CONTEXT

Existing Problems in UK Pensions

The UK faces a growing pension problem driven by low engagement, poor understanding, and a fragmented system that leaves many problems for retirement.
Millions of employees struggle to access clear information, and often make decisions without guidance. Moreover, employers juggle complex pension administration and inconsistent tools. The result is a system where confidence is low and too many people reach mid‑life unsure whether they’re on track for the future they want.

37% of employees do not access any information about their benefits

21% of employees do not know how much they or their employer contributes to their pension

90% of employees say their pension influences their decision to change or remain in their job

71% of workers ready to leave their role due to poor access to benefits

OUR VISION

A Better Pension Future

We would like to build a future where pensions in the UK are no longer confusing, fragmented, or out of reach. The current system leaves millions of people disengaged and uncertain about their long‑term financial wellbeing. We believe this can change. Our vision is to transform the pension experience into something people can understand, trust, and actively participate in. We want to replace jargon with clarity, scattered pots with a unified view, and passive saving with confident, informed decision making.

We aim to build a platform that feels as intuitive and transparent as modern banking, a place where users can see their entire pension landscape, understand what it means, and take meaningful action with confidence.

SHOWCASE

Thrive Pension Service Design

In this showcase, I walk through the complete end‑to‑end design process behind Thrive’s Employee Pension service. This project set out to tackle one of the UK’s most persistent financial challenges: helping employees understand, access, and engage with their pensions in a system that is often fragmented, complex, and difficult to navigate.

Throughout the journey, I explored how design could simplify pension onboarding, reduce friction across touchpoints, and create a more transparent and empowering experience for employees.

Table of contents

1. Understand Business Model

2. Conduct User Interview & Personas

3. Understand User's Experience

4. Thrive’s Value Proposition Canvas

5. Analysing The Market Landscape

6. Facilitate Ideation Workshops

7. Thrive's Ecosystem Map

8. Map The Information Architecture

9. Introduce Thrive's User Interfaces

10. Mobile Interface Showcase

11. Thrive's Design System

12. Web Interface Showcase

My Role & Responsibilities

Lead Interaction Designer, Blackfinch Group

In Thrive, I play a crucial role in shaping the user experience and overall design strategy.

Conduct user and competitor research at the beginning of the project to establish a strong foundation.
Develop the information architecture, wireframes, design system, and user interfaces as the main designer.
Collaborate across teams to facilitate ideation workshops and drive innovation.
Track user behavior, analyze user data, and identify areas for improvement to enhance the product.

1 Think

Research user needs, analyze business goals, and define the problem to ensure a clear direction.

Conduct User Interview & Build Up Personas

User Interview

Personas

After shaping our business model, we conducted user interviews to validate our assumptions and uncover deeper insights into user needs and challenges. Using Sophie Wright, a creative designer, as a representative persona, I synthesized insights from interviews, behavioral data, and common trends among employees engaging with workplace pensions. This process allowed me to identify Sophie’s key goals and pain points.

These are insights derived from user interview:

Disjointed Experience: Managing pensions across multiple platforms is frustrating and inefficient.

Lack of Clarity: Investment details, performance, and fees are hard to find and understand.

Poor Support: Slow or unhelpful provider responses leave Sophie feeling unsupported.

Outdated Interfaces: Pension platforms don’t meet her expectations for modern, user-friendly design.

Limited Control: Customising contributions or exploring fund options is difficult.

Low Confidence: She wants to engage more but lacks the guidance to make informed decisions.

Key Findings

A brief summary of the most common pain points uncovered during user interviews, highlighting where current pension platforms fail to meet user needs.

Lacked the knowledge and guidance needed to make informed pension decisions. They reported limited access to helpful explanations, personalised advice, or educational resources, leaving them uncertain about how to manage their long‑term financial wellbeing.

Pension platforms often fail to provide straightforward information about contributions, investment performance, and fees.
This lack of transparency makes it hard for users to understand how their pension is growing or what decisions they should be making.

Frustration with how scattered and unintuitive pension management tools are across existing platforms. Users struggled to track multiple pension pots, understand their current status, or complete basic actions without friction.

Exploring User Behaviour Through Journey Maps

Showcase Pension Consolidation Journey Map

To get a real sense of how people deal with their pensions, I sat down with 16 users—some who were completely new to pension platforms and others who had used them before.

Hearing their experiences helped me understand just how confusing and emotionally loaded this topic can be. A lot of people weren’t just unsure about the process, they were unsure about themselves and whether they were “doing it right.”

To make sense of everything I heard, I turned those insights into 8 key user journeys that represent the most important moments in the pension experience.

Mapping these journeys helped me follow what users were doing, thinking, and feeling at each step. It also made it much easier to spot where things were breaking down and where the product needed to step in with clearer guidance or support.

The pension consolidation journey was the one that stood out the most. Many users didn’t know if consolidation was the right move, struggled to find the information they needed, and felt uneasy during long waiting periods with no updates.

By mapping this journey in detail, I could pinpoint exactly where the friction was happening and where we had opportunities to make the experience smoother and more reassuring.This process gave me a deep understanding of user behaviour, and it directly shaped the design decisions and solutions that followed.

Below is an sample of Pension Consolidation Journey.

Insights derived from the Journeys

Users hesitate because they don’t see the value

Most interviewees weren’t convinced consolidation was worth the effort. Without a clear understanding of the benefits, they felt unsure about taking action. This hesitation often stopped the journey before it even began.

Early‑stage confusion due to lack of guidance

In the first stage of the journey, many users felt frustrated because they didn’t know what information they needed or what steps were involved. The absence of clear explanations or guidance created unnecessary friction right at the start.

Complicated UI and information gaps during the input stage

By stage three, users were struggling with unclear UI elements and missing details. Many had to log into multiple pension providers just to double‑check information, which made the process feel disjointed and time‑consuming.

Anxiety caused by poor visibility during the waiting period

Stage five was one of the most emotionally challenging moments. Users felt lost due to the lack of notifications, updates, or visibility into the consolidation progress. This uncertainty made them worry that something might have gone wrong.

The overall process feels too long and demanding

Across the entire journey, users consistently described the process as lengthy, repetitive, and heavy on manual input. The number of steps and the amount of information required made the experience feel overwhelming.

Users want a clear record of what they’ve done

Several interviewees mentioned wanting a simple way to review their past actions, what they submitted, what was confirmed, and what’s still pending. This desire for transparency and reassurance highlights the need for a clear activity history.

Analysing The Market Landscape

By applying the competitive landscape analysis, it provides a comprehensive understanding of market and key competitors. The findings informed the development of a well-structured information architecture for Thrive Pension, ensuring alignment with industry standards and user needs. Below are research images illustrating key insights gathered through this method.

Competitive Landscape Analysis

Market Reseach

Competitive Positioning

Insights from a competitive landscape analysis also reveal how a company's brand perception aligns—or conflicts—with market expectations.

Pension & Financial Wellbeing

Penfold: Digital-first pension provider with a consumer-friendly interface.
Mintago: Broader financial wellbeing suite with pension tools and coaching.
Bippit: Focused on 1-on-1 financial coaching, budgeting tools, and wellbeing analytics.

Financial Education

Nudge Global: Scalable, content-driven financial literacy platform.
Bippit: Combines education with live coaching, offering a more hands-on approach.

Benefits Platforms

ThanksBen: Modular benefits with prepaid cards and allowances.
Benify: Enterprise-grade benefits and rewards infrastructure.

Strategic Insights

Strategic insights derived from competitive landscape analysis help us to understand our market position, uncover opportunities, and anticipate threats

Overlap

Mintago, Nudge, and Penfold all touch financial wellbeing but differ in depth vs breadth. Mintago is the most comprehensive; Nudge is content-first; Penfold is product-first.

Differentiation

ThanksBen and Benify both offer benefits platforms, but Benify is more enterprise-focused, while ThanksBen is nimble and startup-friendly.

White Space

Few players combine performance management with financial wellbeing. A potential opportunity for cross-functional platforms.

Identify Thrive's strengths & challenges

SWOT Analysis

To gain a clear strategic direction for Thrive, I conducted a SWOT analysis, a valuable method for understanding our product's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in relation to the market and competitors.

To ensure a well-rounded perspective, I facilitated a collaborative workshop with BAs and PMs to explore Thrive’s positioning, key differentiators, and areas for improvement.

This method helps us identify actionable strategies to enhance transparency, usability, and competitiveness.

2 Make

This phase is all about ideation—exploring possibilities, testing concepts, and shaping solutions that address the root-cause problems.

Facilitate Ideation Workshops

At the early stage of Thrive, I facilitated weekly ideation workshops, bringing together key team members from different departments, including PMs, BAs, developers.... By combining diverse expertise, these sessions created a dynamic environment for generating innovative solutions. The core methodology was group brainstorming, where participants freely shared ideas and explored various solutions to solve the user problems.

Group Brainstorming

Weekly Workshops

Below are ideas derived from Ideation Workshops

FOCUS 01

Financial Coaching Service

Coach Profiles : Short bios with expertise, certifications, languages, and coaching style.
Coach Availability Viewer : Real time calendar showing open slots for each coach.
Appointment Booking : Users can schedule a session directly from the coach’s calendar.
Pre‑Session Questionnaire : Collects user goals, concerns, and financial topics before the meeting.
Appointment Reminders : Automated notifications before the session starts.
Session Notes : Coach and user can view shared notes or action items after each session.

FOCUS 02

Clear, Comprehensive Pension Platform

Pension Dashboard: A simple overview of total pension value, contributions, and projected retirement income.
Contribution Tracker: Shows monthly contributions, employer match, and historical trends.
Pension Fees Breakdown: Clear view of management fees, fund charges, and their long‑term impact.
Fund Performance Viewer: Shows how each investment fund is performing over time.
Retirement Age Planner: Lets users adjust retirement age and instantly see income impact.
Retirement Age Planner: Lets users adjust retirement age and instantly see income impact.

FOCUS 03

Simple, Unified Pension Management

Investment Switcher: Allows users to change pension investment funds with guided support.
Consolidation Pension: Step‑by‑step tool to merge multiple pension pots into one.
Transfer Status Tracker: Live updates on ongoing pension transfers.
Multi‑Pension Aggregation: Connects and displays all pension pots in one place.
Pension Account Linking: Connects old and current pension providers with guided setup.
Simple Investment Switcher: Unified interface to change investment choices across providers.

Propose Thrive's Ecosystem Map

When I designed Thrive’s ecosystem map, my focus was on creating a cohesive and interconnected experience across every touchpoint. I mapped out how each element, from the Employee App and Employer Platform to the Thrive Website, Pension Community, Pension Knowledge Hub, and Financial Coaching. The goal was to build a system where information flows seamlessly, engagement feels natural, and every interaction reinforces empowerment and trust.

Thrive Employee App

A personal financial wellbeing companion offering coaching, education, pension tools, and goal‑tracking in one place.

Thrive Employer App

A management hub for employers to monitor wellbeing engagement, configure benefits, view insights, and support their workforce.

Thrive Website

A public gateway showcasing Thrive’s mission, products, resources, and onboarding paths for employers and employees.

Thrive Admin Portal

A secure backend for managing users, permissions, content, reporting, and integrations across the entire Thrive platform.

Map The Information Architecture

For Thrive, I worked with our business analysts and project managers to build a solid sitemap using a card-sorting method. We spent three hours in a workshop, sorting through ideas and structuring the platform to make sure it’s intuitive for everyone.
In the end, we came up with three sitemaps - one for employers, one for employees, and one for administrators. Each is designed to meet the specific needs of its users, making navigation smooth and hassle-free.

Sitemap

Ideation Workshops

Design Key Userflows

Userflows

Ideation Workshops

During an ideation workshop, I build user flows by first identifying key user goals and mapping out potential interactions. I start with brainstorming sessions, gathering insights from stakeholders to understand pain points and expectations.

Then, I create rough sketches or flow diagrams to visualize different pathways users might take. Through iterative discussions and feedback loops, I refine these flows to enhance clarity and efficiency.

Thrive Userflows ver1.0

Introduce Thrive's User Interfaces

I designed Thrive UI with a mission to simplify and elevate financial experiences. Every screen, every interaction is crafted to support three powerful features: Pension Management that gives users control and clarity over retirement planning; Investment Facilitation that guides smart decisions with accessible tools; and Financial Coaching that delivers tailored advice right when it’s needed.

My goal was to blend functionality with a clean, intuitive design, so people feel empowered, not overwhelmed.

Pension Management: Managing contributions, pension consolidation, pension investment...

Investment Facilitation: empowering employees with transparency into their pension investments;

Financial Coaching: providing expert, personalized support to enhance financial literacy and decision-making;

Thrive's Design System

Thrive design system is well-structured to align with the brand guidelines while embodying the product’s tone and voice. Every aspect—including typography, color schemes, and interaction patterns - has been carefully designed to ensure consistency, usability, and a seamless user experience. This system enhances both visual cohesion and functionality, reinforcing the brand’s identity while delivering an intuitive and engaging digital environment.

Web Interface Showcase

Guided by the brand-defined design system, I have developed a web UI for the Thrive project that embraces modern, formal, and minimalist aesthetics. The interface is structured to deliver a refined and intuitive experience, balancing visual elegance with functionality to enhance user engagement.

Validate Thrive's Prototype

To validate the effectiveness of the Thrive prototype, I conducted a series of usability tests and user interviews with participants representing our target audience. The goal was to understand how well the design supported real user tasks and whether the experience aligned with their expectations.

Key Outcomes

90% of users love Financial Coaching and Education Hub, highlighting these features as the most valuable and engaging parts of the experience.

78% of users successfully completed all pension‑related tasks, demonstrating that the flows were clear, logical, and supportive even for users with limited pension knowledge.

72% of users found the Thrive interface as friendly and easy to use, confirming that the visual design and navigation patterns felt intuitive and approachable.

Reflection: Iteration, Learning, and Continuous Improvement

Building Thrive was an iterative journey.
Every round of testing uncovered new opportunities to simplify the interface, clarify content, and elevate the features users cared about most. Feedback directly influenced design decisions, helping the product grow into a clearer, more unified experience.This project highlighted how essential it is to stay open to change. Thrive’s development is ongoing, and user input continues to guide its direction, ensuring the platform remains relevant, accessible, and genuinely helpful.

Map Opportunities for Future Features

Outline potential expansions such as retirement planning tools, employer analytics, or deeper financial coaching. This shows strategic thinking and gives the project a forward‑looking arc.

Explore Long‑Term Behaviour Change Metrics

Identify what success looks like beyond app usage such as: confidence, understanding, consolidation completion, contribution increases. This helps position Thrive as a behaviour‑change product, not just a pension tool.

Expand Research on Employer Needs

Dive deeper into how employers manage pensions, communicate benefits, and measure engagement. This will strengthen the employer dashboard and ensure it aligns with real operational workflows.

Thrive

Pension, Benefit & Wellbeing Management