– SCHWAB –

Designing Clarity at the Moment of Activation

From Account Open to Investor Ready
B2C (Business to Consumer) / Desktop & Mobile Web

Challenges
Newly activated brokerage and bank clients consistently landed on the platform with the same unspoken question: “I’m here. What do I do next?”
At scale, this lack of clarity during activation created measurable business risk:

• Lower account funding rates

• Slower time to first investment

• Increased reliance on customer support and servicing teams

The problem wasn’t access, it was confidence.

Solution
User research revealed that clients didn’t need more features, they needed certainty and direction. I led the design of a unified account activation experience, partnering closely with product, design, legal, operations, engineering, and CX teams to align usability, compliance, and business goals.

The solution introduced a clear, confidence-building system that:

• Orients clients immediately upon landing, clarifying account status and next steps from the first moment of entry.

• Breaks down complex financial setup into approachable, prioritized actions and guiding new clients to a centralized welcome experience for funding, settings, direct deposit, beneficiaries, and communication preferences.

• Builds confidence through progressive completion, signaling readiness to invest as core tasks are completed and reducing uncertainty along the way.

• Scales across platforms, with an experience optimized for both desktop and mobile web to support all client touchpoints.

This approach transformed activation from a moment of hesitation into a guided path toward readiness and engagement.

Business Impact
The results validated the strategy.

By prioritizing clarity and guided action at the moment of entry, the activation welcome to Schwab experience drove meaningful engagement without adding friction:

• 45%+ increase in engagement with the Welcome Banner significantly outperforming typical site banner benchmarks.

• High engagement signaled strong relevance and visibility, proving that clear orientation can capture attention without feeling intrusive.

This outcome reinforced that confidence-led design rather than additional features can materially improve early-stage engagement and set clients up for long-term success.

Reflection
This work was a true cross-functional effort. It was a privilege to collaborate with talented team members to partners across teams, and all credit goes to the collective group that made this experience successful and driving towards a solution that truly works.

The Framework: Designed Activation
At the center of the experience is a Welcome Banner, but strategically, it functions as:

• A relationship confirmation layer

• A decision-reduction mechanism

• A trust-building signal

Scaled Activation: USAA to Schwab Platform Transition
The Activation Welcome experience was designed to scale beyond day-one onboarding and support high-stakes platform migrations. As part of the USAA-to-Schwab transition, the same activation framework was extended to guide clients moving their investment accounts to a new platform—where confidence, clarity, and trust were critical.

Impact
The Activation experience successfully supported the migration of over million+ USAA portfolio account holders to the Schwab platform.
By simplifying complex financial setup and delivering clear, timely guidance, the experience:

• Maintained activation and readiness during a critical transition period

• Reduced client confusion and servicing friction

• Strengthened trust at a moment when confidence in the platform mattered most

This demonstrated the Activation system’s ability to scale from individual onboarding to enterprise-level platform transitions while preserving clarity, usability, and client trust.

Role & Responsibilities

• I balanced hands-on design work with project leadership, delivering desktop and mobile web experiences while managing timelines and aligning cross-functional teams i.e., design system team, accessibility, legal and brand teams to guarantee that the proposed solution aligns with all relevant standards.

• I designed and led projects from concept to launch, e.g., design work sessions facilitation with cross-functional teams, creating user flows and prototypes, usability testing with the help from UXR team, and ensuring seamless implementation with development teams.

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT JET AT SCHWAB

Sr. Design Manager, Managed Jet directly at Schwab, San Francisco, CA, United States

Jet elevates each experience and team he touches. Jet and I have worked together closely on strategic digital initiatives for a financial services firm. Jet’s depth of design knowledge, his passion for research and data informed user experiences, and his unshakeable poise have been integral to our project team’s successes.

Jet is efficient at creating elegant, usable interfaces, evidenced by the positive client feedback we have received regarding our shipped projects. Jet expertly balances his own work, making time to collaborate with and mentor other designers. Behind Jet’s calm demeanor (and his penchant to listen before communicating his own perspective) lies a keen, seasoned UX/UI professional who understands the level of responsibility and commitment needed to guide a digital product through its successful launch.

Jet has made a strong, positive impact on our UX team and business partners for his exceptional commitment to quality, his perseverance, and his tireless work ethic. I highly recommend working with Jet, and I look forward to continuing to collaborate with him.

Sr. User Experience Designer, Design partner at Schwab, San Francisco, CA, United States

Before I log off for the last time, I wanted to say one more time how great it’s been working with you!
You’re incredibly thorough and action-oriented and ROAR-O is lucky to have you.
You’ve already done awesome things on BXE and I know you’ll bring the project home and continue to do great work on future ROAR projects.
Wishing you all the best at Schwab and beyond!