Equitable Rebrand
Bringing a 160 year old brand back to life
Equitable, formerly known as AXA Equitable Life (1991-2018) and the Equitable Life Insurance Company (1859-1991), became an independent US-based company in May 2018. With that came an opportunity to start a new chapter as an iconic American brand synonymous with helping generations of people achieve financial well-being.
Disclosure: confidential information has been omitted or modified in this case study. The information in this case study is in my own voice and does not necessarily reflect the views of Equitable.
My Role
I was the lead product designer in the redesign of the Equitable.com responsive website and digital design system between June 2019 and February of 2020. A digital agency was hired initially to conduct interviews and competitive analysis.
The site launched in January 2020 and the digital design system was completed in February 2020.
- Insights & Research
I partnered with the digital agency to analyze and translate findings into data visualizations, personas, user journeys and site maps. - Vision & Planning
I collaborated with product owners to define the site features with balanced customer and business goals. - Leadership
I presented designs to executives and stakeholders throughout the project lifecycle. I delegated and coordinated tasks for 3 front-end developers in two week sprints. - Detailed Design
I created personas, journey maps, user flows, wireframes, prototypes and visual designs. I created component specifications & guidelines and page template guidelines for the digital design system. - Testing & Validation
I collaborated with a usability analyst to create and execute tests on Usertesting.com. I created Invision prototypes used in conjunction with usability tests. - Execution & Coordination
I collaborated with the product owner and software engineers to translate stories into functional site features.
Insights & Research
To start, we were guided with the following from the Equitable’s brand positioning:
- Commitments
Here for you — Evolving with you — Experts alongside you - Attributes
Strength — Courage — Wisdom
Competitive Analysis
A competitive analysis of key industry leaders was conducted focusing on design features that impact user experience. Most of the key findings confirmed what we already knew:
- None of our competitors are doing it well.
- All were product based
- Few humanistic touches
- Lack of UX focus
- Lack of personality & personalization
Interviews
The following interviews were conducted with the following groups:
- 9 key stakeholders were interviewed to gain a deeper understanding of the Customer (CX) visions, roadblocks, success metrics as well as project expectations and objectives.
- 3 current clients and 4 prospects were interviewed to gain a deeper understanding of their financial planning goals, including any interactions with financial advisors.
- 2 Equitable advisors were interviewed to gain a deeper understanding of their relationship with clients and prospects
Financial Goals Mapping
A financial goals map was created using the interview data to help differentiate the personas.
Personas
Four personas were created to represent the different user types and to understand each user’s needs, experiences, behaviors and goals.
Journey Maps
A Journey map were created for each user to help visualize the different touch points from becoming aware of financial needs, researching products & services and seeking advice from financial professions. The journey maps also helped to gain insight into how each user experiences the new site based on their motivations and goals.
The Goals
Create a needs-based experience that customers can trust with their financial well-being
The primary goal was to develop a new responsive site with a modern and fresh voice that reflected Equitable’s new brand identity: an iconic American brand synonymous with helping generations of people achieve financial well-being
High level user goals:
- Convey the elements of a trusted name (history, knowledge, established customers)
- Establish a modern brand (personalized, empathic, extensible)
- More personality elements (fresh, innovative, modern, approachable, transparent)
“…an opportunity to develop a new voice.”
High level business goals:
- Customer education and awareness
- Lead generation
- Needs-focused approach
- Align internal teams around customer experience
“The big Aha moment is that we need to go back to basics and forget trying to tell people the difference between VUL, IUL Life, and all that.”
The Barriers
AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company
Legacy can be an asset and at the same time a hindrance. Being a 160 year old company that has gone through two major ownership left the company in somewhat of an identity crisis. As part of the french-owned AXA Group, Equitable enjoyed international brand recognition that did not necessarily contribute to the company’s brand recognition in the US. In fact, in 2014, AXA trimmed off “Equitable Life” to increase the AXA awareness brand.
Main barriers:
- Lack of brand recognition
- New brand story was still in in development and not finalized
- Fragmented experiences (constellation of marketing apps, client & support sites)
- Product Silos
“We need an identity. We need to clearly articulate to all stakeholders and then hold ourselves accountable to that identity.”
Detailed Design
For this project we employed a mixture of design thinking and lean UX methodologies whenever possible. Site features and components were completed in 2 week sprints with designs typically completed at least one sprint ahead of development. I went through iterative cycles of analysis, reviews, approvals, detailed specs and handoff to developers.
Deliverables
I created wireframes and high fidelity visual design comps for site features, page templates and components. Much of the detail specs was then used to create the digital design system (XD kit and online repository). I also created prototypes (Adobe XD for internal reviews and Invision for user testing) to gather feedback and consensus from stakeholders.
The Launch
Introducing Equitable.com
Equitable.com launched silently on the evening prior to the company’s new brand announcement at the NYSE on January 14, 2020. The new brand announcement also affected over 30 internal systems which required updates that were deployed that same evening. Over 100 people from multiple teams traveled to Syracuse, NY to support this initiative. It was a rewarding experience to finally meet people whom I have only interacted with digitally and be able to participate in such a significant event in the history of the company. To boot, there were no major glitches and we were able to breathe and celebrate!
Metrics
Done? …maybe just for now
The site has been live for over 6 months. The digital strategy team is gathering metrics on site usage and lead generations that have come to fruition. The product team has since added new features that were left out due to time constraints. After launch we conducted two more usability tests on the site navigation to gain additional insights so that we can go back to the stakeholders and propose enhancements. As much as I would have liked to stay on and continue the progress on the site, I left the project team after the completion of the digital design system in February 2020.
Metrics to come….
Reflections
Advocate, educate and repeat
For most of you who have worked in large corporations, you will be familiar with top-down driven design and design by committee. For the most part, we’ve made a lot of progress in advocating for the end user at the executive suite level. We lost battles but never stopped fighting for what we feel is right for the end users while also maintaining the balance of stakeholder and business needs. Always advocate for the user, then educate stakeholders (not by saying, but showing) and repeat the process.
A team within teams
We had a non-negotiable deadline for the site to launch on January 14th 2020. Our CEO was to ring the opening bell at the NYSE in celebration of our company’s new brand announcement. Along with the fixed launch date, there were several critical work streams happening in parallel that created challenges with coordination. The new brand direction fed into the stakeholder approvals for the new site, while the new site also dictated the features and functionalities that needed to be built into the new content management system. It was truly a coordinated effort with touchpoints from all areas/departments within multiple distributed teams (Syracuse, India, New York, Charlotte).
Don’t forget the users
Throughout this project, I observed multiple pain points in the discovery and design phases, specifically in regards to the language around the site navigation. Quite honestly, we still have a long way to go to improve the site’s navigation. From the usability tests we knew that the audience switch views were problematic and at times left the users out of context of where they are. The final language used for the menu items were not based on recommendations that came out of the usability tests, but instead chosen to be on brand with tone of voice. For example, the site’s main menu is labeled ambiguously “Start your journey”. This is very confusing for users who are simply looking for product information or information about the company. As mentioned in battles lost, this was one that we wish we had won but had very little control over.
Refinement, monitoring and innovation
Web sites and apps will become stale quickly in this fast moving digital age. The design and build phase of a site or app is only a beginning. There should always be room allotted afterwards for refinement, monitoring and innovation to ensure that you are achieving and surpassing your initial goals.
Love thy team members
This was a project where I was fortunate enough to work with some of the most talented and dedicated people I know in my professional career. When a project gets tough, it’s the people that you work with that can help you pull through and succeed. Developing relationships and forming rapport outside your comfort zone is also key to gaining the trust, respect and support that you will need to do your job successfully.
