Implementing a technology is no easy task, particularly when financial services are involved. Enter Charles Schwab & Co., a full-service financial services company, offering investment guidance, trading and brokerage services, and a full range of investment and financial products. Seeking to evolve their services and propel Schwab forward into the new economy, Schwab asked Medius IV to come up with a breakthrough idea.

Our research team set out by evaluating the competitive landscape, industry best practices as well as the technological profile of the targeted user. The results identified the following challenges: concerns related to security topped the list, followed by bandwidth limitations due to a high proponent of modem connections. Identifying that the secondary challenge of direct modem dial-ups actually solved the primary challenge of security, our strategy development team determined that the real challenge was to instill confidence in users that they will receive the same individualized attention from their "online broker" as they would from their "human" broker. Scaling this requirement, and it became clear that personalized attention to millions of customers would be nearly impossible through traditional means. The technological solution would be the only solution for growth, but to make online investing have real value to the customer, it meant that complex applications and transactions would have to be easy to use and personable, while providing the same results as traditional methods.

Architecting a solution that provided customers with easy-to-use financial and investment tools, our design team decided on a minimalist approach for the user interface to ensure simplicity for the user, while maintaining low overhead for small bandwidth considerations. Subtle and appropriate visual cues intuitively guided the user through the complex information and online transactions. Checking accounts, obtaining real-time stock quotes, customizing their portfolio manager, accessing personalized marketing views, reading breaking news/charts/research, examining analysts reports, reviewing guides for picking mutual funds/stocks and receiving financial planning advice are now available to the customer any time of day or night.

Code-named "StreetSmart," our design and engineering teams developed an application that provided the roadmap for what is publicly known as "eSchwab," one of the first online transactional tools. Post-delivery usability tests reaffirmed the original strategy that by giving their customers personalized control over their financial future, Schwab moved their existing and potential customers from awareness through loyalty, with the end result of extending the Schwab customer base to 7 million customers.