User Research and Design for RBC InvestEase
RBC needed to quickly launch a robo-advisor to compete with fintech disruptors in the Canadian market. While early beta emails had high open rates, enrollments were unexpectedly low. The product team had to identify the root cause and refine the design to drive conversions.



My Role and Responsibilities
As Senior Product Design Lead, I identified why users weren’t converting and redesigned the onboarding and portfolio management experience.
User Research: Conducted several rounds of unmoderated user testing with over 150 participants to identify the reasons behind drop-off and low conversion.
Iterative Design: Translated insights into improved onboarding and portfolio flows tailored for new investors.
Best Practices: Applied fintech standards to simplify investment decisions without overwhelming new investors.
Experience Ownership: Shaped the end-to-end journey from first click through portfolio selection to portfolio management.
Cross-Functional Alignment: Partnered with compliance, marketing, and product teams to balance requirements with an intuitive user experience.
As Senior Product Design Lead, I identified why users weren’t converting and redesigned the onboarding and portfolio management experience.
User Research: Conducted several rounds of unmoderated user testing with over 150 participants to identify the reasons behind drop-off and low conversion.
Iterative Design: Translated insights into improved onboarding and portfolio flows tailored for new investors.
Best Practices: Applied fintech standards to simplify investment decisions without overwhelming new investors.
Experience Ownership: Shaped the end-to-end journey from first click through portfolio selection to portfolio management.
Cross-Functional Alignment: Partnered with compliance, marketing, and product teams to balance requirements with an intuitive user experience.
As Senior Product Design Lead, I identified why users weren’t converting and redesigned the onboarding and portfolio management experience.
User Research: Conducted several rounds of unmoderated user testing with over 150 participants to identify the reasons behind drop-off and low conversion.
Iterative Design: Translated insights into improved onboarding and portfolio flows tailored for new investors.
Best Practices: Applied fintech standards to simplify investment decisions without overwhelming new investors.
Experience Ownership: Shaped the end-to-end journey from first click through portfolio selection to portfolio management.
Cross-Functional Alignment: Partnered with compliance, marketing, and product teams to balance requirements with an intuitive user experience.
Research Approach
Landing Page Qualitative A/B Testing: Marketing’s A/B experiments on the landing page underperformed without explaining why. Through qualitative research, I identified the strengths and weaknesses of each version, enabling the team to adopt a hybrid design that combined the best elements of both.
Onboarding Questions: While drop-off data pointed to specific pages, research showed participants’ confusion began earlier with unclear investment questions. I partnered with the product team to redesign the flow, add clearer contextual guidance, refine graphs to illustrate trade-offs, and expand portfolio details, especially for environmental or socially responsible options.
Key Outcomes
During the two-month beta before the national rollout, the drop-off rate and email click-through rates showed consistent improvement. The new design reduced sign-up drop-off from 80% to 35% and increased marketing campaign click-through by 60%.
Key Outcomes
During the two-month beta before the national rollout, the drop-off rate and email click-through rates showed consistent improvement. The new design reduced sign-up drop-off from 80% to 35% and increased marketing campaign click-through by 60%.
Sample Screens




















Research Approach
Landing Page Qualitative A/B Testing: Marketing’s A/B experiments on the landing page underperformed without revealing why. My research revealed that users trusted pages that combined lifestyle imagery with straightforward copy, while videos distracted from the core value proposition. These findings led marketing to adopt a hybrid approach using clear, direct copy with lifestyle imagery.
Onboarding Questions: While most questions were clear, participants struggled with areas that lacked guidance. They needed stronger hints about how much to invest, how often, and why certain questions were being asked. Many wanted clearer graphs to show trade-offs, and more detailed portfolio information, especially environmental or socially responsible investing. I collaborated with the product team to address these gaps by adding contextual hints, refining visualizations, and expanding portfolio explanations.
User Research & Design Insights for RBC InvestEase
RBC needed to quickly launch a robo-advisor to compete with fintech disruptors like Wealthsimple. While early beta emails had high open rates, enrollments were unexpectedly low. The product team needed to quickly identify the root cause of the issue and improve the design to increase conversions.