Vanguard Managed ISA — Claire Doherty

Background

A fee change made the managed ISA cheaper than the unmanaged one, creating an opportunity to rethink the service.

Problem statements

Customers don't understand what the service is or how it benefits them.
The "We do it for you" messaging causes confusion, reducing conversions.
Customers get caught in a loop when trying to open an account, leading to abandonment.

Research & insights

Many customers were confused by the name "We do it for you" — they didn't understand what the service included.
The homepage feature did not result in significant click-through to the product page, resulting in low conversion rates.
The onboarding journey was repetitive and sometimes created a loop, causing users to drop out.
A content and imagery audit revealed inconsistencies across the website.

What I did

My focus throughout was on creating a user-centred experience that made the service feel simple, trustworthy, and easy to act on.

Renamed the service to Managed ISA — a clearer, more intuitive name that communicated the core benefit.
Rewrote all copy relating to both Managed and Self-Managed ISAs to improve clarity, consistency, and user trust.
Redesigned the homepage, product page, and initial onboarding steps to better support user understanding and increase conversion.
Added consistent imagery across the site to reinforce the proposition.
Simplified the onboarding journey, removing a frustrating loop that had previously caused user drop-off.
Introduced new explanatory content, including case studies, to help users feel confident in choosing the managed option.

Results

500% increase in account openings.
Improved product recognition.
Greater customer understanding of the managed service.

Thank you for all your work on the MISA campaign. I hope you are feeling proud — the campaign is going very well and that is in part down to all your great work.

Liz Waldron, Head of Product, Vanguard