Educate essential principles on retirement health with greater financial certainty and empowerment.
Our organization’s ask:
Financial decisions shape a lifetime. We needed to solve how uncertainty impacts decisions that defines how people approach their financial goals.
Our market research
of Americans only believe retiring between 65 and 70 is realistic (Source)
37%
lack confidence they can cover everyday expenses in retirement. (Source)
30%
of total U.S. adults can answer basic financial literacy questions, with lower financial fluency strongly correlated to lower confidence and delayed action. (Source)
49%
of retirees would advise their younger selves to save earlier.
70%
of retirees said their expenses in retirement are higher than expected.
51%
Our organization’s epiphany:
“We believe the real barrier to financial action isn’t knowledge, but confidence—and confidence is built through clarity and credibility at the moment of decision.
We grounded our approach to a simple insight: confidence grows from clarity and credibility working together.”
The challenge:
Scalable topics across life events, bespoke to omni-channel experiences in CRM and web, driving traffic to multiple hubs, including our mobile app.
The Ask
These issues are not caused by a lack of financial information. Financial advice is everywhere. But much of it is fragmented, unverified, or optimized for attention rather than accountability. In a category where the consequences of getting it wrong are real and long-lasting, uncertainty leads people to pause—and pause leads to inaction.
Our objective was to change that dynamic.
My team worked with the business to help people build financial confidence at moments that matter most by making guidance feel clear, credible, and actionable. Success would require more than awareness or engagement; it would require people to actually move forward with financial decisions they had been delaying. Specifically, we aimed to:
Increase confidence and engagement by translating complex financial topics into clear, human language people would spend time with
Establish credibility and trust in a crowded advice landscape by grounding education in TIAA’s deep institutional expertise
Drive measurable financial behaviors that improve long-term readiness, including saving, investing, planning, and advice engagement
The impact
The objective was to change those dynamic.
My team set out to help people build financial confidence at moments that matter most by making guidance feel clear, credible, and actionable. Success would require more than awareness or engagement; it would require people to actually move forward with financial decisions they had been delaying. Specifically, we aimed to:
Increase confidence and engagement by translating complex financial topics into clear, human language people would spend time with
Establish credibility and trust in a crowded advice landscape by grounding education in TIAA’s deep institutional expertise
Drive measurable financial behaviors that improve long-term readiness, including saving, investing, planning, and advice engagement
KPI challenges
Strategic content and design KPIs to prioritize and solve
Anxiety: Financial uncertainty is becoming the norm.
Awareness: Despite unprecedented access to content, many Americans feel less prepared than ever. Social platforms are crowded with financial influencers offering quick tips and bold promises, yet trust remains fragile. People may scroll, save, or watch—but hesitation persists when it comes time to act.
Hesitation: That hesitation carries real consequences. Delayed decisions compound over time, widening gaps in saving, investing, and retirement readiness. In a category where mistakes feel costly, people need guidance they can rely on—not just advice that performs well in a feed.
We believe the real barrier to financial action isn’t knowledge, but confidence. Confidence is built through clarity and credibility at the moment of decision.
Experience solution focus
We grounded our approach in a simple insight: confidence grows from clarity and credibility working together.
Strategic UX design to prioritize and solve:
Build multiple “life goals or changes” chapters that expand off the main experience
Build dynamic experiences and adaptive components that allow skimming
With a long-scroll experience, pinned a hyperlinked chapter jump widget that allowed users to both understand the narrative highlights while also moving freely at their own pace and according to their financial expertise - or readiness.
Provided interactive step-by-step guidance in widgets and card stacks.
Continuously collaborate with content on evaluating jargon and sequencing the storytelling with content architectures on what is critical (persistent) versus optional (collapsed).
Approach
Life Essentials by TIAA came to life through a cohesive set of digital experiences spanning owned platforms, social channels, video, and email.
Content was modular by design, allowing it to scale across channels and audiences while remaining consistent, credible, and easy to navigate.
Cross-functional program included:
Educational content across saving, budgeting, investing, income protection, and retirement readiness
Short-form videos, articles, webinars, guides, and interactive tools
Visual systems from our (Ethos) design system for CoE consistency and human-centered storytelling that made complex concepts easier to understand
Clear, consistent pathways that connected education to advice, tools, and actionable steps
Content that is modular by design, allowing it to scale across channels and audiences while remaining consistent, credible, and easy to navigate.
Tasks over a two-month deployment:
Stakeholder Interviews
Assess core factors of our field research
Evaluate current metrics against Persona Research
Plan site strategy with content strategy
Creative UX exploration
Quantitative Research content and UX testing
Update messaging with stakeholder alignment
Finalize creative architecture
Finalize Figma systems components and content
Complete content legal compliance reviews
Visual Design Delivery to Development
Development Delivery and analytics monitoring
Delivered
Life Essentials reimagined financial education as a living content ecosystem rather than a static resource center.
Our Innovative approach was applied in blending purpose with performance.
Discovery: Essentials was built for discoverability from day one, using search intent, modular design, and omni-channel distribution so people could find answers when they needed them.
Context: It translated complex financial topics into relatable language and everyday scenarios, helping reduce intimidation and build confidence.
Inclusive: Importantly, Essentials-centered inclusion. Diverse imagery, an accessible tone, and life-stage relevance signaled that financial security is for everyone, not just the affluent or near-retirees.
Journaled Moments: It also reframed financial learning as a journey, using micro-learning and repeat engagement to build lasting habits.
In a financial industry that is often defined by complexity, Essentials proved financial education can be approachable, inclusive, and behavior-driving. It did more than inform, it empowered people to take action and move closer to financial security.
“Instead of pushing products or jargon, it met people in real-life moments with guidance that felt human, timely, and actionable.”
- TIAA Marketing Officer
Structured, dynamic messaging via explorative interactions
Content strategy and narrative architecture
Our strategy was to create an always-on, digital-first education system grounded in TIAA’s institutional expertise and designed around how people actually learn today—quickly, visually, and in context. Across every touchpoint, guidance had to be easy to understand, immediately useful, and directly connected to what someone could do next.
This meant designing every touchpoint to answer one question clearly, reduce intimidation, and then point to a concrete action.
In an attention economy dominated by unverified financial advice, Essentials by TIAA repositioned trust itself as the innovation. It delivered guidance people could rely on when the stakes matter most.
Financial confident in essential moments
Annual Shorty AwardsTIAA - Transforming How People Everywhere Achieve Financial Security
Finalist in Financial Services
Bronze Honor in Website/App
Measured business results in three areas
Omnichannel metrics
Business performance
Improved our business with investor long-term readiness, including saving, investing, planning, and advice engagement
Retirement contribution actions increased 105%
Investment reallocations and rebalancing rose 140%
Beneficiary updates increased 13%—evidence that participants applied what they learned to make meaningful financial decisions
Essentials by TIAA delivered against its objectives by turning credible guidance into confidence—and confidence into measurable financial action.
Life Essentials by TIAA proved with measured results that when financial education is designed with educational confidence, people act.
6 month performance
Current live site
