction History:

▪️ User Story: As a broker, I need to see the transactions within my clients’ portfolios since their creation.

▪️ Functional Requirement: View transactions categorized by date, type, and amount, allowing for detailed tracking and analysis.

▪️ Design Challenge: Balancing the need for robust data security and compliance with the requirement for a user-friendly interface was crucial. Brokers needed to view sensitive transaction data without compromising security.

▪️ Design Solution: Designed sortable and filterable tables for easy transaction tracking, with secure file transfer protocols and minimal temporary data storage to meet compliance requirements.

Information Architecture (IA) and Wireframing
During the card sorting phase, brokers were asked to categorise the platform’s content in a way that felt intuitive to them. This revealed clear patterns, such as a strong association between “Portfolio Management” and “Performance Tracking.” Building on this, tree testing with Treejack evaluated the proposed information architecture. While features like “Transaction History” were easy for brokers to locate, the testing highlighted that users expected to first select a portfolio before accessing detailed actions like “Performance Tracking” and “Document Management,” which were previously only available in the sidebar.

3. Develop phase

Prototypes

The prototyping phase was critical in validating design solutions before full-scale development. I created interactive prototypes to be tested with users to gather feedback and refine the interface. This iterative approach ensured that the final product was both user-friendly and aligned with the strategic goals of AXA IM.

Key Prototype Features:
  • Interactive Dashboards: Allowed brokers to explore different data views and customise their dashboard experience.
  • User Testing: Involved brokers in the testing process to ensure that the interface met their needs and expectations.
  • Stakeholder Reviews: Regular feedback sessions with stakeholders ensured that the design aligned with broader business objectives.

Interactive prototype:

Click the ‘Expand View’ icon in the top right corner to enlarge the interactive prototype in Figma

5. Project Outcome:

Since the launch of the AXA Connect portal, several key improvements have been observed:
Key Improvements:
  • Broker Efficiency: Brokers are now able to access and analyse client portfolios more quickly and accurately, leading to a significant boost in efficiency.
  • Broker Satisfaction: There has been a noticeable improvement in broker satisfaction, particularly in areas such as portfolio performance tracking and transaction history visibility.
  • Client Engagement: Enhanced communication tools and better insights have empowered brokers to deliver more personalised client experiences, resulting in stronger client engagement.
Additional Metrics:
  • Client Retention: Early indicators suggest a positive impact on client retention rates, as brokers are now able to provide more timely and informed advice.
  • Portfolio Growth: Brokers have reported that the improved tools have helped them identify new opportunities for portfolio growth.

6. Future Enhancements and Next Steps:

The success of the AXA Connect portal has set the stage for future enhancements, driven by continuous user feedback and evolving market demands. Key areas of focus for future development include:
  • Advanced Data Security: Implementing cutting-edge encryption protocols and multifactor authentication to further protect sensitive client information.
  • Predictive Analytics: Integrating AI-driven analytics to help brokers forecast portfolio performance based on historical data, enabling more proactive management.
  • Mobile Integration: Expanding the portal’s capabilities to mobile platforms, allowing brokers to manage client portfolios with the same level of detail and security on the go.

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