Project Overview
At RBC Wealth Management, advisors manage the investments and estates of high-net-worth clients. When a client passes away, advisors are responsible for collecting Letters of Authorization (LOAs) from beneficiaries so the estate can be settled. Today, this happens across multiple disconnected systems, and the manual hand-offs introduce errors.
My team's goal was to bring this flow into COB (Client Onboarding) and turn the LOA process into a guided, templated digital experience that reduces touchpoints, removes manual rework, and gives beneficiaries a one-click way to consent.
Impact
What was not working?
The current estate settlement process is inefficient for advisors - too many touchpoints and no standardized workflow force them into manual work
Solution
Bringing the estate-settlement LOA flow into a unified system within the COB team, replacing manual, paper-based hand-offs with a guided digital experience.
Within COB, advisors can enter the date of death directly and extract the required documents to initiate the estate process per account. Standardized LOA templates are generated and sent to beneficiaries reducing the risk of rejection and multiple LOAs can be sent at once through the e-sign package in COB, eliminating manual work. On the beneficiary side, signers receive a single-click signing experience through the client dashboard.
Design Iterations
After identifying the current pain points, we mapped out the requirements for each screen and began design iteration. The process focused on 2 key experiences: LOA Sending Flow for Advisors and LOA Signing Flow for Beneficiaries
Design Decision 1 - LOA Sending Flow for Advisors
For the advisor's LOA-sending flow, we prototyped two versions: account-first (select the deceased client's account, then add beneficiaries) and beneficiary-first (start with the beneficiary list, then attach accounts). To check which option better fit advisors' mental model, I gathered feedback from former associate advisors and aligned the flow accordingly.
Another design consideration was making sure advisors see the final templated version of the LOA that the client will sign, so they know their clients will get a consistent experience. We also integrated an e-sign package so advisors can send the LOA to multiple beneficiaries at once.
Design Decision 2 - LOA Signing Flow for Beneficiaries
For the beneficiary signing flow, I designed the experience with two priorities in mind: letting users see only the information they need to sign, and showcasing the RBC brand to establish trust.
I made it possible for beneficiaries to reach out to the advisor team at any point during the signing process by placing the team's contact info on the left side. I also leveraged the existing COB header and RBC brand assets to give the page a familiar, trustworthy feel. In addition, I streamlined the information shown to beneficiaries so they see a summarized version for signing the LOA, and I built it as a template. Lastly, I designed this client-facing dashboard with future scale in mind, so additional elements can be added as the product grows.
Final designs
LOA Sending Flow for Advisors
Advisors can now select the account and beneficiaries and send out multiple LOAs in a single flow, removing the manual work that used to slow them down. This frees them up to focus on higher-value client work instead of paperwork.
LOA Signing Flow for Beneficiaries
Key takeaways
What I learned from this project
I learned how to ask the right questions before designing, identifying gaps in the user flow and clarifying decisions needed to move forward. This ensured I had the requirements to design effectively.
Without a researcher on the team, user testing wasn't feasible. Instead, I gathered insights through brief interviews with team members who had worked as associates, and used their input to guide my design decisions. This taught me how to make user-centered choices even when ideal resources weren't available.
I joined this project after it had already started, which pushed me to quickly get up to speed on existing context prior design decisions, ongoing flows, and the team's working style. I learned how to adapt to the team's workflow and contribute meaningfully in a short time.
Next steps
1. Developer reviews to align on technical feasibility and prepare for a smooth handoff to engineering.
2. Design iteration based on feedback from the team and developer reviews — refining the flows and resolving any issues before final handoff.
3. Measuring impact after rollout by tracking metrics like LOA rejection rate, time to complete the signing process, and user satisfaction from advisors and beneficiaries to evaluate the design's success and guide future improvements.
