Pasquale RUSSO
A PORTFOLIO
Pasquale RUSSO
A PORTFOLIO
User Experience (UX) Writing
Market-research firm Corporate Insight recognized TD Ameritrade’s re-engineered money-movement features as best-in-class among 15 competitors, citing the interface copy for “concise explanations” and “brief fine print that avoids technical jargon.”
Over an 18-month period, I wrote many ADA-compliant process flows for IRA and trading accounts, field labels, error and information messages. With the redesign completed, I joined other agile teams to deliver modified versions for the mobile and responsive platforms.
When clients complained they couldn’t find the site’s money market funds, the product owner wanted a quick fix until a redesign was ready.
Badly in need of a refresh, this banking site used outdated branding and offered little help to its primary clients. After getting requirements from the product manager, I researched guidelines for related bank products (our team typically handled mortgage content), planned the information architecture, created the wireframes, and wrote content that fit within brand guidelines. Hoorah.
Wiring money to a bank account isn’t an everyday task. If the choices raise questions, they likely raise anxiety about the potential for mistakes. When the new responsive platform began its work on this process, the time was right to adjust the wording.
Clients using Android and iOS mobile trading apps in Hong Kong and Singapore were required to apply two-factor authentication or lose certain capabilities. These reminders came at important milestones to get their cooperation.
A brief tour of upgrades to popular secure-site capabilities.
In the Old West, differences were settled at six paces. In the digital arena, it’s user research that settles scores. Together with a designer, I worked with competing stakeholders on polished versions of these feature menus and proposed tasks for user testing.
“As a product manager, I often knew what I wanted to convey to clients, but not always how to best say it. This was where Pasquale came in. He would take the time to understand the rationale behind the content and was not afraid to ask questions to make sure he truly understood.
Without his expertise in this area, I believe our products would not have been nearly as successful.”
Scott Thomason,
Senior Manager, Digital Platforms, TD Ameritrade
“Pasquale and I worked on an agile team for a high-profile redesign of the client-facing website at TD Ameritrade. He played a key role in transforming a cumbersome workflow for moving funds in and out of brokerage accounts into one of the most recognized and successful redesigns firm-wide, winning praise from clients for its clarity and ease of use.
He is knowledgeable about user experience best practices and knew exactly how to improve pages even further. Because content often dictated the layout of the digital workflows, our teamwork was especially critical, so we often worked on the copy and the design in unison. He was one of the best teammates I’ve worked with, always clever, and witty. I highly recommend him.
Ingrid Gabor,
Experience Design,
TD Ameritrade