TIAA - Redesigning Financial Wellness Tools for University Partners
Redesigning internal financial tools for NYU, Texas Tech, and other partner universities to drive better savings habits through thoughtful UX, user flow enhancements, and modern design patterns.
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Modernize legacy savings tools to align with university brand guidelines and improve user clarity across multiple touchpoints — especially for employees managing their retirement savings.
📌 Project Overview
What was the challenge?
Modernize legacy savings tools to align with university brand guidelines and improve user clarity across multiple touchpoints — especially for employees managing their retirement savings.
“TIAA needed to modernize outdated internal savings tools used by top university clients while improving the user journey for employees navigating complex financial decisions.”
— Project Brief Summary
🔍 Research & Insights
University employees needed a clearer path to financial confidence.
To ensure the tools were truly useful and engaging, I began with deep user research and stakeholder interviews. I worked closely with internal researchers to synthesize findings across multiple institutions, aligning business goals with user needs. This included identifying key friction points within the existing savings and retirement tools and mapping out how branding inconsistencies across universities contributed to user confusion.
We spoke to employees from NYU, Texas Tech, and other partner universities to better understand the emotional weight behind financial decision-making. Many were unsure how much to save or whether they were on track — and found existing tools either too complicated or impersonal.
Key Insights:
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Most users felt overwhelmed by tool complexity.
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Plan branding and layout varied drastically across schools.
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Users wanted clear action steps, fewer inputs, and more immediate feedback.
✏️Design Strategy
Creating tools that feel smart, safe, and school-specific.
Guided by research, I built a strategy rooted in personalization, simplicity, and trust. Each tool needed to feel intelligent and helpful — while still reflecting the look and tone of each university.
I partnered with engineering to design modular components that could adapt to brand guidelines without fracturing the UX. This included flexible templates for typography, icon systems, and interaction patterns that could accommodate school logos, colors, and voice.
Simplifying the experience was central: I removed unnecessary inputs, clarified copy, and restructured tool logic to make it feel less intimidating and more guided.
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Aligned tools with school branding while preserving product consistency
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Prioritized simplification of financial tools
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Partnered with developers to build flexible components
🎨Visual + UX Enhancements
From complexity to clarity: Simplified flows and modern UI.
I led the visual redesign of three key financial tools — focusing on usability, accessibility, and visual clarity. Each tool was reimagined to support decision-making with confidence.
This included:
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Withdrawal Calculator: Streamlined inputs and added visual feedback to help users understand how much they could sustainably withdraw.
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Financial Wellness Goal Tracker: Clarified savings goals and added motivational language.
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Retirement Plan Overview: Improved data hierarchy and simplified call-to-action prompts.
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Throughout, I introduced a modern visual language: accessible typography, simplified icons, better use of whitespace, and more intuitive navigation.
Throughout, I introduced a modern visual language: accessible typography, simplified icons, better use of whitespace, and more intuitive navigation.
🧪Outcomes & Impact
Design direction that shaped the future experience.
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Adaptability: Navigating multiple brand systems taught me how to scale UX while respecting identity.
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Communication: Partnering with researchers, engineers, and PMs sharpened my ability to advocate across disciplines.
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Empathy: Financial planning is emotional — clarity and tone matter just as much as functionality.
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Ownership: I drove strategy, design, and execution from research through high-fidelity delivery.
💬Key Learnings
What I learned from redesigning complex financial journeys.
Though my contract concluded before final launch, the design work I delivered directly influenced development and internal demos. I collaborated closely with devs on implementation-ready designs and supported product managers in presenting improvements to university stakeholders.
The simplified tool logic, updated branding templates, and user-centric flows helped lay the foundation for broader modernization across TIAA’s suite.
Optional Metrics & Impact:
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✅ Guided new product direction for 3+ financial tools
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✅ Enhanced clarity with simplified inputs and outcomes
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✅ Supported branding rollouts for NYU, Texas Tech, and others
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✅ Helped secure internal buy-in for future modernization roadmap
