Advanced Web applications for financial advisors

In this case study you can read about:

• About the client
• Client’s challenges
• Our approach
• Value delivered

About the client

Our client is a leading provider of retirement income planning software. They have developed an intuitive online platform designed to assist registered investment advisors, independent financial advisors, and enterprises in managing complex financial operations related to retirement portfolio management.

The platform offers a range of web‑based tool sets that focus on the distribution phase of retirement, including asset reallocation, annuity modeling, and forms automation. Additionally, it provides the ability to model annuity and insurance products, while featuring an engaging user interface.

Client’s challenges

Our clients’ application is used by financial advisors to create a retirement portfolio for their clients. While the calculations performed by the application are more complex than those in personal finance apps, it’s crucial that the visual presentation of data is just as clear and understandable.

We take pride in our role of conducting thorough testing of the entire plan‑making process, including testing the final PDF output file from the client’s perspective. Our goal is to ensure that the application saves advisors and clients time while providing a satisfying user experience. Any crashes, interruptions, or anomalies that occur during testing are immediately identified and addressed to minimize disruption and ensure the application is stable and reliable.

Given that the application’s calculations are handled by financial experts and software developers, our team focuses on the technical and visual aspects of the application. This includes ensuring the application’s interface is user‑friendly and visually appealing, while also ensuring that it is responsive, reliable, and meets the highest technical standards. Our team plays a crucial role in ensuring that the application is not only accurate and functional but also easy to use and visually engaging for financial advisors and their clients.

Our approach

Our testing process begins with a thorough logic check and exploratory testing, including validating input fields such as client names, age, retirement plan duration, and assessing the effectiveness of tooltips, sliders, and navigation flow. Once these essential elements are in place, our team moves on to the plan‑building phase.

Accuracy and reliability are paramount when adding retirement sources or expenses, especially when it comes to adjusting parameters and ensuring they are carried through the site consistently. This is particularly critical when adding assets, given the unique behaviors of different tax statuses and account and asset types, including products, throughout the plan and calculations. Our team is vigilant in testing all aspects of assets, from allocation strategies that minimize the risk of loss, to investigating asset classes and contributions, whether employer‑sponsored or personal. We thoroughly check these elements in multiple scenarios, starting with the output file and throughout various discussions of asset allocations.

Visual aids such as graphs and tables offer a deeper understanding of the estimated outcome. To ensure that these visual elements are as effective as possible, our team carefully examines the layout on multiple browsers and devices. We understand that clients and advisors may use a range of devices to access the application, and we want to ensure that the visual elements are displayed consistently and effectively across all platforms. This attention to detail helps to ensure a seamless and user‑friendly experience for all users of the application.

Within the plan, we test different drafts in comparison, in case a client has more than one scenario and wants to analyze potential risk and choose the most suitable option. As previously mentioned, the final output of these plans is a PDF summary document that captures all processed data and calculations. To ensure the consistency and clarity of the visual presentation, we test the PDF output file on a daily basis. Our goal is to provide the user with a complete, well‑organized, and easily understandable summary document that accurately reflects the data and calculations used in the plan.

Value delivered

Our team was tasked with conducting thorough testing of a retirement portfolio application used by financial advisors to create plans for their clients. Our focus was on the technical and visual aspects of the application, ensuring that it was accurate, reliable, and user‑friendly.

We conducted thorough testing of all aspects of the plan‑making process, from validating input fields and assessing tooltips and navigation flow to ensuring the accuracy of retirement sources and expenses, assets, and visual aids such as graphs and tables. We also tested multiple drafts in comparison to help clients analyze potential risks and choose the best option. Finally, we ensured that the PDF output file was consistent, clear, and easily understandable. We have accomplished our goal of providing a seamless and satisfying user experience, saving advisors and clients time while meeting the highest technical standards.