Our journey began with a deep dive into the everyday experiences of Mercer’s employees. Together as a team, we set out to truly understand what mattered most to them. We conducted one-on-one interviews, facilitated focus groups across departments, and distributed surveys to employees in different regions and roles. Piece by piece, we started to build a fuller picture of the employee experience mapping their journey from that very first onboarding moment to long-term career growth.

To design a solution that was genuinely user-centric, we cast a wider net. Alongside our qualitative research, we dove into competitor analysis, dissected market trends, and explored internal data analytics.

The voices we heard were clear and consistent: employees craved personalised financial guidance, while employers were looking for smarter ways to engage their teams and measure the effectiveness of benefits offerings.

We uncovered something vital many employees felt overwhelmed by financial complexity. They weren’t just looking for more information; they needed clarity, simplicity, and relevance. The data pointed us toward a solution that could cut through the noise: one that offered interactive goal-setting, tailored recommendations, and real-time guidance all seamlessly integrated with HR systems.

With insights in hand, our team moved into design mode driven by a simple idea: build with employees, not just for them. We invited them into co-creation sessions, where their feedback directly shaped the platform from the ground up.

We approached the experience as if employees were customers—prioritising clarity, ease, and engagement. Diversity and inclusion remained at the core, ensuring the solution reflected the varied needs and voices across the organisation.

Our ideation sessions with stakeholders were focused and collaborative. We mapped out essential features, aiming for a flexible, intuitive platform that could scale. Concept mapping helped identify key touchpoints, guiding us toward a balanced solution, one that married usability with technical feasibility.

To bring it all together, we used service design to connect the dots across systems. Harmonise was built with a modular architecture, integrating financial tools, HR systems, and benefits platforms through APIs. Automation and predictive analytics added smart personalisation, while compliance and data security stayed firmly in focus.