The British Telecom Pension Scheme (BTPS) is the UK’s largest corporate defined benefit pension scheme, with over 300,000 members and paying out more than $3 billion in annual pension payments.
BTPS planned to move to a new web-based platform, allowing them to undergo a complete overhaul of their systems, processes, and operational design. This transition to a new platform and content management system provided the perfect opportunity to create a new, user-centric platform for their members.
My task was to completely redesign the User Interface and User Experience from a member-first perspective, while also considering the overall Customer Experience of members throughout each touch point over their lifelong journey.
Client: British Telecom Pension Scheme
Duration: 12-18 months
Role: Lead Product Designer / CX Designer
Platform: Web portal
The existing BTPS portal scored 20% lower than the global pension benchmarking score, with less than 48% member satisfaction. Some key factors that contributed to this low score was the overly complicated processes, the inability for members to self-serve, and the lack of control by members had in managing their pensions.
The main challenge of this project was that due to the complex nature of pensions, members often felt overwhelmed and ‘lost’. This led them to have little or no understanding of the limitations and/or benefits available to them. One key objective was for the new platform to improve education and, in turn, the ability for members to self-serve, however, the move to a new platform allowed me to reinvent a new member experience from the ground up.
Another unforeseeable challenge for this project was, after only two months of starting, the COVID-19 pandemic swept through the world. I had to learn how to juggle not only the magnitude and complexities of this project but also the newfound challenges of isolation and working remotely.
Customer Experience was really at the heart of this redesign. It required innovation and ‘out of the box’ thinking to develop an entire pensions administration proposition that was intuitive and easy to use, while also providing a seamless service throughout each user journey.
The result was an easy-to-use, secure portal that prioritised members and their needs. Members were provided with a personalised pension management experience where information was customised according to where they were in their pension journey. New calculators and educational tools were designed throughout the portal to aid in specific user journeys and offered support in guiding members through their available options.
Collaborating with developers, I designed and built a completely new front-end digital experience, incorporating member data, complex calculations, tools, and workflows.
Since launch (and at the time of writing this) over 1 million calculations have been run, with over 60% of newly retired members having committed to their retirement via the portal.
Implementing self-service for members has led to an impressive 83% reduction in calls to the call centre. This enhanced capability allows members to edit their details directly online, resulting in an estimated cost savings of £10 million pounds for BTPS.
"BTPS have pushed the boundaries when it comes to administration and member satisfaction to develop a fresh proposition that sets the bar high for the industry."
– The 2022 European Pensions judges’ comments
IPE awards
2021 WINNER | UK Country Award
European Pensions awards
2022 WINNER | Pension Scheme Administrator of the Year
Pensions Age awards
2022 WINNER | DB Scheme of the Year
