Ensuring NYC residents receive the financial counseling they need
Redesign of a public service appointment flow to make financial guidance more accessible and reassuring for everyday New Yorkers.
MY ROLE
Product designer
TOOLS
Figma
Figjam
Miro
TIMELINE
Aug 2024 - Dec 2024
TEAM
4 Product Designers
2 Product Managers
2 Developers
Context & Challenge
The Financial Empowerment Center (FEC), under NYC’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, offers free financial counseling to residents — from budgeting to debt management
Post-pandemic, NYC saw an influx of new residents, many of whom were middle-aged immigrants navigating a new financial system
Yet despite this growing demand, appointment completion rates on FEC’s mobile site — where 90% of bookings happen — remained alarmingly low
Our goal:
Understand why users weren’t completing their appointments and design an flow that builds trust, clarity and confidence
Discovery & Insights
What we did:
8
stakeholder interviews
40+
user survey responses
5
heuristic evaluation
What we found:
Users weren’t just struggling with usability — they were uncertain, anxious, and confused about what “financial counseling” even meant
Three key insights emerged:
Usability gaps created friction (unclear guidance, long scrolls, slow loads)
Misconceptions created hesitation (users equated “financial counseling” with “financial aid”)
No real-time feedback (made users unsure and led to drop-offs)
Opportunity & Design Goals
From our research, we defined a simple but powerful design goal:
Make the scheduling process feel as reassuring as the counseling itself
We aligned on three design objectives:
Simplify navigation and provide progress clarity
Reduce cognitive load during form completion
Build trust through transparent communication and micro feedback
Remapping the journey
In conjunction with fixing the usability issues of scrolling, poor guidance, and long loading times, you can see in the current flow that our maze like experience is set up to fail. Here are what the current experience is like, and where these pain points take place:
Proposed flow with our core objectives:
Dissect the flow into smaller chunks (progressive disclosure) to reduce scrolling
A clear path with CTAs and progress bars that guides to the end
Appropriate loading and confirmation pages that put users at ease
Providing enough information to prevent misunderstandings for users
Design Exploration
From our research, we defined a simple but powerful design goal:
Make the scheduling process feel as reassuring as the counseling itself
We aligned on three design objectives:
Simplify navigation and provide progress clarity
Problem
Users didn’t know how long it would take to finish the booking
This is before the redesign!
First iteration
Understands progress cues
Wanted more clear visuals
Simplify ux writing
Solution
Introduced progress indicators to reduce uncertainty
Impact
Increased user confidence and completion intent in testing
Reduce cognitive load during form completion
Problem
Users were overwhelmed and unsure what to do
This is before the redesign!
First iteration
Accessible to elders
Feels visually cluttered
Confused with “Map View”
Solution
Added a toggle to switch between map and list views
Impact
Improved clarity and reduced cognitive load
Build trust through transparent communication and micro feedback
Problem
Users were unsure whether the page was loading or malfunctioning
This is before the redesign!
First iteration
Understand the loading
Wanted interactive loading cues
Unsure about the wait time
Solution
Designed a loading screen showing wait time and counseling benefits
Impact
Built trust and eased user anxiety during wait moments
Full flow walk thorugh
Impact
Results:
Design approved for implementation in 2025
Positive client feedback for clarity and trust-building
Anticipated adoption of our flow model across other city services
“Excellent work! Very thoughtful approach to every aspect of the portal ”
-Vilda Vera, Commissioner
“We’re definitely applying this design to all our other appointment tools”
-Elina Tatis, Assistant Director at FEC
Reflection & Takeaways
I learned that clarity isn’t just about visual design — it’s about emotional reassurance. By reframing the flow as an onboarding journey, we helped reduce uncertainty and empower diverse users to take confident action.
What I’d do next
If I had more time, I’d love to partner with the city’s accessibility office to further optimize this flow for non-native English speakers.
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