Tiffany Chung is a product designer, graphic designer and educator based in Los Angeles, California. She is currently a product designer at Vanilla, where she creates user-centered solutions for complex financial products. She is also a part-time lecturer at Otis College of Art and Design, where she helps students learn to create meaningful interactions between users and products.

She holds an MFA in Graphic Design from Otis College of Art and Design and a BS in Public Health from Brigham Young University.

Case Studies

Abstraction Refactor
Balance Sheet

Additional Work

CarbonShack
Holocaust Museum LA
Symwerian: Menstrual Equity

Contact

Email


Case Study

Balance Sheet

Role

Product Designer

Overview

Deliver a consolidated view of a client’s assets and ownership structure on a single platformThe Balance Sheet project was initiated to provide advisors and attorneys with a comprehensive and intuitive tool for estate planning. Advisors needed better ways to understand and communicate client asset ownership structures. Before Vanilla’s Balance Sheet, users relied on spreadsheets, which were cumbersome, error-prone, and lacked advanced filtering or ownership visualization capabilities.

Phase 1: Original Balance Sheet

The initial Balance Sheet aimed to replace traditional spreadsheet models. Key features included:

  1. Comprehensive Overview – At-a-glance display of liquid vs. illiquid assets, inside vs. outside taxable estates, and asset types
  2. Interactive Table – Direct in-app data editing
  3. Quick Integration – Compatibility with portfolio management systems

    ORIGINAL BALANCE SHEET

             While groundbreaking, users found data input unintuitive, and the lack of customization limited its utility during client presentations.

        ERROR REDUCING TOOLS

        Phase 2: Build Balance Sheet Back Better

        This phase addressed usability gaps and aligned better with industry standards. Updates included:

        1. Streamlined Data Entry – Simplified workflows for adding financial assets and ownership percentages
        2. Redesigned Categories – Grouped assets under predefined headers for clarity
        3. Error Reduction Tools – Validation for required fields and intuitive prompts for incomplete data.

        These updates cut data entry time significantly and improved adoption rates. 

          Phase 3 (Current): Balance Sheet Overhaul

          Vanilla's Balance Sheet was enhanced to address usability gaps and improve compatibility by introducing tools that simplify complex data, allow customization, and support dynamic, impactful presentations. With features like drag-and-drop reordering, asset grouping, and dual views, the updated Balance Sheet allows advisors to deliver more productive planning conversations and visualize estates more effectively. 


            FIXED ROWS AND COLUMNS

            Problem Statement

            The first two Balance Sheet phases lacked customization features and faced usability challenges:

            • Limited View Options – Only supporting an account type view made it difficult for advisors to break down estates by asset type.
            • Rigid Structure – Rows and columns were fixed, limiting advisors' ability to adapt the layout for client presentations.
            • Hindered Engagement – Without flexible configuration options, advisors struggled to use the Balance Sheet effectively to emphasize specific planning strategies. 

            Goals

            Our goal for this project was to increase flexibility by enabling users to reorder rows and columns, simplify data management by providing tools to consolidate and organize information (reduce visual clutter) and enhance planning capabilities by enabling advisors to visualize estates more comprehensively. 


                How might we enable advisors to customize the Balance Sheet in a way that allows them to reorder rows, columns, and consolidate information, so they can present client data more efficiently and reduce the need for separate spreadsheets?

                Research

                With the product manager and customer success, we conducted interviews with financial advisors to understand their balance sheet needs. From these conversations, we learned that advisors have been leaving out Vanilla’s Balance Sheet during client conversations and instead have been using their own self-made balance sheet. This has been a pain point for users as it has delayed productivity and client engagement.

                Extensive feedback from these advisors highlighted the need for configurable views to focus on specific client needs. 


                    BALANCE SHEET DUAL VIEWS - ASSET TYPE AND ACCOUNT TYPE

                    Solution

                    The revamped Balance Sheet includes: 

                      1. Reordering Rows and Columns – Drag-and-drop functionality allows advisors to rearrange line items within headers
                      2. Grouping and Consolidation – Advisors can create and name custom groups within headers to combine similar items
                      3. Dual Views - Account type view organizes by account categories (i.e. annuities or real estate) and asset type view organizes by assets (i.e. marketable securities)   

                          REORDERING ROWS
                          GROUPING ROWS 


                          Lessons Learned

                          Through this project, we learned that flexibility is a non-negotiable. Tools that support diverse workflows are essential for advisor satisfaction and adoption. Also, user feedback is key. Through these three phases, we have relied on iterative testing and feedback to ensure our designs meet real advisor needs.  

                          Impact

                          The balance sheet overhaul provides advisors with an additional way of visualizing estate information. Additionally, it provides a new table to further implement customization enhancements. This has led to enhanced user adoption and improved efficiency. The customizable view has also allowed advisors to tailor presentations to improve client interaction. 

                          Next steps 

                          Based on user and internal feedback, the following enhancements are planned:

                          1. Custom Headers – Allow users to define and organize headers that suit their client needs
                          2. Timestamps and Logging – Implement a system to track changes, providing an audit trail for modifications made to the Balance Sheet

                          Conclusion

                          Overall, the Balance Sheet Overhaul showcases the impact of user-focused design on solving complex challenges. By prioritizing customization and usability, the product evolved into an impactful tool for financial advisors and their clients. This experience reinforces the importance of iterative design and collaboration to create effective solutions.