Unified Advisor Experience
Suncentral | Sun Life Financial
ROLE
Lead UX & Sole Designer.
TIMELINE
12+ Months.
USERS
Advisors, Assistants, Back Office Users.
CHALLENGE
Fragmented, outdated legacy experience across multiple systems.
IMPACT
Streamlined workflows, higher efficiency, improved user satisfaction.
TEAM
Product Manager, Engineering Team, UX Designer (me).
First let me tell you about the Unified Advisor Experience, or Suncentral
Suncentral is Sun Life Financial’s flagship platform for independent advisors. It serves as the primary gateway for Canadian advisors to manage products, resources, and complex daily workflows in one place.
Overview
I led the design for one of Sun Life’s most high-stakes enterprise challenges: the complete transformation of Suncentral. Formerly known as "Advisor Site," this foundational platform had reached a breaking point after two decades of incremental updates.
As the sole designer, I worked cross-functionally with product, business, and engineering stakeholders to turn a static repository of links into a unified, role-based ecosystem. Over the course of this project, I navigated 20 years of scalability debt to deliver a modernized interface that balances complex business needs with intuitive usability.
Why are we doing this?
Despite being the primary advisor platform, Suncentral struggled to support the unique needs of different user groups. Three key challenges emerged:
Scalability Debt
"Bolted-on" features created a fragmented information architecture that made new solutions difficult to launch.
Role Fragmentation
Advisors, Assistants, and Back-Office staff all saw the same screen, increasing cognitive load for high-frequency tasks.
Evolving Expectations
Advisors now compare their professional tools to modern B2B experiences; the legacy site lacked the personalization required for brand loyalty.
BEFORE
Fragmented Experience
AFTER
Unified Ecosystem
Multiple legacy systems
Unified advisor ecosystem
Same experience for Advisors, Assistants & Back Office
Roled-based experience
Endless clicking
Simplified navigation
Fragmented information architecture
Modernized interface
Disconnected tools
Connected workflows
Key challenges
Outdated Design System
Navigating a legacy system lacking dynamic components essential for modern advisor workflows.
Cross-Functional Complexity
Coordinating multiple business units (Life, Investments, Benefits) to keep advisor and client tools synchronized.
High Cognitive Load
Advisors struggled with "endless clicking" through irrelevant pages to locate critical forms and guides.
Technological Consolidation
Modernizing a 15-year-old landscape by merging disparate legacy systems into a single API-driven cloud platform.
Our goals
Deliver a seamless, unified, and role-based ecosystem.
Modernize the experience while preserving critical legacy functionality.
Support the complex daily workflows of a modern financial practice.
Ensure the platform is scalable for future digital solutions.
Taking a deep dive
To validate our assumptions, I conducted an internal audit and reviewed existing research to identify inconsistencies and gaps. I used a mix of moderated sessions and unmoderated user tests via an advisor forum to understand behaviors and pain points.
The message was clear: advisors needed a system that aligned with their real-world workflows, not internal system structures. I also performed a competitive analysis to benchmark Suncentral against the market, revealing where we lagged in capabilities. These insights informed exactly which workflows we needed to prioritize.
The Strategy: A System-Level Approach
The redesign was guided by three distinct user groups, each with different goals, workflows, and operational needs.
Advisor
Top Pain Points
Top Tasks
-
Using sales tools/illustrations
-
Accessing applications
-
Running reports
-
Favourite forms
-
Time-consuming searches
-
Difficult eApp navigation
Simplify navigation for
infrequent site users
Assistant
Top Pain Points
Top Tasks
-
Checking application status
-
Accessing forms
-
Using sales tools
-
Inconsistent status updates
-
Missing beneficiary info
-
Untrustworthy secure inbox
Streamline application
tracking and client data
Back-Office Staff
Top Pain Points
Top Tasks
-
Reviewing inforce business
-
Checking application status
-
Accesing forms
-
Excessive clicks
-
Fragmented navigation
-
Difficult inbox subject identification
Maxime efficiency for high-frequency power users
Design Process
I started by mapping the future-state experience, focusing on simplifying navigation and reducing duplication. I moved into Figma to develop wireframes and flows, iterating quickly to validate the structure.
Knowing that data-heavy interfaces require precision, I took a system-level approach to ensure consistency. I worked closely with engineering to ensure technical feasibility and maintained continuous feedback loops with stakeholders to adapt to new insights as the project evolved.
Roadblocks & Challenges
Transforming a mature enterprise platform required addressing several organizational, technical, and experience-design challenges.
Technical Constraints
Navigating 20 years of legacy code meant making strategic trade-offs between user needs and technical scalability.
Balancing Complexity
I had to simplify the interface without removing necessary professional complexity, requiring intentional structuring of data.
High-Stakes Alignment
Aligning stakeholders across multiple products was essential to ensure the solution could scale across the entire unified experience.
Let’s design
The transformation was about more than just a new look; it was about defining how advisors interact with their tools. By sweating the UI details and prioritizing hierarchy in data-heavy screens, I transformed a collection of disconnected tools into an intuitive system.
Simplifying does not mean removing complexity, it means structuring it intentionally.
Click images to enlarge and view additional details.
The Impact & Key Takeaways
This project redefined the advisor experience at Sun Life by proving that designing for scalability early prevents future fragmentation. What I’m most proud of is how this work.
Streamlines Daily Workflows
Reduces friction in high-frequency tasks by aligning the product with real advisor habits, not internal system structures.
Empowers Decision-Making
Supports faster, more confident professional choices by structuring complex data intentionally.
Masters Interface Hierarchy
Demonstrated that data-heavy tools require strong prioritization to maintain usability without losing essential functional depth.
Scalable Infrastructure
Established a foundation that allows for future growth while bridging the gap between legacy systems and a modern financial practice.