Enabling Self-Service Beneficiary Management for Edward Jones
Outcome
I led UX strategy and experience design for a self-service beneficiary management proof of concept that enables clients to digitally update beneficiaries on retirement accounts—reducing branch dependency while preserving legal defensibility.
Pilot Outcomes + Business Hypothesis
For Clients
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Digital autonomy
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Clearer expectations
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Higher confidence in legal correctness
For business
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Lower operational risk
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Reduced cost-to-serve
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Scalable architecture for future workflows
For branch teams
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Reduced routine handling
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Fewer downstream corrections
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Improved reconciliation clarity
The Problem
Business
Beneficiary management relied on:
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Manual branch intervention
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Wet signatures
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Legacy systems with limited audit visibility
This created: capacity bottlenecks, elevated compliance risk, high operational cost, poor traceability during disputes or estate events.
Leadership needed a self-service model that preserved legal safeguards while modernizing the client experience.
User
Clients could not update beneficiaries digitally.
They faced:
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Long processing times
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Multiple follow-ups
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Low confidence after submission
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High friction during emotionally sensitive life events
Branch teams absorbed rework caused by unclear eligibility and downstream corrections.
Evidence
Inputs included
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Client survey data ranking beneficiary self-service among top needs
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SME input from Legal, Compliance, and Operations
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Existing branch workflows and escalation paths
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Historical failure points in legacy processing
Key Insights
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Clients value confidence over speed
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Most errors originate from unclear eligibility
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Branch burden is driven by exceptions, not volume
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Audit visibility matters as much as UI quality
System Thinking + Journey Mapping
I partnered with UX Research to map the full lifecycle of a beneficiary update:
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System notification
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Branch reconciliation
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Exception handling
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Escalation paths
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Home Office release
This surfaced where risk enters the system—ambiguous authority, delayed verification.
Design Strategy + Decisions
Principles
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Self-service with guardrails
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Eligibility before interaction
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Progressive disclosure
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Auditability by design
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Modular architecture
Key decisions
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Allocation-only edits in MVP
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Restricted account eligibility
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Unsupported designations blocked upfront
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E-signature required where legally necessary
Final Reflection
This project reinforced that in regulated fintech:
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Self-service is about trust, not speed.
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Guardrails enable scale.
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Early legal partnership prevents rework.
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Operational alignment determines success.
