Voya Financial:
Retirement Planner
Project Scope: Platform Strategy, Design System, Responsive Web Design & Build
My Role: Creative Lead + Digital Product Strategist
Summary
In 2018, Intrepid partnered with Voya Financial to redesign its consumer retirement planning portal. The engagement focused on improving usability while establishing a scalable design system to support a broader B2B platform optimization initiative.
The mandate extended beyond a UI redesign: Voya needed a design system in place. One that would reduce development friction through reusable patterns, and provide a foundation that could be extended across Voya’s digital ecosystem. I led the engagement from the design side, serving as creative lead and digital product strategist.
Our North Star
Simplicity and Ease of Use:
Voya’s legacy system was dated and rife with usability issues, creating a sub-par experience for consumers — which was reflected in their Dalbar ratings. Our goal was to reduce the time and mental load required for users to complete routine tasks in the portal (editing contributions, viewing fund performance, etc.) We wanted to create an experience that would shield the users from the intricacies of the system - users should be able to find what they are looking for quickly and with little effort.
Following initial qualitative research on the legacy experience, we established a set of experience pillars to guide our team’s decision-making throughout the five-month engagement.
Personalization
Voya's retirement portal serves a large and diverse user base, which includes people at different stages of their lives, careers, and financial education. It was important to design a system that spoke to all of Voya’s users, regardless of where they are in their retirement journey.
We leveraged what the system already knew about each user—such as age, income, and life stage—to surface the most relevant actions and information to them. Retirement planning can feel stressful and intimidating, but by delivering timely, personalized content, Voya could build clarity and confidence for users.
Reflection & Education
The client’s objective was not to turn their users into financial experts. Research showed most users preferred guidance over in depth education — they just wanted reassurance they were making sound decisions for their future.
We introduced moments of purposeful friction at critical decision points (e.g., early withdrawals), providing education about potential consequences without overwhelming users. These moments of reflection helped users make more informed choices while reinforcing trust in the platform.
A key business opportunity was reducing customer attrition during life transitions—particularly when users changed employers. Research revealed that many users were unaware they could roll a 401(k) into a Voya IRA, leaving within the Voya ecosystem.
By surfacing these options at the right moments, the experience helped retain customers while increasing awareness of Voya’s broader product offerings—driving both user value and long-term business impact.
Retention
Outcome
By removing friction, clarifying complex financial concepts, and infusing empathy into the experience, the redesigned retirement portal positioned Voya as a trusted, lifelong financial partner—one capable of supporting users throughout their financial lives.