401(k) First 30 Days
Case Study
Project Overview
CHALLENGE
Employees auto-enrolled through their employer’s 401(k) plan were entering Betterment with little context about what their account included. This led to incomplete account claims, low 401(k) contribution rate setup, and weak early engagement.
SOLUTION
I redesigned the account-claim flow to drive clearer understanding and stronger early engagement. The new experience introduces benefits upfront, reduces friction in onboarding, and pairs claim completion with a guided 401(k) contribution setup, increasing the likelihood that users start with an active contribution rate.
ROLE
Product Designer
TEAM
Eric Chalk (Product Manager)
Matt Bowser (Engineering Manager)
+ 5 Engineers
Opportunity
Betterment’s 401(k) participants entered the platform through their employer with little context about what their benefits included or how to use them. As a result, many users treated account claim as a transactional step rather than a meaningful decision point, leading to drop-off, low contribution rates, and underutilization of their benefits.
The opportunity was to redesign the first 30 days of the experience to build user understanding and confidence early, helping participants make informed decisions while increasing activation and long-term engagement.
No benefit context
Contribution flow disconnected
Development
I partnered with product to define success metrics and audited the full onboarding journey from employer invitation through contribution setup. Through this, I identified key drop-off points and gaps in user understanding, particularly around employer-sponsored benefits and financial decision-making.
Audited account claim and contribution flows to identify friction points
Mapped the end-to-end onboarding journey to understand user context and intent
What initially appeared to be a funnel optimization problem was actually a gap in user understanding and confidence.
From this analysis, I made three key decisions:
Surface employer-sponsored benefits upfront
Streamline the account claim experience
Integrate contribution setup at the moment of highest intent
Outcome
Because account claim sits within a broader employer onboarding journey, I redesigned the opening screens to establish context and clearly communicate the value of the user’s benefits. This helped shift the experience from a transactional step to a more intentional onboarding moment.
To capture user intent, I moved contribution setup directly after account claim. This allowed users to take action while they were already engaged, increasing the likelihood that they set an initial contribution rate.
I redesigned the contribution flow to better support users with varying levels of financial literacy, using projections and clear employer match visibility to help users make more confident decisions.
These changes led to a 20% increase in account claim completion and an 18% increase in contribution setup, showing that improving clarity and timing helped users take action more confidently.
Next Steps
401(k) Betterment users enter the platform through their employer rather than through personal intent, which means their understanding of Betterment’s broader value is often limited. The First 30 Days initiative served as a foundation for orienting these users and helping them feel confident in their retirement setup.
The next opportunity is to continue educating users at moments of naturally high motivation. This could include introducing a high-yield cash account around payday or budgeting moments, highlighting the benefits of opening an IRA during tax season, or surfacing guidance when they explore their retirement projections. By anchoring education to relevant financial moments, we can help users discover additional Betterment features organically and deepen long-term engagement.