UX Research Portfolio: One-Page Case Study — Unified Actions Dashboard

Streamlining Financial Advisors’ Day — Usability Study

✨Case Study Enhanced with AI

Challenge

Financial advisors and staff waste valuable time navigating multiple tools to find, prioritize, and complete client action items—leading to missed opportunities and errors.

Solution

Unified Actions Dashboard: a single, smart dashboard auto-prioritizing critical actions, surfacing summaries, deadlines, and enabling direct task completion—all in one place.

My Role

Planned research, set goals & scope
Defined participants (advisors, staff, support desk)
Facilitated moderated usability tests
Synthesized findings from interviews & analytics
Presented actionable recommendations; closed feedback loop with Dev team

Stakeholders & Audience

Product Owners
Experienced Advisors
Junior Advisors, Support Staff, India Service Desk

Research Goals

Can users find and understand all action items?
Is the dashboard intuitive enough for quick decisions?
Are tasks easy to complete and track?
What additional info boosts user confidence and speed?

Methods

Moderated 1:1 usability sessions (remote, screen share)
Analytics reviewed to identify completion drop-offs
Tested dashboard prototypes with near-real scenarios

Key Findings

Advisors love summary visibility: “If I know the account ID—time saver!”
Need for customization by action type: “We should customize priority logic—money transfers, drifts...”
Tracking issues: Assigned tasks not easily traceable; users want clearer visual cues
Staff want seamless “mark complete” flows—with ability to add notes/links inline

Recommendations

Make tracking status & stage visually distinct (color, labels)
Enable “Complete + Add Notes” inline
Support dashboard customization by practice needs

Impact

Time saved: Reduces advisor tool-switching (measurably increased client-facing time)
Fewer missed items: Clear priorities support better task completion
Business results: Addressed analytics-identified low action completion rate
Empathy shown: Tools respond to real advisory practice needs—not just generic workflows

Reflection

Combining usability and analytics reveals not just what users say, but where they struggle
Early stakeholder involvement helps surface customization needs sooner
Next time: Recruit for more diverse practice styles; iterate dashboard personalization options upfront

Case Study at a Glance

Before: Advisors juggled multiple tools, missed urgent client tasks
After: Unified dashboard saves time, boosts completion, meets real-world workflow diversity