Guideline

Technical Design and Development

Mobile app development can come with its challenges. Mobile app development for the highly regulated financial sector with sensitive employee data can introduce actual problems—but we came ready with solutions. From user authentication to personalized profile settings, our development team was building with hard requirements from the start—all while working to create a simple and intuitive user experience. While features like Face ID and biometric logins turned out to be more straightforward than expected, developing seamless access proved more difficult due to the rigid data restrictions.

For the tech stack, our decision to build with React Native to create two applications from just one code-base called for significantly more design precision and additional testing, but it ensured a consistent user experience across all devices. It also meant that Guideline’s internal technology team had only one programming language to deal with, so supporting and enhancing the app experience would be easier.

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Project Management and Support

Since 2014, we’ve been offering an Agency Partnership model at PRPL where we team up with and support a range of different branding and marketing agencies in various capacities, providing strategy, creative, technical development, consulting, and more. Our collaboration with Instrument resulted in another successful project under this umbrella. Using project management platforms like ClickUp and Slack, we offered more organized, consolidated, and cross-team support for Instrument and Guideline. Through diligent planning, we managed multiple points of contact and unique perspectives from key stakeholders while maintaining the resources needed to continue tracking against our aggressive launch date.

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Technical Design and Development

Mobile app development can come with its challenges. Mobile app development for the highly regulated financial sector with sensitive employee data can introduce actual problems—but we came ready with solutions. From user authentication to personalized profile settings, our development team was building with hard requirements from the start—all while working to create a simple and intuitive user experience. While features like Face ID and biometric logins turned out to be more straightforward than expected, developing seamless access proved more difficult due to the rigid data restrictions.

For the tech stack, our decision to build with React Native to create two applications from just one code-base called for significantly more design precision and additional testing, but it ensured a consistent user experience across all devices. It also meant that Guideline’s internal technology team had only one programming language to deal with, so supporting and enhancing the app experience would be easier.

Project Management and Support

Since 2014, we’ve been offering an Agency Partnership model at PRPL where we team up with and support a range of different branding and marketing agencies in various capacities, providing strategy, creative, technical development, consulting, and more. Our collaboration with Instrument resulted in another successful project under this umbrella. Using project management platforms like ClickUp and Slack, we offered more organized, consolidated, and cross-team support for Instrument and Guideline. Through diligent planning, we managed multiple points of contact and unique perspectives from key stakeholders while maintaining the resources needed to continue tracking against our aggressive launch date.

Introducing a Smarter Way to Save

From quick snapshots of total funds and educational tooltips to multi-factor authentication, the Guideline mobile app provides user-friendly features employees need to manage virtually every aspect of their 401(k) account. While Instrument provided the design support and we remained focused on leading the technical development, we identified the need for additional collaboration and consulting to build out more intuitive features and enhance the overall experience across every platform and device.

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USER DASHBOARD

Our user dashboard gives users a detailed look at their total
401(k) amount, contribution amounts per pay period (with the ability to change it in real-time), a dial to easily show amounts contributed versus employer matching, and a bar chart to show all-time returns over different periods. Changing and viewing these different options gives users a better view of long-term effects without
the commitment.

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CONTRIBUTIONS

Ranging from percentages to dollar amounts, users can manage and manipulate their traditional 401(k) and Roth IRA options to get a clearer picture of what an employer contribution would look like for their total investment in real-time.

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PORTFOLIO RECOMMENDATIONS

The app’s Wizard Walkthrough prompts users through a series of questions, including when they’d like to retire, how much they want to invest, their perceived level of risk tolerance, and an ideal target. The result is a thorough Portfolio Recommendations feature that provides fast, accurate, easy-to-follow guidance the user can act
on or revisit.

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ACCOUNT CENTER

Whether users want to manage beneficiaries, update their personal information, oversee withdrawals, download statements, view plan details, or get help, the Account Center houses a range of quick solutions complete with multi-factor and biometric authentication for added security.

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ONBOARDING

Once a new user downloads the app, Onboarding guides them through step-by-step instructions on how to quickly and easily set up an account, including important information on deferrals, funds set-up, and more.

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Retirement Reimagined

From the immersive design to the vast range of technical capabilities, this project is a testament to the power of two specialized teams coming together. The launch of the Guideline app is another step towards continuing its mission to help employees save for a retirement they can look forward to—and with convenient access to the money that matters most, that future looks even more promising.

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