Leading UX strategy and stakeholder alignment across a multi-phase, multi-platform brand transformation. Qtrade Direct Investing, 2021

Context

Self-directed trading platform Qtrade Investor was due for a brand overhaul - with a new name, voice, and identity. The rollout of this initiative was divided into several phases and took place over the course of two years.

Stale brand in need of reform

My Role

As the rebrand program lead for the post-sign-up experience, I proactively drove UX design and program management efforts, including daily oversight, facilitating weekly stand-ups, and managing scope, resources, and timelines. I also leveraged my deep understanding of business relationships to deliver on brand promises, think creatively, and stretch beyond my initial UX responsibilities.

UX strategy and design leadership
Program and resource management
Stakeholder alignment and facilitation

I also worked closely with key stakeholders, including the VP and SVP of Marketing, Head of Product, and a cross-functional team of designers, writers, creative services, researchers, product owner, and engineers to bring the rebrand to life.

Program Timeline: Key Milestones and Deliverables

Key Challenges

During the initial phase of the project (prior to my involvement in the post-sign-up experience), I identified the following challenges:

Team Dynamics - Ineffective working relationships between stakeholders and cross-functional team
Brand - Product UX Tension - There were difficulties in integrating the rebranded identity into the product space, leading to a compromised brand and user experience.
Scope Management - The project scope grew out of control, which led to complex coordination issues and further hindered progress.

Strategy

To ensure the program's success, I implemented the following strategies.

Re-establish trust by facilitating objective discussions
Define and enforce strict scope boundaries
Proactive communication of action plans
Align brand with user-centered design principles
Leverage rebrand to reduce UX debts and improve usability

Team Dynamics

Problem
Compromised working relationships created subjective decision-making.

My Approach

I positioned myself as the connector, creating a drama-free collaboration where trust could flourish.

Formed a core group to facilitate collaboration and decision-making
Focused on building trust through positivity and objectivity
Applied DiSC working styles to bridge communication gaps
Prioritized transparency by ensuring all issues were on the table

People dynamics played a significant role in the success of the rebranding program. As the program lead, I expanded my role to connect all parties involved in the process. The landscape was complex, with various stakeholders having differing opinions and ideas. By forming a tight-knit guild and encouraging positive communication, we were able to mitigate any drama and work collaboratively towards a shared goal.

Brand vs. UX Tension

Problem
Phase 1 implementation prioritized brand over usability, leading to negative client sentiment.

My Approach

“Let’s make the brand work for our users, not against them.”

Emphasized objectivity by utilizing metrics, research, customer voice, competitor landscape analysis, and accessibility and usability best practices
Focused on the audience profile and primary use of the platform
Used new brand elements to improve usability (UX backlog)

Usability improvement utilizing rebrand elements

During the initial phase, the brand was given a lot of importance, and it seemed like UX was ignored. As a result, meaningless color blocks and pink graphics were introduced, which were not user-friendly. However, with the help of the design team, we were able to make the brand and UX work in tandem.

To achieve this, we highlighted the purpose of the platform, audience profile, and competitor examples. We also took into account the negative feedback from clients during the initial phase. As a result, we were able to minimize black and pink colors and introduce a different accent color. This helped to improve the user experience and mitigate the negative brand sentiment.

Scope Management

Problem
The rebranding program involved updating the brand identity, product name, public site, onboarding process, client site, mobile website, mobile apps, client communications, forms and documents, and cobranding for partner institutions. The project was made even more complex by the ongoing BAU enhancements.

Approach

Rather than reacting to scope creep, I implemented proactive boundaries. This involved:

Clear Definition of Scope - I secured the cross-functional agreement upfront on what's in, what's out - and documented them
Transparent Communication - I facilitated regular check-ins with all stakeholders and also communicated the intricacies of the design effort to the head of the business.
Risk Visualization - I made the potential impacts visible before they occur, ensuring that low-touch platform elements won’t absorb too much cross-functional efforts and create future maintenance overhead i.e. the MobileWeb and cobranding components.

Clear outlines of “what’s in / what’s out”

Opportunity Recognition

Challenge: Resource constraints across multiple platforms

Strategic Insight: MobileWeb data showed limited value

Only 24% of clients used it
47% switched to the desktop site

To support my recommendation, I presented accompanying data, revealing that only 24% of clients landed on the MobileWeb, and 47% of those had transitioned to the desktop site, indicating that MobileWeb was not meeting their needs.

Bold Recommendation: Platform decommissioning with managed transition.

Proposed decommissioning of the legacy platform to reduce resource drain
Highlighted data supporting change and future benefits
Created a client communication strategy for the transition

After receiving buy-in from stakeholders, I proposed a wind-down journey that included notifying clients of their options and providing alternatives. This phased approach was carefully curated to ensure a smooth transition for the clients.

Result

After nearly 2 years of hard work, the team successfully launched the newly branded web/mobile platforms in a timely and cost-effective manner.

"We delivered more than a rebrand – we created a foundation for future innovation."

Some of the wins include:

Redesigned platforms were rolled out on time and within budget.
Client complaints dropped significantly
Improved user experience, with enhancements in accessibility, usability, and consistency across the platforms
Strengthened stakeholder trust and collaboration
Proactively resolved UX debt

Before and after:

Leadership Takeaways

Lead through alignment, not authority
Balance business, brand, and user needs strategic clarity
Bridge gaps between business goals and user needs
Turn subjectivity into data-driven decisions
Identify opportunities where others see constraints
And most of all: "Every design challenge is fundamentally a people challenge.”

Product Rebranding