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CIBC Smart Account for Newcomers

Case Study: Helping newcomers confidently start their financial journey in Canada

Moving to a new country comes with countless decisions, and opening a bank account is often one of the first and most important. CIBC Smart Account for Newcomers was designed to help permanent residents and foreign workers establish their financial footing in Canada with a banking experience tailored to their unique needs. As the Content Designer on this initiative, I was responsible for creating content that simplified complex banking information, built trust with a diverse audience, and helped newcomers understand the value of the account and related financial services.

The Challenge

For newcomers, navigating Canada's banking system can be overwhelming. Many users arrive with limited knowledge of Canadian banking products, unfamiliar terminology, and varying levels of financial literacy. They often need answers to practical questions:

• How do I open a bank account?
• What documents do I need?
• Will I pay monthly fees?
• How do I send money internationally?
• How do I start building credit in Canada?

At the same time, the business needed to communicate account features, promotional offers, partner benefits, and regulatory information without creating cognitive overload. The challenge was to design content that balanced simplicity, trust, compliance, and conversion.

My Role — Content Designer

Responsibilities:

• Content strategy
• UX writing
• Information architecture
• Content hierarchy and prioritization
• Plain-language writing
• Accessibility reviews
• Stakeholder collaboration with product, design, legal, compliance, and marketing teams

Understanding User Needs

I began by identifying the primary goals and concerns newcomers bring to the banking journey. Users weren't just searching for a chequing account — they were trying to establish a new life in Canada. This insight influenced the content strategy. Instead of leading with banking terminology and account features, the experience focused on helping users understand how the account could support key life moments, including:

• Receiving paycheques
• Paying bills
• Sending money internationally
• Building credit history
• Managing day-to-day finances
• Accessing digital banking tools

By framing the content around user goals rather than product features, the experience became more relevant and approachable.

Content Strategy

Leading with reassurance: Research and stakeholder insights highlighted a common challenge: newcomers often feel uncertain when interacting with financial institutions in a new country. To build confidence, I developed messaging that emphasized simplicity, accessibility, everyday usefulness, and financial empowerment. The content positioned the account as a practical starting point rather than a complex banking product.

Simplifying complex financial information: The page needed to communicate multiple benefits, including fee waivers, unlimited transactions, international money transfers, digital banking tools, credit-building opportunities, and tiered account benefits. To reduce cognitive load, I replaced banking jargon with plain language, prioritized benefits over technical features, created scannable content blocks, used task-oriented headings, and applied progressive disclosure to supporting information and disclosures.

Creating a scalable information architecture: The experience needed to support multiple user journeys, including new arrivals opening their first Canadian bank account, users seeking credit-building options, customers interested in international money transfers, and users exploring newcomer-specific offers and partnerships.

Accessibility and Inclusion

Because the audience included users with diverse cultural, linguistic, and financial backgrounds, accessibility was a critical component of the content strategy. I focused on plain-language writing, short scannable sections, descriptive headings, consistent terminology, clear calls to action, and eliminating financial jargon.

Collaboration

The project required close collaboration across multiple disciplines. I partnered with product managers, UX designers, legal and compliance teams, marketing stakeholders, and banking subject-matter experts. Together, we balanced customer needs, business objectives, regulatory requirements, and brand standards to create a cohesive experience.

Outcomes

The final experience transformed a complex banking offer into a guided onboarding journey for newcomers. Key outcomes included:

• Clearer communication of account benefits
• Improved content discoverability through stronger information architecture
• Reduced complexity through plain-language content design
• Better alignment between newcomer needs and business objectives
• A scalable content framework that supported future offers, promotions, and partner integrations

Most importantly, the experience helped newcomers understand not just what the account offered, but how it could support their transition to life in Canada.

Key Skills Demonstrated

• Content Design
• UX Writing
• Content Strategy
• Information Architecture
• Plain Language Writing
• Accessibility
• Customer Journey Mapping
• Financial Services Content
• Stakeholder Management
• Cross-Functional Collaboration
• Conversion-Focused Content Design

CIBC Account for Seniors

Case Study: Simplifying banking decisions for older Canadians

CIBC wanted to make it easier for Canadians aged 65 and older to understand their banking options and identify the accounts, benefits, and services most relevant to their needs. The challenge was to create a digital experience that balanced product information, eligibility requirements, and promotional offers while remaining accessible, clear, and easy to navigate for an older audience. As the Content Designer on this initiative, I was responsible for developing content that helped seniors confidently compare banking options, understand account benefits, and complete key decision-making tasks online.

The Challenge

Banking content is inherently complex. Product features, fees, eligibility requirements, and regulatory disclosures can quickly overwhelm users. For seniors, the challenge is often greater. Many users are comparing accounts for the first time in years, evaluating new digital banking services, or seeking reassurance that they are selecting the right option for their financial needs. The experience needed to:

• Clearly communicate the value of senior banking offers
• Reduce cognitive load when comparing products
• Help users understand eligibility requirements
• Support accessibility and readability best practices
• Maintain compliance with financial services regulations
• Encourage progression toward account selection and application

My Role — Content Designer

Responsibilities included: content strategy, information architecture, UX writing, content hierarchy and prioritization, cross-functional collaboration with design, product, legal, compliance, and marketing teams, and content quality reviews and governance.

Understanding User Needs

I worked with research findings, business requirements, and product stakeholders to identify the primary questions users needed answered:

• What banking options are available to me?
• Am I eligible for these benefits?
• Which account best fits my needs?
• What fees will I pay?
• What additional benefits come with the account?

These questions became the foundation of the content structure.

Approach

Creating a clear content hierarchy: Financial institutions often present users with large volumes of information, which can be overwhelming for older people. To improve scannability, I structured content using progressive disclosure principles. Key information such as eligibility, account fees, transaction limits, and senior-specific benefits was surfaced early, while supporting details were placed lower in the experience.

Simplifying financial language: A major focus was reducing banking jargon and replacing complex terminology with plain language wherever possible. I collaborated with legal and compliance stakeholders to ensure content remained accurate while being easier for customers to understand. This included reframing product features as customer benefits, using task-oriented headings, breaking dense information into shorter scannable sections, and improving clarity around fees, transactions, and account eligibility.

Designing for confidence: Research consistently shows that users need reassurance when making financial decisions. To support confidence and trust, I introduced content patterns that anticipated common questions, reduced ambiguity around account features, highlighted key benefits and savings opportunities, and reinforced next steps throughout the journey.

Outcomes

The final experience delivered:

• A clearer pathway for seniors evaluating banking options
• Improved content discoverability through better information architecture
• Reduced complexity through plain-language content design
• Greater consistency across product and support content
• An accessible experience aligned with CIBC's digital banking standards and customer experience goals

The work helped transform a complex banking journey into an experience that was easier to understand, easier to navigate, and more supportive of customer decision-making.

Key Skills Demonstrated

• Content Design
• UX Writing
• Content Strategy
• Information Architecture
• Accessibility
• User-Centred Design
• Financial Services Content
• Stakeholder Management
• Plain Language Writing
• Cross-Functional Collaboration

CIBC Smart Start

Case Study: Designing a banking experience that grows with young Canadians

Opening a first bank account is a significant milestone. For many young Canadians, it is also their first experience making financial decisions independently. CIBC Smart Start was designed to support youth and young adults by providing fee-free everyday banking, unlimited transactions, and access to digital banking tools for clients aged 25 and younger. The challenge was creating a digital experience that clearly communicated account benefits while helping younger users confidently understand and choose the right banking solution. As the Content Designer on this project, I was responsible for shaping the content strategy, information architecture, and UX writing for the experience.

The Challenge

Banking products are often written from a product perspective rather than a customer perspective. Research showed that younger customers were less interested in banking terminology and more interested in understanding:

• Is this account right for me?
• What does it cost?
• What can I do with it?
• How do I get started?

The experience needed to simplify complex banking information, clearly explain eligibility requirements, highlight key benefits without overwhelming users, build trust with first-time banking customers, support digital account opening and onboarding, and align with CIBC's compliance and accessibility standards.

My Role — Content Designer

Responsibilities: content strategy, UX writing, information architecture, content hierarchy, plain-language writing, accessibility reviews, and stakeholder collaboration with product, design, legal, compliance, and marketing teams.

Approach

Starting with user questions: Rather than organizing content around banking products, I structured the experience around the questions users were most likely to ask. Instead of presenting account features first, the experience surfaced benefits such as fee-free banking, unlimited transactions, and digital access in language that was easy to understand.

Reducing cognitive load: Young customers are often unfamiliar with banking terminology and financial products. To improve comprehension, I replaced jargon with plain language, used concise action-oriented headings, prioritized benefits over technical features, broke complex information into scannable sections, and applied progressive disclosure principles to reduce information overload.

Creating a clear content hierarchy: One of the key content challenges was balancing promotional messaging with essential product information. I developed a hierarchy that prioritized: 1. Eligibility, 2. Key benefits, 3. Everyday banking features, 4. Account details, 5. Supporting information and disclosures.

Writing for confidence: Financial decisions can create uncertainty, especially for younger audiences opening their first account. The content was designed to build confidence by using reassuring conversational language, clearly explaining account benefits, anticipating common questions, creating straightforward calls to action, and reducing ambiguity around fees and account usage. The goal was to help users feel informed rather than sold to.

Outcomes

The final experience delivered a clear and user-friendly introduction to everyday banking for younger customers. Key improvements included:

• Simplified product communication
• Improved content discoverability
• Stronger alignment between user goals and business objectives
• Reduced complexity through plain-language content design
• A scalable content framework that supported future updates and promotions

Key Skills Demonstrated

• Content Design
• UX Writing
• Content Strategy
• Information Architecture
• Financial Services Content
• Plain Language Writing
• Accessibility
• Customer Journey Design
• Stakeholder Management
• Cross-Functional Collaboration

RBC GICs

Case Study: Designing clarity and confidence in low-risk investing

At Royal Bank of Canada, the GIC experience needed to serve a broad range of users from first-time investors to experienced savers, while clearly explaining product types, terms, interest structures, and eligibility across multiple account types. As the Content Designer for this experience, I led the content strategy and UX writing for the GIC product page and the end-to-end process in the authenticated space, focusing on simplifying financial complexity, improving comprehension, and supporting confident decision-making.

The Challenge

GICs are conceptually simple but information-heavy in practice. Users needed to understand:

• What a GIC is and how it works
• How interest is earned and paid
• Differences between GIC types (fixed, variable, market-linked)
• Term lengths, liquidity restrictions, and risk levels
• How CDIC protection applies
• Which option best fits their savings goals

The challenge was to create a digital experience that simplified complex financial concepts without losing accuracy, supported quick scanning and comparison, built trust in a low-risk investment product, reduced cognitive load in decision-making, and balanced marketing, education, and compliance requirements.

My Role - Content Designer

Responsibilities included: content strategy and structuring, UX writing and plain-language rewriting, information architecture and content hierarchy, collaboration with product, legal, compliance, and design teams, accessibility and readability optimization, and content governance and consistency across investment pages.

Research and Insights

1. Users want reassurance before details. Most users first ask: "Is my money safe?" before engaging with product features.

2. Complexity creates hesitation. Terms like "market-linked," "interest escalation," and "redemption restrictions" often created confusion or delay in decision-making.

3. Comparison is a key behaviour. Users frequently compare GIC types and terms before committing, especially around flexibility vs. return.

These insights shaped a content strategy focused on clarity, hierarchy, and progressive disclosure.

Content Strategy

1. Led with safety and simplicity: The page was structured to immediately establish principal protection, guaranteed returns (depending on product type), and the low-risk nature of GICs. This built trust before introducing complexity.

2. Organize content by user decision-making needs: Instead of structuring content by product taxonomy alone, I organized it around how users evaluate GICs: What it is (definition and purpose), Why it matters (benefits and security), How it works (interest, terms, payout options), and Which type to choose (product family breakdown). This aligned content with real user decision paths.

3. Simplify financial language: I reduced cognitive load by rewriting banking jargon into plain language, converting feature-heavy descriptions into benefit-led statements, using short sections and scannable formatting, and standardizing terminology across investment content. Example: From "interest rate-linked returns based on Prime rate fluctuations" to "a variable rate that changes when the Prime rate changes."

4. Improve comparison clarity: Because users often compare GIC types, I introduced clearer separation between Guaranteed-return GICs, Interest rate-linked GICs, and Equity-linked GICs. Each section was structured consistently to support easy scanning and mental comparison.

5. Balance compliance with usability: I collaborated closely with compliance teams to ensure required disclosures remained intact, risk language was accurate and visible, simplification did not remove critical meaning, and tone remained consistent across regulated content.

Outcomes

The redesigned GIC content experience helped:

• Improve clarity of complex investment concepts
• Enable faster user comprehension of product differences
• Support more confident self-directed decision-making
• Strengthen consistency across RBC investment content
• Reduce friction in early-stage consideration journeys

By reframing GICs through a user-first lens, the experience shifted from a dense product explanation to a guided educational decision tool.

Key Skills Demonstrated

• Content Design
• UX Writing
• Information Architecture
• Financial Services Content Strategy
• Plain Language Writing
• Accessibility
• Cross-functional Collaboration
• Compliance-Aware Content Design
• Decision Journey Mapping

Royal Business OperatingLine (RBOL)

Designing clarity, control, and confidence in business cash flow management

The Royal Business OperatingLine of Credit is a core financing product designed to help Canadian businesses manage day-to-day cash flow, cover operating gaps, and access flexible working capital as needed. The digital experience needed to communicate a complex revolving credit product in a way that was simple, intuitive, and trustworthy for small to mid-sized business owners, many of whom are time-poor and financially risk-sensitive. As the Content Designer for this experience, I led the content strategy and UX writing to make a highly technical financial product easier to understand, easier to access, and easier to act on.

The Challenge

Business lines of credit are inherently complex financial instruments. Users needed to understand:

• How the operating line works in real time
• How funds move between accounts automatically
• Differences between one-way and two-way revolving options
• How interest is calculated and when it applies
• How the credit line supports cash flow gaps
• What access channels are available (online, mobile, ATM, branch)

However, the existing content risked overwhelming users with dense financial terminology, operational banking language (e.g., "revolving funds arrangement"), long compliance disclosures embedded within key messages, and unclear mental models of how money moves between accounts. The challenge was to translate a highly technical banking product into a clear, user-centered experience that supported confident decision-making.

My Role - Content Designer

Responsibilities included: content strategy and information architecture, UX writing and plain-language rewriting, structuring complex financial flows into understandable narratives, collaboration with product, legal, compliance, and UX teams, ensuring regulatory accuracy while improving usability, and accessibility and readability optimization.

User Insights

1. Cash flow clarity over product detail. Business owners primarily want to know: "Will this help me cover short-term cash gaps?"

2. Fear of complexity. Users often perceive credit products as risky or difficult to control, especially when automation is involved.

3. Need for control and transparency. Users want confidence in how money moves between accounts and when borrowing occurs.

These insights shaped a strategy focused on clarity, transparency, and reduced cognitive load.

Content Strategy

1. Lead with business value, not financial mechanics: The content prioritizes real-world use cases: covering cash flow gaps, supporting business growth, and managing operating expenses. This ensures users immediately understand relevance before encountering technical detail.

2. Simplify how the product works: To improve clarity, I broke system behaviour into simple cause-and-effect explanations, replaced banking jargon with plain-language descriptions, explained automation in user-centred terms, and used step-based structure to explain how money moves between accounts.

3. Structure content around user mental models: Instead of organizing content purely by product features, I structured it around how users think: What it is for, How it works, How to access funds, Key benefits and flexibility, and Important details. This reduced cognitive friction and improved scanning.

4. Make automation feel transparent, not opaque: Automated transfers can feel risky if not clearly explained. I focused on explaining triggers for fund movement, clarifying direction of transfers, reinforcing user control and predictability, and avoiding overly technical terms like "revolving funds arrangement" in primary messaging.

5. Balance compliance with usability: I collaborated closely with legal and compliance teams to preserve required financial definitions, simplify language without altering meaning, ensure disclosures were accurate and appropriately placed, and maintain consistency across business lending products.

Outcomes

The redesigned content experience improved:

• Clarity of how the operating line functions in real business scenarios
• Understanding of automated fund transfers and repayment behavior
• Confidence in using revolving credit as a cash flow tool
• Navigation across complex product details
• Alignment between business value messaging and financial mechanics

Overall, the experience helped transform a complex lending product into a clearer, more transparent financial tool for business owners.

Key Skills Demonstrated

• Content Design
• UX Writing
• Information Architecture
• Financial Services Content Strategy
• Plain Language Writing
• Systems Thinking
• Compliance-Aware Content Design
• User Journey Mapping
• Accessibility
• Cross-functional Collaboration

RBC Mortgage Renewals

Case Study: Simplifying Mortgage Renewal Decision-Making for RBC Clients

Mortgage renewal is one of the most important financial decision moments for homeowners, yet it is often experienced as confusing, high-stakes, and fragmented across channels. This project focused on redesigning and refining the content for RBC Royal Bank's "Renewing your mortgage" experience to help customers confidently understand what renewal means, what choices they have, and how to take action, whether online, through mobile banking, or with an advisor. The primary content challenge was not a lack of information, but too much complexity, inconsistency, and anxiety-inducing ambiguity across mortgage education, renewal steps, and decision support.

The Challenge

1. High anxiety and low confidence: Customers approaching renewal often felt unsure what "renewal" actually changes, concerned about rising interest rates, and confused about whether they needed to reapply or requalify.

2. Fragmented information: Content was previously spread across renewal instructions, educational mortgage explanations, rate and product information, and advisor and support pathways. This forced users to "self-assemble" answers across multiple pages.

3. Decision paralysis: Users struggled to compare fixed vs variable considerations at renewal, early renewal vs waiting to maturity, and online vs advisor-assisted renewal paths. The content lacked a clear hierarchy of "what matters most right now."

Goals

The content design goals were:

• Reduce cognitive load during a high-stress financial moment
• Clarify what renewal is (and is not) in simple language
• Make next steps obvious and actionable
• Support multiple user paths (DIY digital vs advisor-assisted)
• Reinforce trust through transparency and plain language

Content Design Approach

1. Structuring content around user intent, not bank systems: Instead of organizing content by internal banking processes, the page was redesigned around user questions: "What happens when I renew?", "Do I need to requalify?", "How do I renew online?", "What are my options if my payment increases?", "How early can I renew?" This shift helped reduce cognitive friction by aligning with real user mental models.

2. Layered information architecture: Layer 1 (Core explanation): What mortgage renewal is, why it happens, what changes at renewal. Layer 2 (Decision support): Fixed vs variable renewal implications, early renewal considerations, payment impact explanation. Layer 3 (Task completion): Step-by-step renewal instructions (online and mobile), advisor contact options, tools and calculators. This allowed users to either skim for action or go deeper for understanding.

3. Plain language and emotional clarity: I rewrote the initial mortgage renewals language to reduce intimidation. Before: "You will need to select a new term, interest type, and rate product at maturity." After: "At renewal, you choose a new term and interest rate for your mortgage." I also explicitly addressed anxiety triggers: confirming users do not need to reapply or requalify, explaining why payments may change, and normalizing uncertainty around rates.

4. Designing for multiple decision paths: Instead of forcing a single best path, the content supports self-serve users (complete renewal online or in app), guided users (explore calculators and recommendations), and high-uncertainty users (connect with an advisor). Each path is presented equally, reducing perceived bias toward digital-only completion.

5. Embedding reassurance within tasks: Key reassurance moments were intentionally embedded near decision points: before renewal steps: "No reapplication required"; before rate explanation: "Your rate depends on current market conditions"; before affordability concerns: "Options exist if payments increase." This reduces drop-off caused by fear or uncertainty.

Key Content Decisions

Decision 1: Prioritizing "what changes" over technical definitions. We reduced mortgage terminology depth in favor of practical implications: payment impact, rate change expectations, and term selection implications.

Decision 2: Combining education and action in one page. Rather than separating "learn" vs "do," the page integrates explanations directly above interactive tools and FAQs next to renewal actions.

Decision 3: Making advisor support feel accessible, not escalated. Advisor contact is framed as a normal option, not a "last resort," and as part of the decision process, not failure to self-serve.

Outcomes

While exact metrics vary by release cycle, expected outcomes of this content approach include:

• Reduced drop-off on renewal entry pages
• Increased self-serve completion via online/mobile tools
• Fewer support calls related to basic renewal questions
• Higher user confidence in selecting renewal terms
• Improved clarity in "do I need to requalify?" comprehension

Learnings

1. Renewal is not a transactional moment, it is a decision moment. Users are not just executing a task; they are actively evaluating risk, affordability, and timing.

2. Clarity beats completeness. Users do not need every mortgage detail, they need the right detail at the right time.

3. Anxiety is a content problem, not just a financial one. Much of renewal friction comes from uncertainty, not complexity alone.

4. Multiple pathways reduce abandonment. Supporting both self-serve and advisor-assisted journeys increases trust and completion.

Conclusion

This content redesign reframed mortgage renewal from a procedural banking task into a guided decision experience. By prioritizing clarity, reassurance, and task-oriented structure, the page helps customers move from uncertainty to confident action, on their own terms.

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