A wealth management client asked us:

How do customers learn about financial topics? How can we make our financial education content more engaging?

We answered:

AnswerLab designed an exploratory study with 12 participants, segmented into three groups based on the amount of time they had spent reviewing brokerage and investment accounts in the past six months.

We conducted remote in-depth interviews with each participant on topics including: 

  • Learning styles and behaviors
  • Mental models around financial education
  • Ways our client could make online financial content more engaging
  • How COVID-19 impacted their mindset and approach to finances in the past year

Outcome:

business-woman-working-on-laptop-in-her-office-picjumbo-com-2We learned that almost all participants had a reactive rather than proactive approach to financial education with life circumstances like the pandemic prompting them to dig into relevant financial topics through our research. In addition, we uncovered several factors that influenced participants’ success when researching financial topics, including their learning styles, specific goals, the sheer amount of information available, and relationship dynamics when asking friends or family for advice.

Our team also gathered feedback on what might make participants more likely to engage with financial content, helping the client identify formats, structures, and design principles they could implement to improve their site. For example, many participants looked for content that felt concise and well-designed, but they also expressed a desire for more diverse and personal content created by people they could relate to.

Our deliverables included generative information about users’ mental models, learning styles, and feelings towards financial education and clear recommendations and steps to improve the product.

Learn more about financial services research.

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