Redesigning a complex equity compensation management platform for enterprise clients and their employees
High-stakes enterprise financial workflow redesign
2015
DesignMap
Project context
Customer problem
Employees and administrators using Charles Schwab’s Equity Award Center struggled to understand, manage, and act on their equity compensation. The experience was dense, jargon-heavy, and intimidating—creating confusion during moments with real financial consequences.
Objective
Modernize a mission-critical enterprise platform to improve usability, clarity, and trust—while maintaining the accuracy, compliance, and reliability required for regulated financial workflows.
My role
Interaction designer and design lead embedded with a consulting team, responsible for end-to-end experience redesign. I partnered closely with Schwab stakeholders to translate complex financial workflows into clear, usable experiences suitable for both enterprise administrators and individual employees.
From
A content-dense, visually dated equity experience with buried information and no clear guidance—leaving employees unsure what they had, what was vesting, and what to do next.
To
A modern, hierarchically structured equity center that surfaced accessible vs. upcoming value at a glance—providing clarity, confidence, and ongoing visibility into financial growth.
Key decisions made
Designing for confidence in high-stakes financial moments
Led experience decisions that prioritized clarity, comprehension, and error prevention for users making financially significant decisions. I focused on information hierarchy, progressive disclosure, and plain-language framing to reduce cognitive load without oversimplifying the underlying financial logic.
Outcome
Delivered an experience that helped users feel confident taking action, reducing confusion and hesitation in moments where mistakes carried real financial risk.
Balancing enterprise complexity with everyday usability
Translated complex equity compensation concepts—vesting schedules, grants, and transactions—into workflows that worked for both sophisticated administrators and individual employees. I collaborated with subject-matter experts to ensure accuracy while advocating for user-centered simplification.
Outcome
Created a shared experience foundation that supported multiple user types without fragmenting the product or duplicating workflows.
