Project Overview
Role
Lead Product Designer – Directed the design process from concept to execution, collaborating with cross-functional teams to craft an impactful solution.
Duration of the project
4 Months (March 2024 - July 2024)
Responsibilities
  • Conducted user research to uncover pain points and inefficiencies in the client onboarding process.
  • Defined the design strategy, leading ideation sessions to align stakeholders on a unified vision.
  • Created wireframes and high-fidelity prototypes to test potential solutions iteratively.
  • Facilitated usability testing sessions to validate hypotheses and improve the design.
  • Collaborated with product owners, business analysts, and engineers to ensure technical feasibility and business alignment.
Transforming Client Onboarding with the Multi-Client eSign Flow
The Multi-Client eSign Flow project aimed to address inefficiencies in RBC Wealth Management’s client onboarding process. Advisors previously relied on fragmented workflows, leading to delays, frequent errors, and strained client relationships.

The solution consolidated account-related documents into a single, seamless flow, improving advisor productivity and enhancing the overall client experience.
Understanding Wealth Managment & RBC’s needs
What do Wealth Managment companies do?
Wealth management companies offer specialized financial services to help high-net-worth individuals and families manage their wealth. These services include investment management, estate planning, tax optimization, retirement planning, and more, all aimed at growing, protecting, and transferring wealth according to the clients’ financial goals.
How RBC Wealth Managment Stands Out?
RBC Wealth Management is known for its global reach combined with local expertise, offering personalized financial solutions that integrate investment management with banking, credit, and trust services. RBC’s client-centric approach and commitment to digital innovation have made it a leader in the wealth management space.
Client Onbaoring (COB) Application Overview
What does COB do and how des it help advisors?
COB is an essential tool used by RBC Wealth Management associates and advisors to streamline the client onboarding process. It consolidates client and account documents, facilitates e-signature workflows, and improves communication between advisors and clients. By simplifying document management and reducing manual tasks, the COB application enhances efficiency, minimizes errors, and helps maintain strong client relationships.
Current COB Challenges at RBC WM
The existing client onboarding process at RBC involved multiple emails and fragmented document management, leading to inefficiencies, delays, and errors. These issues were causing frustration for both associates and clients, ultimately impacting client satisfaction and trust.
Identifying Core Issues
Inefficiencies in Communication
The fragmented process of sending multiple emails for document collection led to significant inefficiencies, with associates spending excessive time managing documents and chasing signatures.
Impact on Client Relationships
The delays and errors caused by the existing process were straining relationships between advisors and clients, leading to decreased satisfaction and trust.
Need for a Unified Solution
To address these challenges, a more cohesive and streamlined onboarding process was needed, one that could consolidate document management and facilitate smoother communication between all parties involved.
Understanding the Current State (As-Is Flow)
Analyzing the Existing Workflow
To better understand the pain points and inefficiencies within the current client onboarding process, I mapped out the as-is flow for RBC Wealth Management associates. This detailed flow analysis provided critical insights into how the existing system operated, what steps were causing delays or confusion, and where errors were most likely to occur. While I am unable to share the exact screenshots due to NDA restrictions, I can provide a high-level summary of the process:
Keys issues identified
Fragmented Document Management
Associates had to navigate between multiple systems and emails to collect the necessary documents and signatures from clients.
High Error Rate
Due to the lack of a unified document flow, there was a higher likelihood of missed signatures or incorrect document handling, leading to delays in onboarding.
Time-Consuming Tasks
Associates reported spending excessive amounts of time managing the back-and-forth communication between clients to obtain signatures.
Hypothesis Framing and Problem Definition
Defining Assumptions and Hypothesis
Key Assumptions: Due to time constraints and the specific project requirements, we were unable to conduct traditional user research for this project. Instead, we leveraged our collective experience and insights from previous projects to identify several key assumptions that would guide the design process. These assumptions were based on common pain points we had observed in similar projects, stakeholder input, COB support tickets, user feedback with COB product team and industry best practices for managing complex document flow.

To ensure these assumptions were valid, I framed them as testable hypotheses. This hypothesis-driven approach allowed me to move forward efficiently while still maintaining a user-centred focus. I then built the prototypes and conducted iterative usability testing to validate our hypotheses with real users. This process not only confirmed the validity of many of our assumptions but also provided critical insights that informed further design iterations.
Problem Statement
Based on the hypothesis framing and identifying core issues as a collective group with stakeholder input i was able to define a clear problem statement for the project.
Designing the Future State (User Flow)
Creating the Future State User Flow
After identifying the shortcomings of the current system, I collaborated with product owners and business analyst to design the future state user flow. This flow was developed with the goal of streamlining the onboarding process and enhancing the overall user experience for associates. The future state flow simplifies the document management system and introduces key features that reduce friction and improve flexibility for both associates and clients.

Working closely with the product owners and business analyst, we iterated on the user flow to ensure it aligned with both user needs and business requirements. Their insights into the technical constraints and business objectives were invaluable in shaping a flow that balanced usability with functionality.
Key Elements of the Future State Flow
Unified Document Management
Associates will be able to manage all account-related documents (account opening, maintenance, and IPS) within a single interface, reducing the need to switch between multiple systems.
Flexible Signer Management
A feature allowing associates to add and manage additional signers directly within the system, improving flexibility for complex client cases.
Error Prevention Mechanisms
Built-in validation checks to ensure that all necessary documents and signatures are completed before submission, reducing the likelihood of errors and the need for follow-up communications.
Objective
Based on the To-Be scenario defined and the key elements of the future state flow I was able to define a clear project objective.
Design Process
From Concept to Execution
Ideation and Sketching: With the hypothesis in place, I facilitated brainstorming sessions and did sketching to explore potential design solutions. We focused on ideas that would validate or refute our hypotheses, such as creating a unified document management page and adding features to manage multiple signers easily.

Since we were on a strict timeline i focussed on creating low to medium fidelity designs quickly and got instant feedback from stakeholders. Below are some of my initial designs and explorations from the project.
As a designer you can never stop exploring more options it's a good problem to have, sometimes.
And a few more...
HiFi Designs
Some of the key screens were identified such as the consolidated document management page, a review screen where associates could view and manage all client documents, and an interface for adding additional signers.

Once the screens were clearly identified and technical limitations were discussed i translated them into interactive prototypes using Figma. The prototypes allowed stakeholders and users to interact with the proposed design, providing valuable feedback for further iterations.
Product Demo (Pre-Usability Testing)
Usability Testing and Findings
Formative Usability Testing
Objective:
‍
The goal of the formative usability testing was to validate our hypotheses, identify any usability issues, and gather feedback to refine the design. Given the hypothesis-driven approach, this stage was crucial to ensuring that our assumptions translated effectively into a user-friendly and efficient solution.
Methodology:

We conducted usability testing with a diverse group of 5 RBC Wealth Management associates and advisors who represented the actual end users of the system. The participants were given specific tasks to perform using the high-fidelity prototype, such as navigating the unified document management page, adding additional signers, and completing the eSign process.
Key Metrics:

During the testing sessions, I focused on few key metrics to measure the effectiveness of the design.

Task Completion Rate: The percentage of participants who successfully completed each task without assistance.

Time on Task: The average time it took participants to complete each task.

Error Rate: The frequency of errors or mistakes made by participants during task completion.

Satisfaction Score: Post-test I used a simple satisfaction score ranking from 1-5. 1 being hard and 5 being easy to gather subjective feedback on how satisfied participants were with the ease of use and overall experience.
Findings:
  • Unified Document Flow - 5/5 users found the unified document management page intuitive. This validated our hypothesis that a single-page system would reduce complexity and improve efficiency. However, 2 users initially struggled with the idea of performing Account Maintenance and Account Opening in the same flow as it wasn't something they were familiar with but once they performed they were quite shocked to see the impact it has on the overall eSign experience. 3/5 users did not use the "Expand All" button at the top of the page to view documents and they wished all documents were expanded by default as it would give them a good understanding of each account and it's respective document.
  • Signer Managment - The signer management feature was well received but 3/5 participants struggled understanding the product copy for the pop-up modal and couldn't understand the context form the modal instantly.
  • Comprehensive eSign Package Overview - This section was really useful for all 5/5 users to look at all the final documents compiled in one single view before they can send to the client and their entire household. The consolidation of documents along with detailed context was highly appreciated.
  • eSign Dashboard - Once the documents were sent to the client, users were redirected to the primary client's eSign Dashboard where they can view all of the documents sent with status next to them. This bird eye's view of status was really useful to see real time updates as the client's sign the documents received.
Pain Points:

Despite the overall positive feedback, the testing revealed areas where users encountered difficulties:
  • Navigation Issues - Although users found the flow intuitive, there were some navigational issues around collapse and expand documents, greyed out associated account documents, and finally the redirection to eSign dashboard of the individual rather than overall eSign dashboard on the homepage.
  • Signer Managment Messaging - Users struggled with the product copy for the CTA button on the unified document page, the pop-up modal and the additional signers screens. One user mentioned the lack of Client's name on Additional Signers page which led to get confused on the flow. These area were crucial to needed to be fixed as they set the context for the overall user flow.
  • Scenario Flow - Another pain point that users mentioned was on the scenario we built the flow around. We used four users as part of the Client Household document flow but in reality it's 2-3 client per household and not more that.
  • Download Draft Documents - Something we heard from multiple users was the ability to download these generated documents offline for reference and check for mistakes. We did not consider this feature assuming users would verify before generating documents.
Analysis and Evaluation
Based on the usability testing feedback and observations I created an Affinity Diagram to understand and analyze the information. I categorized the affinity diagram based on 3 flows :

Account Review + Generated Documentation flow

Select Signers + Additional Signers flow

Compile Client Package + eSign Dashboard
Account Review + Generated Documentation
Select Signers + Additional Signers
Compile Client Package + eSign Dashboard
Overall Evaluation
Prioritization and Iterative Design Refinements
Based on the usability testing feedback and overall analysis we had to identify and prioritize changes based on feasibility and impact for the product. I worked alongside the product team, business analyst and developers to create this prioritization map that allowed us to map iterations and changes based on four categories.
  • Quick Wins
  • Home Runs
  • Big Bets
  • Marginal Gains
Prioritization Matrix
Unified Document Page
Enhanced Signer Managment
eSign Package Overview
Reminder Email and Revoke Package (eSign Dashboard)
Project Update: Adjusting to Business Constraints
After completing the iterative design phase, I presented the final design solution to the product team. The feedback on the design was positive; however, due to the project’s scope and budgetary constraints, the team decided to pause further development until 2025.
Key Takeaways:
Understanding Business Priorities - While the design was validated through usability testing and aligned with user needs, the product team highlighted that the project scope exceeded the available budget for the current year. This required the team to reevaluate the project timeline.
Adaptability - As a product designer, this situation reinforced the importance of balancing user-centered design with business constraints. Although the full implementation was delayed, I worked closely with stakeholders to document the project’s current progress and identify high-priority features that could potentially be rolled out in phases when the project resumes.
Next Steps:
  • Phased Implementation: In collaboration with the product team, we discussed the possibility of breaking the project into smaller, more manageable phases, which could be implemented over time as resources become available.
  • 2025 Roadmap: The project has been earmarked for 2025, with the goal of incorporating the prioritized design solutions into the broader product roadmap for that year.
This experience emphasized the importance of not only designing solutions but also aligning them with the organization’s strategic and financial planning. As the project resumes in 2025, I’m prepared to continue refining and evolving the design to meet both user and business needs.