PRODUCT DESIGNER
✦
12 WEEKS
COLLABORATED WITH PMs & DEVs
Overview
Kotak Mahindra Bank is one of India’s leading financial institutions, and Kotak Cherry is its dedicated wealth management platform where users can invest in mutual funds, stocks, bonds, and other asset classes. Within Cherry, I focused on the mutual funds experience end to end. This specific project centered on helping users seamlessly track their external mutual fund investments, meaning the holdings they maintained on other platforms, and bring them into Cherry for a unified view of their portfolio.
I worked as the sole Product Designer on this project, collaborating closely with a product manager, a data analyst and a team of developers. What initially began as a small feature exploration quickly grew into a major offering for Kotak Cherry, eventually becoming a core part of the product. Throughout this journey, I led the design vision, the user researcher shaped the user flows, and collaborated cross functionally to bring the experience to life.
CONTEXT
In the Kotak Cherry app, viewing external mutual funds from other platforms required a complicated import process.
Most investors today use more than one platform to manage their mutual funds, with nearly 2 out of 3 spreading their investments across at least 2 apps. However, there is no simple, consolidated way for them to view their entire portfolio.
In Kotak Cherry, users could import external mutual funds, but the process was complex and offered limited insights, making it difficult to truly understand their full financial picture.
CURRENT FLOW
EDGE-CASE SCENARIO
What happens when the Email Verification fails?
When users couldn’t complete the email verification step, we first prompted them to re-enter the correct OTP. But if the OTP continued to fail, we redirected them to an alternative verification path through support. Here, users could verify their identity using their PAN card instead.
Since a PAN card is linked to both their phone number and email, the system sends the same PIN to both channels. This meant that even if their email wasn’t working, users could still share the PIN received on their phone and continue importing their funds without getting stuck.
Analytics
Before jumping into user research, we dug into our existing product data to understand how the import flow was performing. Using CleverTap, and with support from a data analyst, I pulled insights on clicks, retention, drop-offs, and overall engagement across each step of the flow.
Looking at the numbers helped me quickly pinpoint which pages were causing the most friction. This gave me a solid head start going into research, because I already knew where to probe deeper and which areas didn’t need as much attention.
WE FOUND OUT THAT
This was our least used feature.
30% of daily active users who visited the homepage clicked on the "Import external funds" CTA.
However, only 1.7% completed the import process, leading to a 98.3% overall drop-off rate from the journey.
Around 90% of support requests were due to users entering an email not linked to their investments, rather than OTP issues.
User Research
To understand how people manage investments across platforms, we interviewed 10 users who actively invest through at least 2 different apps like Groww, Zerodha, and others. We specifically targeted investors with at least 2 years of experience so they could speak confidently about their habits, pain points, and expectations.
Our goal was to learn why they spread their portfolios across multiple platforms, how they currently keep track of everything, and what they would expect if they were to import their external mutual funds into Kotak Cherry.
PAINPOINT
Poor Discoverability.
The "Import External Funds" feature was buried at the bottom of the homepage, and most users didn’t even scroll that far down.
PAINPOINT
Lack of Guidance.
Users felt there was no introduction or guidance on what to expect. They were dropped straight into the experience without any context.
PAINPOINT
Lack of Feedback.
Users had no clear indication of whether their external portfolio import was completed. The only way to verify was by revisiting the import flow, causing many to forget to check altogether.
PAINPOINT
Need for Additional Insights.
Users wanted to see more than just a list of funds. They needed the total value to gain a more complete understanding of their portfolio.
PAINPOINT
Unclear Error Messaging
The error screen only said the email verification failed, without clarifying that users needed to use the email linked to their investments causing confusion.
This is where we wondered,
How might we create an effortless experience that encourages users to import and track their funds?
Defining Goals
With multiple pain points and potential improvements identified, it was crucial to define clear goals to prioritize what mattered most. For each pain point, we outlined a corresponding design solution and evaluated its feasibility, including the development effort and resources required.
This process ensured that the whole team was aligned on what we could realistically tackle. I took the initiative to lead this phase, collaborating closely with the PM and developers to brainstorm, refine, and iterate on goals, keeping the process flexible so we could adapt if any solution didn’t fully address the user needs.
Design Strategy for Implementation
After identifying a range of potential design solutions, we realized there were too many to tackle at once. To work more efficiently, we needed a structured approach to prioritize and implement them in an organized manner.
We grouped the solutions into two broader categories: improvements to the import flow itself, and enhancements to how imported funds are displayed on the dashboard. This led us to define a phased approach, with Phase One focusing on streamlining the import experience, and Phase Two addressing the post-import dashboard view.
Phase 1
How can we reduce friction within the import flow itself?
ITERATIONS
Adding an Introduction Screen
Research showed that users felt dropped into the flow without understanding its purpose, benefits, or what they would gain by importing their funds. The intro screen set clear expectations and communicated value upfront.
Iterations we chose not to pursue
jWhile early concepts focused on explaining the process and using empty states to prompt action, research revealed that users were primarily motivated by understanding the benefits and value of importing—not the mechanics.
These iterations failed to address that core user need, so we pivoted.
ITERATIONS
Adding Cues For The Right Email ID
Research revealed that many users were unsure which email ID to enter, often defaulting to their primary email instead of the one linked to their existing investment accounts. With users frequently managing multiple email addresses today, this confusion was leading to avoidable errors.
To reduce friction and prevent edge cases before they occurred, we introduced clear, upfront cues to guide users toward entering the correct email ID at the right moment.
Iterations we chose not to pursue
We initially explored using an info icon to explain which email ID users should enter. However, this relied on users proactively tapping for help—something most users don’t naturally do. Because this guidance wasn’t immediately visible or intuitive, it failed to effectively prevent errors.
FINAL DESIGNS FOR PHASE 1
REDESIGNING EDGE CASES
We removed the need to contact support by handling edge cases directly in the app.
Previously, users had to call support to complete PAN verification when email OTPs failed. Now, they can verify their PAN through an in-app OTP, allowing the import process to finish smoothly without any external help.
REDESIGNING EDGE CASES
We reduced error scenarios by guiding users earlier in the flow.
We added early prompts to help users confirm the correct email linked to their investment accounts. And if they’re unsure, a “Verify using PAN” option appears right beside the CTA, offering a safer alternative before they run into issues.
Post-testing Feedback
Despite strong conversion, users felt split between two dashboards and wanted everything in one place.
FEEDBACK
What's Working
Clearer guidance and better error handling improved overall conversion and completion rates by nearly 70%.
Users appreciated seeing the total value of their investments more than the list of individual funds.
FEEDBACK
What's Not Working
Some funds appeared in both Kotak and external portfolios, showing different investment values and causing confusion.
Users often mistook the total external value for their total portfolio value, causing a lot of customer queries.
Phase 2 Designs + Improvements from Phase 1
How might we evolve the dashboard without disrupting existing user experiencr?
ITERATIONS
By rethinking the portfolio card to include external investments.
We redesigned the portfolio card so it could hold both Kotak Cherry and external investments in a way that still felt familiar to users. Since this card carries high-value information like gain/loss, invested amount, and dates, we focused heavily on a clean visual hierarchy and a layout that users could scan effortlessly.
ITERATIONS
By refining the listing card to show the right details at a glance.
For listing cards, our priority was clarity. We structured the information so users could quickly spot key details like current value and fund source, without feeling overwhelmed. Through multiple iterations, we tested different layouts, removed noisy elements, and narrowed in on what belonged in a quick overview versus what should stay in the detailed view.
FINAL DESIGNS AFTER PHASE 2
MORE EDGE CASES!
What happens if portfolio is already refreshed?
Users often expected instant updates, so we added a contextual message explaining that mutual fund data refreshes only once every 24 hours. A simple “Portfolio already refreshed” pop-up helped set expectations and reduced confusion.
MORE EDGE CASES!
What happens if there are no external investments?
Some users tried tracking external funds without having any linked accounts. To prevent dead ends, we added a clear prompt letting them know that no external investments were found and guided them on what to do next.
IMPACT
2000+ imports in a day.
95% increase in user retention due to faster portfolio tracking and real-time value updates.
73% adoption rate of the “Track External Funds” feature due to increase in discoverability.
Support queries for fund import dropped by 61% after introducing an integrated PAN fallback.
IMPACT
What started as a small add-on quickly became a core growth feature converting external users into Kotak investors
Reflections!
This work didn’t just improve our platform, it opened doors for what the product could become. Even after launch, I kept thinking about how to make the flow more effortless, like leveraging PAN details directly to fetch investment data.
I regularly shared insights with leadership, collaborated cross-functionally, and best of all, got to watch real users interact with something I designed. It was genuinely one of the most exciting parts of my role.
