CFA UK wanted to address a decline in member engagement and improve user interaction tracking across four platforms, post-COVID.
Client
CFA Society UK
Project Type
UX Strategy Report
role
Lead UX Strategist
Agency
Thin Martian
This was achieved through a comprehensive UX audit of their Website, e-Commerce platform, Community Portal, and Learning Center.
Heuristic Analysis and Research
My initial steps involved conducting an in-depth data analysis. It became apparent at the outset that the task of consistently tracking users across all platforms presented significant challenges. However, this analysis did allow us to identify several critical areas of concern.
- Low user engagement was apparent with a significant idle-to-active user gap, suggesting that most members seldom accessed the site, including the external Community Portal and Learning Centre.
- Lack of effective communication of it's value to its user base. This communication gap posed a barrier to member engagement and hindered CFA UK's ability to demonstrate how it could enrich the professional lives of its members.
- A complex technology stack with legacy systems being phased out and no unified sign-on led to fragmented data, manual reporting, and system overlaps, causing significant confusion.
- Under performing platforms plagued with obsolete code, traffic competition and slow page speeds.
Stakeholder Workshops
I engaged with CFA UK stakeholders to clarify their business goals, digital objectives, and platform issues, aiming to bridge the gap between team frustrations and member needs. Through departmental workshops, I gained insights across different levels of the organization.
It was clear that the website hindered their mission of leading the UK Investment Community and enhancing member careers. The team desired a more enabling digital platform to engage members effectively while relieving them of routine tasks.
User Interviews
I collected valuable insights into CFA UK’s challenges but believed it crucial to speak with those directly impacted by the current offering. I conducted user interviews via video calls, designing questions to facilitate candid, unbiased feedback through conversational engagement. Our user categories, spanning from prospective graduates to seasoned mentors, allowed us to tailor questions to each user type for more relevant and insightful responses.
In general, members appreciated what CFA UK stands for, but many felt that their digital offering “covered the basics” and didn’t feel “modern”.
I spent the first 10 years of my membership totally inactive and I was I was really paying so that they let CFA to go after my name.
I think if it was all in one place as opposed to three different platforms, it would be pretty helpful.
The networks I’ve made and the topics of discussion get transferred onto LinkedIn because it’s taking place there, but better.
If I had to describe [Learning Portal], I’d say its like a ‘school portal’. Feels like there’s homework to do.
Exploring the tech infrastructure
The website data revealed many interesting insights. Firstly, it is evident that the website has some critical issues that need to be resolved. I sat down with their IT Department and mapped out the full system from larger tech to small “plugins”. This spider web of dead ends and broken connections really hammered home how much work was needed.
Although this aspect wouldn’t necessarily be part of my role, I jumped at the chance to be more hands-on with reviewing their current infrastructure and developing a phased improvement plan.
The Results
The Audit and Strategy report consisted of a detailed explanation of our research and analysis, covering workshops with Stakeholders, User Interviews, SEO insights, and Heueristic UX Analysis.
Once all evidence was presented, I introduced our Vision of Centralisation, Personalisation, Productisation, User Experience and Business Insights.
- Centralisation of the experience and platforms was the key that unlocked all the objectives that CFA UK had for their digital presence.
- Personalisation of CFA UK's digital ecosystem would enable tailored experiences that keep members engaged on the platform. Giving them the feeling that they are being listened to, supported and understood
- Having a clear productised offering by combining the multiple member and candidate offerings into an intuitive portal will leverage maximum value for users membership.
In this project, my commitment extended beyond the scope. I created a “what if” website and portal, not only to address existing issues but to stimulate CFA UK’s imagination and encourage them to think innovatively and ambitiously.
This forward-thinking approach aimed to inspire the team by presenting a vision of what their digital presence could become, fostering excitement about the possibilities for enhancing user engagement and streamlining operations. Through this imaginative exercise, we sought to ignite the spark of innovation, encouraging CFA UK to embrace bold, transformative ideas for their digital platforms.