Tools to build financial empowerment

Collection of tools from "Behind on Bills," a compact, curated booklet of tools designed for frontline staff.

Challenge 

  • The CFPB created Your Money, Your Goals resources to empower frontline social service staff to discuss money management with clients.

  • However, the materials were so extensive that staff—already stretched thin with up to 40 clients—found them overwhelming.

Action 

  • Design & content: Helped shape Behind on Bills, a pocket-sized booklet with eight simple, photocopiable tools that could be introduced during client visits.

  • Planned and led user research with frontline staff, including interviews, role-playing, and scenario-based exercises to observe how they used financial empowerment tools in real-world contexts.

  • Created wireframes for a revised set of webpages that clearly differentiated content for multiple audiences, improving navigation and clarity across the site.

  • Led journey mapping workshops with internal teams to reimagine the user journey and build trust among stakeholders—ultimately paving the way for significant improvements to the program’s overall design and usability.

  • Team leadership: Acted as scrummaster for a distributed agile team updating the 300+ page toolkit, ensuring accessibility and 508 compliance.

Result 

  • Within 8 months, nearly 100,000 copies of Behind on Bills were ordered.

  • Over 500 staff trained to use the booklet effectively.

  • See the suite of tools

Company:
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

Timing:
2016-2017

Goal:
Make it easier for frontline staff to use CFPB’s financial empowerment resources.

Skills:
Facilitation
Prototyping
User research
Usability testing
Concept sketching
Content strategy
Visual design

User research
User research with frontline staff evaluated how the booklet’s tools performed in role-playing and scenario-based exercises. This screenshot from the "Behind on Bills" video showing video shows a participant in training.

Booklets facilitate key money conversations
A client and case manager engage in a guided conversation supported by the booklet, demonstrating its practical and personal impact. (Screenshot from the "Behind on Bills" video.)

Mapping the journey of an organization incorporating "Your Money, Your Goals"
We mapped how the booklet fit within the broader Your Money, Your Goals ecosystem, identifying ways to extend its simplicity and visual appeal across other materials while uncovering opportunities to reduce friction for both end users and CFPB staff.

Workshop with stakeholders
Portion of an annotated journey map. This workshop helped the key stakeholders gain the trust of their colleagues in moving forward with some significant changes.