Client
British Telecom Pension Scheme
Duration
12 months
Role
Lead Product / CX Designer
Platform
Web portal
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 role 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.
My responsibilities included (but were not limited to): extensive research and discovery, persona development, competitor analysis, user journeys, wireframes and low-fi prototypes, through to designing the final user interface, launching and testing.
Tools:
Throughout the BTPS project, I applied a range of UX and UI design skills to create a user-friendly, accessible, and efficient pension management experience. Below are the key skills used:
User insights & research validation – Engaged stakeholders and users to identify pain points and refine solutions.
UX strategy & information architecture – Streamlined structures and user flows for intuitive navigation.
Wireframing & interactive prototyping – Created high-fidelity wireframes and prototypes to test core functionalities.
UI design system creation – Built a modular UI design system for consistency and scalability.
Accessibility & inclusive design – Ensured WCAG compliance for an inclusive and user-friendly experience.
Compliance & data security considerations – Integrated compliance and security measures into the platform design.
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.
Before redesigning the BTPS portal, we conducted a comprehensive audit of the existing platform. Key issues included inconsistent navigation, duplicated pages, limited visual hierarchy, and outdated content. While core pension data was accessible, the experience lacked clarity, cohesion, and ease of use – highlighting clear opportunities for UX and UI improvements.
Based on the data and analytics provided by BTPS we were able to get a very clear understanding of who our users were. BTPS have over 300,000 members across four member groups:
In order to conduct further qualitative research, we created a member panel consisting of 20 participants across a wide variety of ages and pension groups:
Age
Early 50's to late 80’s
Location
17 in the UK + 3 overseas
Gender
10 women + 10 men
Pension groups
1 active + 9 deferred + 6 pensioners + 4 dependents
This member panel was frequently consulted and asked to provide feedback on various aspects throughout the creative process. In order to present one familiar, consistent face to the panel, all physical interviews and member testing was carried out by Dan, our Research Consultant.
User interviews were organised with members to gain a comprehensive understanding of their circumstances, mindset and experiences.
The key aspects we initially wished to understand were:
Taking into consideration the initial survey, our member interviews and qualitative research alongside pension experts we were able to determine the following:
We explored best-in-class experiences across fintech, healthcare, and government platforms to identify design approaches that prioritise simplicity, accessibility, and user trust. This research shaped key design decisions for BTPS—particularly around login flows, dashboard presentation, and navigation.
One key challenge was that most pension portals are private and require member access, limiting our ability to analyse direct competitors. As a result, we focused on cross-industry solutions that could be adapted to meet the specific needs of BTPS.
From the accumulative research and data we collected, we had a clear understanding of the pain points members faced at each stage of their journey. Some of the high-level pain points were:
Insufficient advice & support
Members often felt that they did not have the right level of support available to make these important life decisions.
Confusing, unclear information
The provided information was perceived to be difficult to interpret, and members felt overwhelmed and confused.
Poor level of communication
Members often felt they weren’t being kept informed about the status of their pensions or progress of issue requests.
Feedback showed member confusion was a contribution of ambiguous and unclear information, along with failure to get what they needed from the online portal.
Examining this data identified shared behaviours and characteristics that enabled us to gain insight into the needs members had and the implications of these.
These key insights and objectives were then later used and assigned to different personas to ensure we were encompassing all areas of the user journey.
By analysing and breaking down member pain points, we were able to ascertain the key driving factors in regards to what members actually wanted from BTPS.
Key observations: Collectively members wanted an overall easier, more fluid service that educated and presented their pension options.
Consistency and accuracy
Consistent and accurate information across all methods of communication
Accessibility and ease
Simple, clear journey with minimal repetition and easy steps to complete
Proactivity and timeliness
Timely information and reminders that pre-empt members needs
Choices and education
Clear options in regards to pension scenarios, education and contact methods
Financial assistance
Access to expert advice and connections to additional support when needed
Clear information
Jargon-free, understandable information presented transparently
Talking to members it became evident that there were five key life stages that all members go through as a part of their life-long journey with BTPS.
This holistic overview provided us with key manageable sections that we were then able to break down and analyse later in the design process.
To gain deeper insight into our members' journey we visualised the entire end-to-end user experience that members go through to establish their specific needs during each life stage.
Experience mapping techniques were then used to help make informed decisions to better understand and empathise with our members. Collaborating with researchers and pension experts, we expanded our brainstorm to include a high-level overview of what members think, feel, do, and say, during each stage of their journey.
This gave us a clear picture of varied user expectations and how they might use and interact with the product, allowing us to determine similarities across their wants and needs.
The objective for creating personas is to build a picture of their motivations, objectives and resolution journeys. Based on collected data, a total of 12 personas were created across the four member groups.
Personas were divided into primary, secondary and tertiary categories so priorities could be determined for each step of each stage based on their needs, circumstances and behaviours.
These posters were created externally.
Due to 76% of all members being aged between 50-80, significant consideration had to be given to their willingness, and ability, to interact with technology.
Data showed that members were surprisingly confident using new technology, with most already managing their finances online. Research showed this was because other companies, notably banks and insurance companies, had laid the groundwork and been encouraging a digital-first approach for years.
Overall, members voiced positive feelings towards a digital-first approach. Most members owned a smartphone, however for important things like finance or unfamiliar tasks, members prefered computers. This was because it gave them perceived better security, access to larger screens and the ability to save documents.
We used card sorting – a UX technique that helps uncover how users naturally group and label content –to inform the structure of the portal. This method gave us valuable insight into user expectations and mental models.
Based on the results, we developed a streamlined site map tailored to BTPS’s three key audiences: current members, deferred members, and pensioners. This ensured each group could easily access the information most relevant to their needs, improving clarity and overall navigation efficiency.
Detailed wireframes defined the layout, structure, and functionality, ensuring a seamless user experience before progressing to high-fidelity designs.
We followed Atomic Design principles to create a scalable, component-based system – starting with foundational atoms and building up to templates and full pages. This approach ensured consistency, efficiency, and adaptability across the entire portal experience, meeting diverse user needs with a unified visual and functional language.
To support a smooth transition from design to development, we delivered detailed handover documentation outlining component behaviours, usage guidelines, and placement rules. This ensured a shared understanding across teams, reduced ambiguity, and enabled developers to implement the interface accurately and consistently across the entire platform.
A polished, intuitive interface was developed to align with brand guidelines and accessibility standards, enhancing usability and engagement across all touchpoints.
We used annotated heatmaps to identify key content zones and prioritise user actions. This helped define the hierarchy of information on the dashboard and clarify how users would receive and interact with notifications across the experience.
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.
"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
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.
Since launch, over 500,000 calculations have been run using the pension calculator and 60% of newly retired members have committed to confirming their retirement choice using the portal. Member satisfaction scores have been steadily increasing since launch that is allowing better decision making.
IPE awards
2021 WINNER | UKCountry Award
European Pensions awards
2022 WINNER | Pension Scheme Administrator of the Year
Pensions Age awards
2022 WINNER | DB Scheme of the Year
