Creating a smart-guided application form for simplicity and speed

The Ask

A major bank sought out Paralucent to enhance the current Retirement Disabilities Savings Plan (RDSP) application process. (An RDSP is a registered savings plan that helps Canadians who are eligible for the Disability Tax Credit save for the future.)

The ask was to replace the existing PDF application by a smart-guided application form that would make it more user-friendly, enhance the user experience, reduce errors, simplify data entry, eliminate redundant information and speed up the application process.

The Challenge

The initial scope was to produce a standard PDF document on a user’s local device as the output of the smart-guided application form. However, if changes were required on the application form, the user would have to repeat the entire process. Another consideration was ensuring that the processes were user-friendly, since a lot of information was being gathered. The other major challenge was to get the various groups at the bank to sign off on the architecture and design of the application as information security is important for all parties involved. Working with the various business stakeholders added complexity to the project, but also led to strong teamwork and collaboration.

The Process

The RDSP is a government-sponsored initiative. In order for someone to apply for these benefits, information provided on the bank’s application form must be consistent with information on file with Employment and Social Development Canada and the Canada Revenue Agency. The software takes in all the required information and fills out multiple forms in a secure and easy-to-edit process. Our solution streamlined the entire process by allowing the application to take in all the required information in one step and print out all the required forms—the bank application form as well as the forms required by government agencies from the same information source, thereby ensuring consistency and efficiency. To overcome the concern about having to re-do the process if information needed to be updated, we opted to integrate the capability to output an editable PDF document. This would allow changes to be made without having to start from scratch. To accommodate this, Paralucent hosted the application on an AWS cloud so the backend processing would enable the application to output a writeable PDF.

Measuring Success

The key benefit of the solution is that the presenting screen walks the user through the whole RDSP process. Advisors have the ability to quickly input all the information, modify it, and integrate it with government forms. The goals created by the Paralucent team include a 35% reduction in errors within this process and an approximate two- to three-fold reduction in time required for advisors to fill out these multiple forms.

Services we provided:

  • Application Modernization
  • Cloud
  • Data and analytics

Learn more about our services on our technology page.