Martin Tiger FinanceOperational Agility: Annually eliminating 5,000 manual processing days
Discovery & Diagnosis
Service Mapping: Audited the end-to-end journey to identify 'dead time' and information gatekeeping betwen the Branch and Home Office.
Result: Exposed a 5-day operational bottleneck that created high anxiety for clients and high risk for the firm.
Logic Integration
Front-End Empowerment: Surfaced complex backend calculation engines directly into the Branch UI via the design system.
Result: Transformed a 'blind' dependency into real-time transparency, allowing for immediate error resolution.
Workflow Optimization
Friction Removal: Eliminated manual hand-offs, status-tracking alerts, and redundant verification steps for Branches.
Result: 100% reduction in 'back-and-forth' communication, allowing branches to stay focused on high-value client advisory.
Systemic De-Risking
Standardized the calculation process to ensure 100% compliance with tax-sensitive removal deadlines.
5,000 manual processing days saved annually and total elimination of 'human-error' restitution costs.
Financial clients at Martin Tiger must remove excess retirement contributions to avoid tax penalties, but branches were "blind" to the required calculations, creating a 5-day dependency from communicating with Home Office. By surfacing the calculation into the banking center with minimal UI components, we transformed the 5-day delay into a 5-minute resolution, turning a stressful administrative error into a high-confidence client service moment.
Role
Product Designer
Year
2024
Duration
6 months
Team Members
Product owner
Business analyst
UX researcher
Deliverables
Service blueprint
Low & high fidelity designs
Prototypes
Executive presentations
Final specs
Asset production
Problem StatementCollapsing the "Information Asymmetry" between Branch and Home Office.
“We are NOT fans of waiting for Home Office to review. We have to check regularly for the response with the calculation, then call back the client, then confirm with Home Office how the client wants to continue.”
Clients at Martin Tiger must remove excess retirement contributions to avoid tax penalties, but branches were "blind" to the required calculations, creating a 5-day dependency on the Home Office. This delay increased the risk of compliance errors, elevated client anxiety during tax-sensitive windows, and forced branch agents into a cycle of manual follow-ups.
The Discovery: Service MappingEradicating "Dead Time" in the Service Lifecycle.
“Our current process requires branches to submit through different systems depending on the dollar amount, asset movement type, account type, and program type. These requests have to go through Home Office review, leading to delays, inconsistent branch and client experience, and lack of client visibility into the final dollar amount.”
By mapping the removal process, I identified 3–5 days of "dead time" spent waiting for manual back-office confirmations. This "zig-zag" workflow didn't just slow down the transfer; it created a high-risk window for tax liabilities and human error. My goal was to shift the calculation logic from a "gatekept" back-office task to a real-time front-end capability.
The service blueprint for Excess Removals, illustrating the delays caused by back-and-forth conversations between branches and Home Office.
Activities
User interviews
Technical discussions
Branch shadowing
Outputs
Affinity maps
User journeys
Service blueprint
The Design StrategyEmpowering the Front-Line with "Back-Office" Intelligence.
We leveraged the Martin Tiger design system to surface complex backend logic directly to the point of contact. By integrating the calculation engine into the branch UI, we transformed a 5-day "black hole" into a 5-minute resolution, turning a stressful administrative error into a high-confidence client service moment.
Activities
Ideation workshops
Co-design workshops
Outputs
High-fidelity designs
Clickable prototype
The proposed service blueprint for Excess Removals, allowing branches direct access to the calculator and reducing 3-5 days from this process.
Lifting the "Administrative Overhang" for 1,000+ Annual Users.
Validation & TestingTesting confirmed that by making the calculation instant, we eliminated the need for branch agents to manually track 1,000+ annual transfers across multiple systems. Users reported that the new flow allowed them to stay focused on high-value wealth management rather than acting as "status checkers" for manual paperwork.
“... it’s more streamlined and informational - you get more information immediately than filling out a form. We don’t see the earnings or loss on the excess removal now, so having it all right here and immediately calculated I do think is better.”
Martin Tiger’s banking center’s UI, updated with the instant calculation and the ability to select how the amount will be removed from the retirement account.
Activities
Usability sessions
Affinity mapping
Outputs
Presentation deck
High-fidelity designs
Prototypes
Annotated redlines