B2B • Fintech • UI/UX Design
Merrill Lynch
Merrill Lynch Clear: Goals-Based Retirement Tools
Embedded through The Big Studio, I contributed to Merrill Lynch Clear, a suite of seven iPad discovery apps that helped advisers guide more human, goals-based retirement conversations. The suite publicly launched, with approximately 9,000 advisers trained.
Overview
Embedded at Merrill Lynch through The Big Studio, I was the sole designer on an initial 3-person consulting team focused on rethinking how people visualize retirement savings. The core challenge was reducing the fear and friction that discouraged people from saving, making accumulation and withdrawal feel approachable rather than overwhelming. During a related Bank of America engagement, I led 4 interns through an iPad retirement-balance design exercise. That concept informed work brought into Merrill Lynch, where a larger Big Studio team and I contributed to Merrill Lynch Clear: a suite of seven iPad discovery apps that helped advisers guide goals-based retirement conversations. Merrill Lynch publicly launched the suite and trained approximately 9,000 advisers.
Abilities Demonstrated
- Sole designer on an initial 3-person consulting team for Merrill Lynch
- Led 4 interns through an iPad retirement-balance design exercise for a related Bank of America engagement
- Contributed to Merrill Lynch Clear, a seven-app iPad suite for goals-based retirement conversations
- Applied behavioral-finance and gamification principles to advisor-client tools
- Designed within financial-industry regulatory and compliance requirements
Understanding Financial Advisors
Financial advisors needed a way to make retirement planning feel approachable rather than abstract and intimidating for clients. The existing tools presented accumulation and withdrawal in ways that triggered fear and friction rather than confidence. The challenge was to design goals-based conversations spanning health, family, home, finances, work, leisure, and giving, informed by behavioral finance and gamification principles, all while working within financial-industry regulatory and compliance requirements.
Whiteboard session — Auto enrollment flow ideation
Auto enrollment user flow — Decision tree and branch mapping
Information Architecture
The work began with an iPad retirement-balance exercise during a related Bank of America engagement, which I led with 4 interns. That concept informed work brought into Merrill Lynch, where a larger Big Studio team and I designed the Merrill Lynch Clear suite: seven iPad discovery apps built around goals-based conversations rather than raw account data. I created information architecture, wireframes, and interactive prototypes, working within compliance requirements throughout the design process.
Dashboard wireframe — Information architecture and layout planning
Platform & Advisory Tools
- Designed goals-based discovery conversations spanning health, family, home, finances, work, leisure, and giving
- Applied behavioral-finance and gamification principles to make retirement planning feel approachable
- Contributed to account and enrollment dashboards supporting the broader retirement-planning relationship
- Designed responsive layouts that worked across desktop workstations, tablets, and iPad
- Implemented consistent design patterns aligned with Merrill Lynch's brand guidelines
Combined Account Balance — Homepage Dashboard
401(k) Account Summary with performance tracking
Retirement Priorities Profile — Interactive bubble interface for setting priorities
Results & Impact
Merrill Lynch Clear publicly launched as a suite of seven iPad discovery apps, designed to help advisers guide goals-based conversations across health, family, home, finances, work, leisure, and giving. Informed by behavioral-finance and gamification principles, the suite supported a broader strategic shift toward goals-based wealth management, with approximately 9,000 Merrill advisers trained at the time of launch.
Merrill Lynch Clear suite
At time of public launch
Initial Big Studio team size
Project Outcomes
Publicly Launched
Merrill Lynch Clear launched as a set of technology-driven retirement tools for advisers.
Goals-Based Design
Discovery conversations spanning health, family, home, finances, work, leisure, and giving.
Regulatory Compliance
Designed within financial-industry regulatory and compliance requirements.
Adviser Training at Scale
Approximately 9,000 Merrill advisers received training on the launched suite.
"I had the pleasure of working with Mario Machado at The Big Studio from 2012 to 2015, where I served as his UX manager and mentor. During this time, he demonstrated exceptional leadership in managing complex product design for our Fortune 500 clients, including Merrill Lynch, New York Life, and Bank of America.
While with The Big Studio, Mario was committed to sharing his knowledge with junior designers and with our client partners. Mario was client-facing for almost every initiative he worked on and had the perfect balance of reliability, creativity, execution, and collaboration. Beyond being a strong mentor and thought leader, he excelled at leading projects and teams with a focus on Agile practices and core UX design processes.
Additionally, he facilitated strategic workshops with stakeholders, translating complex business requirements into actionable concept designs and led brainstorming sessions that energized both our internal teams and clients. His technical expertise in responsive design and cross-browser compatibility, combined with his advocacy for user-centered design principles, made him a rare designer that can connect the dots from concept design to execution.
Beyond all the technical stuff, Mario is just a great team player who is highly engaged and easy to work with. I wholeheartedly recommend him for any senior product or design leadership role."
