TD Ameritrade

TD Ameritrade → Charles Schwab | Service Design & Design Leadership

Following Schwab's acquisition of TD Ameritrade, customers faced more than a change in financial institutions. They were losing familiar investing platforms and needed to prepare for an unfamiliar account transition.

One particularly confusing requirement was that customers needed to create Schwab login credentials before their accounts were available to use.

I managed the TD Ameritrade designers working on the transition and coordinated with our Schwab counterparts. As the migration strategy evolved, our team shifted from designing product features to creating customer communications and digital guidance.

Using insights from customer conversations, we developed materials to explain what was changing, what customers needed to do, and when they could expect access. We also researched the communications to evaluate whether customers understood the process.

My role

Player / Coach 2020-2022

I was the team lead from TD Ameritrade for the client transition hub as part of a cross-functional team. I also managed the design and research operations. 

Responsibilities
Individual contributor
Team manager: player/coach
Design & research operations

duration and output
2020 - 2022 / 1 1/2 years
Responsive website / Native mobile

Team
2 product managers
product design manager (me)
2 designers
20+ engineers 

discovery & framing
User Research & Customer Profiles

Customer research with the transition materials provided a method to evolve and streamline the messaging.

An additional outcome of continuous research was a clear list of jobs to be done for customers and the variety of circumstances that might impact their transition experience.

This Jobs-to-be-done profile is an example of a typical customer and provides flexibility to build out many scenarios.

end to end
User Journey

Journey mapping was a way to understand all the materials and actions customers would undertake during the transition from TD Ameritrade and Schwab. This helped the team see where the gaps might be and where our experiences interlocked.

Problem discovery
Making an unfamiliar transition understandable

Customer research revealed a significant point of confusion: people didn't understand why they needed to create a Schwab login before their accounts were available at Schwab.

The process challenged a familiar expectation. Creating login credentials usually means gaining immediate access, but customers had to complete this step in advance and wait until their accounts migrated.

Our team designed digital communications within the existing TD Ameritrade experience to make the sequence clearer. We introduced a transition timeline, highlighted key dates, explained periods of account unavailability, and provided a clear next step for customers.

The goal was to help customers understand not just what they needed to do, but why—and what would happen afterward.

Problem discovery
Balancing clarity with the need for reassurance

Customer research revealed a tension: people disliked the amount of information they needed to absorb, but they were reluctant to skip anything. They wanted to be certain they understood the implications of moving their financial accounts.

Customers managing accounts for family members expressed particular frustration and concern about how the transition would affect their access and account relationships.

Our team needed to communicate a complex series of deadlines, required actions, and changes to account functionality without overwhelming customers.

We organized the transition experience around key dates, preparation tasks, and frequently asked questions, helping customers find the information most relevant to their circumstances.

The challenge wasn't simply reducing content. It was making critical information easier to navigate while giving customers confidence that they wouldn't miss something important.

The scale of the transition

17M+

1.9T

2024

Client accounts transitioned

Client assets converted

Final migration completed

Schwab completed the TD Ameritrade migration in 2024. These figures represent the overall migration, not outcomes directly attributable to our team's design work.

Challenges & Outcome

Navigating a change in direction
Schwab's acquisition of TD Ameritrade fundamentally changed our team's priorities. Rather than continuing to develop investing features, we shifted toward helping customers prepare for the transition to a new financial institution.

I managed the designers through this change and worked closely with our Schwab counterparts to coordinate priorities and design direction.

Designing for customer understanding
The migration introduced unfamiliar requirements, including creating Schwab credentials before customers could access their accounts. Research revealed that customers were frustrated by the amount of information they needed to absorb, yet reluctant to skip anything that might affect their finances.

Our team repeatedly tested and refined the digital communications, focusing on clearer timelines, required actions, account access, and what customers could expect during the transition.

Outcome
We developed a research-informed communication experience to help customers navigate a complex financial transition. The work demonstrated the importance of treating customer understanding as a design problem in its own right.

Schwab ultimately completed the broader TD Ameritrade migration in 2024, transitioning more than 17 million accounts and approximately $1.9 trillion in assets. These figures reflect the scale of the overall migration, rather than results attributable specifically to our team's work.

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