Group Retirement Services Homepage

The Group Retirement Services homepage redesign was driven by the need to modernise a legacy page with outdated branding, limited functionality, and an ageing visual language. With the introduction of Sun Life's updated design system, the time was right to pursue a refreshed homepage that would bring the GRS Sponsor Site into the latest design standards while adding personalisation options and improving performance and security.

The outcome delivers a competitive advantage for the business unit, working to increase client satisfaction and engagement, and lays the architectural foundation for a fully integrated self-serve hub within 18 months.

Analysis of the existing homepage surfaced three interconnected failure modes. Taken together, they pointed to a platform that was holding the business back rather than enabling it.

The primary objective was to create a refreshed, intuitive homepage that would serve as the foundation for a self-serve hub, eliminating the need for support and training while delivering a seamless experience for plan sponsors.

Strategic Objectives

• Enhance the user experience for plan sponsors through modern, intuitive design.
• Integrate seamlessly with Sun Life's current design system for consistency and long-term maintainability.
• Serve as the foundation for a fully self-serve hub within 18 months.
• Minimise the need for sponsor support and training through clear, self-explanatory design.

This vision served as a north star throughout the project, ensuring all design decisions were evaluated against their contribution to a seamless, self-serve experience, rather than short-term visual improvements.

User Testing

To validate the new design direction, the team conducted user testing with eight Sun Life employees who directly work with GRS plan sponsors. Testing focused on three goals: gathering qualitative feedback on usability, intuitiveness, and relevance; ensuring the new design reduced the learning curve for sponsors; and identifying areas requiring further iteration before launch.

The redesigned homepage moves from a static, legacy page to a modern, personalised experience that sponsors can navigate without training or support. Every component decision was made against the self-serve hub north star.

• Modernised visual language fully aligned with Sun Life's current design system, no bespoke components that would create future maintenance debt.
• Quick Links editing feature with 4, 5, or 6 link variants, giving sponsors meaningful control over their primary navigation shortcuts.
• Improved personalisation features that surface relevant content and actions based on sponsor context.
• Performance and security improvements that directly address the trust erosion identified in the initial audit.
• Accessible, self-explanatory design that reduces the learning curve and minimises support requests from day one.

The new homepage set the stage for a measurable competitive advantage by elevating the sponsor experience, reducing support and training needs, and creating the architectural foundation for a seamless integrated self-serve hub.

• Legacy modernisation projects require a north star beyond visual refresh, without the self-serve hub goal, individual design decisions would have lacked a shared evaluative framework.
• Personalisation features like Quick Links have outsized impact on satisfaction when they address a real, frequently cited pain point rather than adding configuration for its own sake.
• Testing with internal users who work directly with the end audience is a high-fidelity proxy when direct sponsor access is limited, their embedded context produces actionable feedback rather than abstract preferences.

The Group Retirement Services homepage redesign demonstrates that legacy modernisation is most successful when treated as a strategic foundation rather than a visual update. The design didn't just refresh the page, it established a component architecture and personalisation framework that the business can build on as the self-serve roadmap progresses.

The principle that carried through every decision: design for what the platform needs to become, not just what it is today.