The Globe and Mail

The Globe and Mail

The Globe and Mail

From Onboarding to Marketplace: Building The Globe’s Advisor Ecosystem

From Onboarding to Marketplace: Building The Globe’s Advisor Ecosystem

Transforming complex workflows into intuitive, scalable digital experiences.

The Task: Supporting a data migration strategy by finding a new platform to host customer data for financial advisors building workflows, onboarding forms and dashboards that support a new customer facing experience.

The Task: To support a data migration project

The Client: The Globe and Mail

My Role: Product Designer

Skills involved: user research, product design, service mapping, systems design, automation mapping, interaction design, prototyping, wireframing.

Tools: Figma, Miro

Timeline: 8 months for major release - ongoing iterations and improvements

Turning a Simple Redesign into a Scalable Ecosystem

What began as a design project quickly evolved into architecting workflows, selecting the right platform, and ensuring the system could grow with Globe Advisor’s ambitious goals.


The Challenge

The Globe and Mail sought to build a cohesive ecosystem connecting financial advisors with new and existing clients, enabling a smoother onboarding process, cleaner data management, and a more engaging digital experience. What began as a straightforward workflow design project quickly became a much larger challenge: finding a vendor and building the system architecture that could handle lofty organizational goals with minimal internal development resources.


Real deadlines with no time.

The Globe and Mail sought to build a cohesive ecosystem connecting financial advisors with new and existing clients, enabling a smoother onboarding process, cleaner data management, and a more engaging digital experience. What began as a straightforward workflow design project quickly became a much larger challenge: finding a vendor and building the system architecture that could handle lofty organizational goals with minimal internal development resources.

Q1 2019

18-24

25-34

35-44

45-54

Using a new platform, we created a new user dashboard for financial advisors and their business

Once we selected the right vendor, we were able to leverage their platform to build custom workflows and automations that simplified how advisors interact with The Globe and Mail’s ecosystem.

One key deliverable was the creation of a net-new advisor dashboard — designed to give each advisor a centralized, intuitive hub where they could:

  • Easily update their profile and business details,

  • Manage client-facing information in real time,

  • And streamline their onboarding experience without requiring constant support from internal teams.

The dashboard prioritized clarity and simplicity, with an elegant, user-friendly interface that reduced friction and allowed advisors to focus on building client relationships rather than navigating a complex system.

Q1 2019

18-24

25-34

35-44

45-54

At the same time, we built a new onboarding flow - from existing user, to brand new user

In parallel with the dashboard work, we redesigned the onboarding experience to better serve both brand-new and returning advisors.

The existing onboarding relied on dated, lengthy forms that created friction and often led to drop-offs. Recognizing the need for a more modern and efficient approach, we took the opportunity to reimagine the process from the ground up.

The new flow introduced:

  • multi-step, guided form that broke the process into smaller, manageable segments.

  • Smart logic and branching to automatically direct each user — whether a returning advisor or a new one — into the right onboarding path.

  • A cleaner, responsive design that was easier to complete on desktop or mobile.

This approach not only made the experience faster and more intuitive for advisors but also reduced errors and administrative burden for internal teams managing their profiles.

Q1 2019

18-24

25-34

35-44

45-54

And rebuilt the data architecture

Behind the scenes, we redesigned the core data architecture to support all new features while maintaining trust and integrity.

This work included:

  • Rerouting and restructuring pipelines to ensure accurate data flow.

  • Securely migrating thousands of advisor records without downtime.

  • Building a scalable foundation to support future enhancements and integrations.

This effort ensured that Globe Advisor could evolve without sacrificing stability or reliability.

Q1 2019

18-24

25-34

35-44

45-54

And lastly,this helped power the Globe Advisor platform and “Find an Advisor”

Using the new system, we were able to support and enhance the entire Globe Advisor platform, including its key consumer-facing feature, “Find an Advisor.”

This combined effort allowed us to:

  • Launch a search experience where consumers can easily find financial advisors in their area.

  • Provide tiered payment options for advisors who want more visibility and customization, creating a new revenue stream for The Globe and Mail.

  • Unify advisor and consumer experiences within a scalable, future-ready framework.

  • Streamline the entire user-facing site, reducing manual workarounds and ensuring the system could evolve without another rebuild.

By consolidating these initiatives, we not only built a seamless way for advisors and clients to connect but also future-proofed the Globe Advisor ecosystem as a whole.

Results

The Results? A successful launch that succeeded expectations and signups through the platform, with over 70% opt-ing in to the relaunched service.

Despite tight deadlines, we delivered a secure, scalable, and user-friendly system that:


  • Simplified advisor workflows and onboarding

  • Connected consumers and advisors via a modern, monetized search feature

  • Rebuilt Globe Advisor’s infrastructure to be stable, scalable, and future-ready

  • got 1000 new sign ups in 2 weeks, showcasing the ease of use in joining using our new system

This project showcased how design leadership, systems thinking, and cross-functional collaboration can turn a complex, high-pressure challenge into a long-term product success.

The Results? A successful launch that succeeded expectations and signups through the platform, with over 70% opt-ing in to the relaunched service.

Despite tight deadlines, we delivered a secure, scalable, and user-friendly system that:

  • Simplified advisor workflows and onboarding

  • Connected consumers and advisors via a modern, monetized search feature

  • Rebuilt Globe Advisor’s infrastructure to be stable, scalable, and future-ready

  • got 1000 new sign ups in 2 weeks, showcasing the ease of use in joining using our new system

This project showcased how design leadership, systems thinking, and cross-functional collaboration can turn a complex, high-pressure challenge into a long-term product success.

The Results? A successful launch that succeeded expectations and signups through the platform, with over 70% opt-ing in to the relaunched service.

Despite tight deadlines, we delivered a secure, scalable, and user-friendly system that:

  • Simplified advisor workflows and onboarding

  • Connected consumers and advisors via a modern, monetized search feature

  • Rebuilt Globe Advisor’s infrastructure to be stable, scalable, and future-ready

  • got 1000 new sign ups in 2 weeks, showcasing the ease of use in joining using our new system

This project showcased how design leadership, systems thinking, and cross-functional collaboration can turn a complex, high-pressure challenge into a long-term product success.

Results

The Results? A successful launch that succeeded expectations and signups through the platform, with over 70% opt-ing in to the relaunched service.

Despite tight deadlines, we delivered a secure, scalable, and user-friendly system that:

  • Simplified advisor workflows and onboarding

  • Connected consumers and advisors via a modern, monetized search feature

  • Rebuilt Globe Advisor’s infrastructure to be stable, scalable, and future-ready

  • got 1000 new sign ups in 2 weeks, showcasing the ease of use in joining using our new system

This project showcased how design leadership, systems thinking, and cross-functional collaboration can turn a complex, high-pressure challenge into a long-term product success.


© 2023 Eric William Hanson - All Rights Reserved

© 2023 Eric William Hanson - All Rights Reserved

© 2023 Eric William Hanson - All Rights Reserved