Great West Financial
Role: Visual Design and Strategy
Overview: How might we make users feel confident they are filing their forms out correctly?
I managed the forms and application update process for the Retirement Resource Operations Center. Duties included updates to the forms and applications roster using Adobe InDesign, document management using Microsoft SharePoint as well as implementation of a new Quality Assurance process to ensure all documents meet professional and legal standards. Project progress was tracked via Trello and Excel.
Modern, accessible design
A common complaint from Great West Financial’s Life Insurance and annuity customers was that the forms needed for common transactions were difficult to understand. Another common issue was that form processors often either had incorrect, incomplete or illegible forms.
Know your audience
After researching common issues and testing several looks the best solution to limit confusion was to place the field above the field title. Using more rigorous typography standards, modern form field design and grayscale elements we limited confusing elements and ensured accessibility for people with color blindness.
Quality Assurance and Standards
Once the research was complete it became clear that a new set of standards was needed for employees and contractors. The Forms and Documents Guidelines were created and implemented so that even if there is a change in staff the forms process will remain the same.
Process
One of the greatest insights I discovered as the sole forms designer was that the customer’s voice was missing from the update process. Management was preoccupied with meeting legal standards and simplicity went out the door over time.
Being in charge of this process gave me leverage to make change and start talking to people outside of management. The forms process became more robust when I began to work iteratively and with frequent user testing. By embracing a more agile approach to form updates we made things easier to understand for customers, easier to process for employees and easier to make updates for developers and designers.