Kat McCorkindale is Lifetime’s General Manager of Technology and Marketing. She recalls, “I joined Lifetime seven years ago. It’s been a rollercoaster adventure because we were a team of around 60 when I started and now there’s over 100 of us. Most shareholders are employees, so it’s a really radical, exciting company to work for and I love what we do.”

“We all live and breathe our purpose of creating greater financial certainty. We help people with their business and personal financial requirements, from accounting and insurance to mortgages and investments. And we support clients at every life stage from buying their first home to planning their legacy. But at the end of the day, our goal is always to achieve your financial goals. How do we get you living your best life?”

From evolving their website to building the My Lifetime app

Kat started working with Voyage in 2018 when we took over management of their website. Kat says, “Voyage took over our site and gave it a revamp. I got to know the team and see just how capable and competent they were. They did a few clever upgrades and feature enhancements and their innovative thinking was refreshing. They suggested ways we could structure data to deliver better client experiences and online user journeys.”

“However, our website is a very small part of the value Voyage have added to Lifetime. Voyage is so much more than web development, they're a full 

. As Lifetime grows we have digital transformation needs, so when we looked at building an app for our clients it was natural to have a conversation with Voyage.”

 It was a very enjoyable process and we were so chuffed with the result. The first things we did was get all our investment clients on the new app. That solved a big pain point. A third party provided our previous investment management platform, and it was so clunky people found it very difficult to use. The new app is clean and simple, and we got a lot of great feedback that gave our wider leadership team and our board confidence to continue to invest in the product.”

From evolving their website to building the My Lifetime app 

The success of the app led to another digital project designed to improve Lifetime’s internal processes while elevating their customer experience at the same time.

Kat explains, “Our CRM system stores all our client data. It's our backbone, but it isn’t always easy to use, so we wanted to make entering customer data easier for our advisors. At the same time, we were trying to create a competitive advantage and onboarding was an opportunity to stand out. Onboarding with financial advisors is traditionally clunky and painful. So, we talked to Voyage about how we could make it more fun and engaging.”

We built our Digital Discovery platform to help clients through a slick, interactive onboarding experience. We aim to capture all their hopes and desires about money to understand what they want to achieve with Lifetime. We also use it for progress check ins and to capture detailed data for specific services. The platform is fully integrated with our CRM system. Every field is painstakingly mapped to make sure data never has to be duplicated.”

“The first release of the Digital Discovery platform was rolled out in December 2022. Thousands of clients have used the tool. Almost 60% of our client engagements are going through the platform, which one year in is pretty good. And the feedback we've had is really cool. Improving our client experience was our number one goal. But a huge driver was also user experience. It's a competitive market out there. We have to recruit and retain the best financial advisors we can. These days advisors are asking during the recruitment process, what tools we use, so we want to make sure we've something compelling and enjoyable.”

Making onboarding fun and engaging 

Lifetime built their new client onboarding module first because they wanted to be sure that module was delivering value before building the whole Digital Discovery suite. Kat says, “The onboarding module is the only form that gets sent to clients for them to complete in their own home. So, it was a real test of good user interface design. Would clients not only start it, but actually finish it, and what quality data would they put in?”

The onboarding module was also solving a big pain point. Kat says, “In the financial advice industry, many firms’ onboarding processes ask clients to fill out 20-page documents. As you’d expect, most people don’t do this. We smashed our target with that first module. Clients are completing the new onboarding form with really high quality data, which means our meetings with them are better because we’re straight into the good stuff. That leads to us being more efficient. Those gains are coming through in our client satisfaction survey.”

“The big thing for me is we're having better client conversations and getting better results for us and our clients. We're an advice business. Our logo is a speech mark. Having wider conversations and understanding our clients better means we’re uncovering more ways to add value and introducing clients to more areas of the business, a key metric for us.”

“Also, by putting a structure around onboarding, we support our team and our clients through the process. Some of the stuff we talk about isn’t easy. We discuss things that can make couples argue and people cry. It's pretty challenging sometimes. But the questions have to be asked for us to do our job. Having the questions there on the screen in the Digital Discovery platform helps our advisers not shy away from those difficult topics.”

“One thing our clients like about us is we're a one-stop shop. Lifetime can handle your accounting, your loans and insurance, and your investments, but different people within Lifetime need to coordinate with each other to make this work. The Discovery platform gives all our specialists the data they need to collaborate and deliver good outcomes faster.”

“Another big win for me as a marketer is better client data. It’s accurate, up to date, and stored in the right place in the right format. We can anticipate client needs better, run better campaigns, create better apps and digital tools. Better data allows us to deliver more value.”

Solving onboarding pain points 

Every organisation hits that point in their growth curve where their digital systems need an overhaul. Whether that’s updating a clunky app or overhauling an inefficient, manual process like Lifetime’s old onboarding form, digital transformation isn’t always easy. Here’s a few words of advice from us and from Kat.

Don’t bite off more than you can chew. Come up with a simple first iteration of your solution that you can build to validate your return on investment. Don’t throw lots of cash at something complicated that won’t get you what you need.

Solid project management and partnership is key to delivering good results. The relationship we have with Lifetime is a two-way street. We’re always looking for the best way to solve their problems. We propose ideas and think big picture. The important thing for us is to build long-term partnerships with all our clients where we push each other to be better.

Kat’s biggest challenge with the Digital Discovery platform wasn’t technical. It was getting the Lifetime team to use the tool. She explains, “It took time for our team to embrace the platform, even though it seemed like a no-brainer. But we’ve a team of experienced people who’d learned our old systems and gotten really good at doing things one way. When you change the way you do things, it’s an obstacle to overcome. So even getting our team to adopt the onboarding module took persuading. But once they saw our clients enjoying the process and started to see the value, we started to see a positive trend.”

“It's hard to get your team on board. There’s a balance between letting them know they’ve been heard and making it clear that making a suggestion doesn't mean their idea will be used. The best tools aren't designed by committee. It comes back to the tried and tested principles of agile project management. Keep each step as simple as possible. And always communicate your why to your team, so they understand why you're doing this and what's in it for them. It’s not just about why something’s good for your shareholders and clients.”

Digitising your client engagement tools and systems 

Our goal is to be Lifetime’s technical partner for their digital marketing and product development needs, coming up with thought starters and helping drive solutions. Kat agrees. “Voyage understand our business so well. When Lifetime has a strategy discussion, I have that same conversation with my Voyage team, sharing what we’re hoping to achieve. I trust Voyage to know us and our needs because they’ve proven they deliver.”

“Obviously, their technical competency is excellent, but who they are as people matters too. They’re honest … sometimes almost to a commercial fault because they’re about the long-term relationship. If I've a strong view or I'm not happy about something, I feel so comfortable raising it. When you've got trust, you can have healthy conflict. If you don't have trust, you pull back from those tough conversations. We've got that fundamental strength in the relationship. We’re one team and that makes me very loyal to them.”

“I also trust Voyage to operate efficiently. They pitch ideas to match our budget and company size and build to anticipate our growth and future needs. One of my favourite things is they’re pragmatic with their design. Sometimes you come across development teams who want to use the latest, cutting-edge tech stack. That might be exciting for them, but it might require more learning for us, or come with more risk because it's not an established platform with full support. Voyage understand we're all about stable, mature tech because we're financial advisers.”

A loyal long-term partnership

The test of any relationship is when things go wrong. We asked Kat if she’s happy with how things are handled when the wheels fall off. Kat explains, “There will always be tricky bits in any technical project. There are going to be times where we fail to scope adequately or something isn't tested properly. The key thing is it's not about blame. With Voyage, we share each other's problems and pitfalls and it's never about finger pointing. It's very much a partnership. We're one team that shares failures and successes.”

“The good news is for the most part, we haven't had anything major go wrong. Sure, we've had bugs. That happens in software dev. Even Microsoft and Apple have bugs. So, we expect things to go wrong. It’s about how you respond when they do and Voyage is good at triaging high priority bugs fast. Also, we take responsibility on our end not to cry wolf. If we call something a priority one fix, it had better be urgent. And Voyage don't ever compromise on quality or safety. We’re pleased about that because we store people's important personal data, and the safety of our clients is paramount.”

“As much as I enjoy sharing what I’ve learned working with Voyage, I can't tell you to trust them. Trust has to be earned. But I can tell you how much I trust Voyage and how successful the projects we've done together have been. You don't work with a company for five years and increase your budget with them every year if you're not getting results. So, start small and give Voyage a crack on something simple. They'll prove themselves fast.”

One team, sharing failures and successes

Lifetime

Gaining a deep understanding the problems that customers face is how you build products that provide value and grow. It all starts with a conversation. You have to let go of your assumptions so you can listen with an open mind and understand what’s actually important to them. That way you can build something that makes their life better. Something they actually want to buy.

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 a nationwide advisory firm providing lifelong financial certainty for New Zealanders. Since 2018, they’ve been developing apps to improve their customer experience, solve problems, and grow.

Digital Discovery

How Lifetime use digital tools to streamline onboarding and have better client conversations

Bringing the tools and resources to educators around New Zealand

Right from the start we knew the website had to cater to educators, meaning teachers, homeschooling parents, and other key stakeholders within the community and sector. Overall, our job was to provide a central repository to find resources, tools and inspiration easily, efficiently and enjoyably.

In the discovery sessions, our design and development leads gathered important information, offered various solutions or options, gained clarity over what the Netsafe team wanted and what they didn’t, and began to formulate our direction and the scope of the project.

Two main findings from the discovery sessions were around the login and ease of use. When it came to how the site would function, the Voyage experts quickly came to the conclusion that the main homepage would be minimal in content offered, and the greater repository of content and tools would exist behind the login.

In this way, the Netsafe team would have insight into who was using the resource, and could ensure it’s only used by educators and isn’t being plagiarised. On ease of use, as the former Netsafe site was an overly complicated WordPress site, it was important that the Kete Education Hub would be simple to navigate, and find and edit content.

Finalising important details

Finalising a sitemap using the Octopus visual sitemap tool and website planner allowed Voyage to create a thorough overview of how the final site would be organised and structured. At this juncture, Netsafe had the chance to flag anything that needed changing and give the final go-ahead to development.

Next came designs. This required a couple of iterations to ensure the colour palette and general aesthetic experience of the web platform suited all stakeholders. The final decision saw Voyage moving away from the original Netsafe blues and colour tones to a more pastel, calming palette.

The design phase coincided with a re-brand for Netsafe, which required the Voyage experts to adapt in kind, while also not losing sight of the conclusions reached during the discovery sessions.

This project was also an excellent opportunity for the Voyage team to implement the principles and practice of content modelling. Essentially, this is a process that allows us to map out the content of a website or app so we know exactly what we need and why. It also flags what we’ll need at each point of the site build to ensure the finished product is fully functional and serves its purpose.

Creating sitemaps and designs for a winning website

Scott Bloomer

The final Kete Education Hub boasts a whole host of features and functionality, captures the new direction of the Netsafe brand, and delivers on the wish list compiled by the stakeholders in the initial discovery sessions.

Educators that visit the site are invited to set up a login, create a profile with chosen details about themselves and their role, and peruse the resources at their leisure, saving their favourites to their personal kete. These resources include information blogs and content, as well as interactive tools and quizzes. With a streamlined menu, it’s straightforward to hunt out content based on a specific query or topic, for instance year groups, staying safe online, or advice for parents and school staff.

A fully functional and intuitive education hub

Bringing in top tech to solve real challenges

During the website build, the development team came up with simple and elegant solutions for Netsafe’s wish list. SanityCMS was foundational in making maintenance, organisation and editing of the site much simpler. It also effectively safeguards the site for future ideas and iterations as it’s very easy to add in more micro-sites and features, and to continue to build out content over time.

MagicLinks was used to make the login process one-click and remove any worries about passwords. Supabase was used for authentication and user management, NextJs for a beautiful frontend, Vercel for optimised hosting, and Algolia to make search as functional as possible.

Simplicity, customisation and accessibility were all aspects of this website build that went above and beyond brief. The Netsafe team can add, change, update and build out any resource or aspect of the site with ease in the backend of the CMS, which is much more streamlined than their previous Wordpress site.

The capability review tool, created to generate a strong culture of online safety and digital citizenship across schools and students, was made completely from scratch and enables educators to assess current capability, identify areas for development, and track progress towards school online safety goals.

Finally, accessibility is something we’re very passionate about at Voyage - after all, we want as many people as possible to be able to use digital platforms. We included key considerations around colour contrast and usability from the front and backend to make sure both the Netsafe team and educators could use the Kete fully.

Netsafe

Netsafe and Voyage have teamed up on a multi-phased project, with the Kete Education Hub the first phase. As with any long-term relationship, first we had to get to know each other. Our initial discovery workshops laid out the plan and created a priority list so we knew where we were starting, and thus the education hub project began.

Netsafe Kete

Creating a web platform that delivers resources and inspiration to New Zealand’s educators.

Jucy Group, a leading camper van and rental car company in Australia and New Zealand, embarked on a mission to redefine the RV website landscape following their acquisition of Star RV. Wanting to do things a bit differently to other rental websites, they turned to Voyage to craft an immersive and captivating online experience. With clear navigation, simplified headers and segments, and a striking emphasis on visuals, the new website inspires adventure in people of all ages.

The Star RV website centres around the concept of "Star Stories" where the vivid adventures and personal narratives of Star RV users can take centre stage. This inspired the creation of a multimedia-rich digital experience that relied heavily on engaging videos and captivating imagery to narrate these stories, serving as the storytelling canvas.

, a creative studio versed in storytelling for brands to help bring the adventures to life. Together we meticulously crafted the visual identity and user experience that would distinctly position the Star RV website in a league of its own.

Prototyping in Figma to realise visual excellence

From here we embarked on an iterative prototyping journey, translating design thinking into interactive Figma prototypes. The essence of Star Stories was our guiding light, bringing our design decisions together with key strategic intent. Through intentional placements of videos and images, our aim was to not only captivate users' attention but also immerse them in the genuine RV experience, ensuring that brand storytelling resonated with authenticity.

Our process

Tim Avni

Leveraging advanced tech stacks to realise value

Our tech stack was instrumental in turning design visions into reality. By utilising the capabilities of React, TypeScript, and Next.js, we sculpted a dynamic and high-performing frontend, harnessing the efficiency of statically generated pages. Our project was built on an advanced design system anchored by Tailwind CSS, which enables rapid iteration, scalability and consistency.

When approaching the project build we wanted to make sure we were meeting accessibility standards, so we integrated Radix UI, a low-level UI component library with accessibility built in from day one. Alongside Class Variance Authority (CVA) to manage styling variants, this helped form the foundation of our design system. Development was further enhanced through the utilisation of Storybook for isolated UI component construction, making sure we had a comprehensive and efficient approach to building modular elements.

Leveraging Headless CMS with video and personalisation functionality

To empower the content management process, we integrated Strapi as the backend CMS, streamlining the process for effortless content updates. As a headless CMS, Strapi is designed for content-rich experiences, which was exactly what we needed for StarRV. It greatly simplifies content management, from creation to consumption, across all digital devices.

A pivotal part of the backend was the need to support unparalleled video experience. While imagery was important, video allowed us to convey the evocative emotions of travel, sharing star stories of those who found something special with StarRV. Instead of relying on conventional video platforms such as YouTube or Vimeo, we implemented Mux. This technology allowed us to exercise greater control over video playback and presentation, ensuring a personalised, immersive encounter for users.

Taking an iterative and quality driven approach

Iterative development and rigorous quality assurance ensures we can preview our work at every stage, while also enabling quicker testing and the merging of new features. It also allows us to monitor performance, accessibility and adherence to best practices, with automated reports offering insights into what’s working and what can be improved.

Our work with StarRV was a resounding success, as we were able to deliver against our client’s core objectives. We made sure editing and managing the site was simple and easy for the StarRV team, visitors to the site could easily find stunning and personal travel stories about trips throughout Australia and New Zealand, and those who had booked with the site were encouraged to share their own stories to keep the site fresh and engaging. The end result of the back and frontend work was an uptake in vehicle bookings, as people were inspired to explore their backyard and beyond.

Outcome

Jucy

Meticulously crafting a visual identity and user experience that would distinctly position the StarRV Website in a league of it’s own

Star RV

Education New Zealand

NauMai NZ is designed to be a one-stop shop digital platform for international students in New Zealand, which provides advice, support and links to expert resources for students, complementing information supplied by Educational institutions.

NauMai NZ

We were approached by Two Raw Sisters to design & develop an iOS and Android mobile app that would inspire all eaters to rethink the way they traditionally start a meal - by making plants the centrepiece of the table.

The app gives subscribers access to 350+ nutritionally approved recipes, meal plans, women’s health features, and a customised shopping list.

Overview

Prioritising ease of use and search-ability

In collaboration with Two Raw Sisters, Voyage developed the design of the app by focussing on the user experience and making sure the app was easy to use.

The team set up DatoCMS for the content and built the app using the react native framework.

The app was tested using the iOS sandbox and play store before being passed over to the client to do user acceptance testing alongside a select number of test users.

Once the feedback from user acceptance testing was incorporated, the apps were submitted for review, ready to be published.

The first version of the app was released on 27 March 2023 and provides the foundation on which the app can be improved and developed further overtime to meet the needs of users.

How we helped

Keziah Rackley-Gale

For the mobile app to be successful, we knew that it required systems that were as easy to use as the product itself.

Key deliverables included displaying 350+ nutritionally approved recipes and meal plans, handling user favourites, implementing a customised shopping list, and enabling user subscriptions.

To achieve this, the app was built using React Native, which is an industry-standard framework for cross-platform development. We opted to use DatoCMS for content management due to its ease of use and quick learning curve. To ensure easy management of subscriptions, we implemented RevenueCat, which allowed the data to be managed in one place.

Overall, the combination of these technologies helped us meet the deliverables and create a top-notch user experience for both iOS and Android users.

Two Raw Sisters

From best-selling cookbooks to an internationally-recognised app (that’s where we come in), Two Raw Sisters have paved the way for simple, delicious and nutritious meals, born from their personal passion and love for food being a way to come together while also fuelling our bodies with what’s best.

Two Raw Sisters App

Education New Zealand approached us as they were looking to replace the My StudyNZ matching tool they currently had on their site to create a brand new experience they could offer for their users. The new tool offers prospective students the ability to complete a profile containing their profile information and study preferences. Upon the completion of this profile, they will be presented with study recommendations that best match their profile. Your Study with NZ Account also enables prospective students to amend their profile details to generate different/new recommendations. They will also be able to save recommendations to their saved list and keep track of the courses or providers they have enquired about.

Working alongside a number of agencies, Voyage developed and delivered this new web application with the goal to create a brand new experience Education New Zealand could offer to their prospective and current students while making sure it was easy to use and inclusive for everyone.

Once we were provided with the initial requirements and designs from ENZ we started collaborating with ENZ and the various agencies working on the project to refine the requirements and find efficient ways of achieving ENZ’s goals.

After this stage we were confident we were on a solid path and we got into developing the solution. Along the way we worked closely with our QA tester to ensure each feature was robust before handing the feature off to ENZ who would then provide final sign off.

Penetration testing was conducted to ensure there were no aspects of security that were overlooked. This was particularly important as the site was handling user data.

This was released on Tuesday 7 March, 2023 and provides the foundation on which this web application can be improved and enhanced further overtime to meet the needs of Education New Zealand’s student requirements.

Andrew Nicholas

The new MyPath addition required students to authenticate themselves to be able to favourite and enquire about various education options in New Zealand. These options covered courses, education providers, scholarships, and education agents. The addition also needed to provide a user dashboard behind authentication that would display their favourited, enquired and recommended education options.

Auth0 was used as the authentication service. This enabled us to simply and securely add authentication into the website.

The site integrated with a custom third party API which provided the list of recommendations, and allowed us to submit enquiries and favourite various education options.

For each education option we needed to supplement the data coming from the third party API. We were able to use Algolia to fetch this additional data. The major advantage of Algolia in this instance was its lightning quick response times which had a great impact on our ability to show the options quickly.

Overall, the combination of these technologies and working alongside a number of agencies who were also a big part of getting this project delivered helped us meet the deliverables and create an excellent user experience for both mobile and desktop devices.

Cassie Merrick

Your Study with NZ Account helps you easily find the right study options. You can view recommendations personally matched to you, save your favourites and keep track of all your enquiries.

MyPath

Following the formation of the 'super polytech' Te Pūkenga in February 2020, Voyage was presented with the opportunity to create a fresh digital presence to match the renewed approach to vocational education in New Zealand.

Te Pūkenga

 we developed a new home for learning in New Zealand

Education New Zealand, is New Zealand's Government agency for building international education. They promote New Zealand as a study destination and support the delivery of education services offshore as well as administering scholarships for New Zealanders studying overseas. Working alongside a number of agencies, Voyage delivered a new web experience that showcases the diverse range of education options, and the lifestyle choices that New Zealand has to offer.

Brief

As borders closed amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, Education New Zealand needed a new way to attract and attain overseas interest in Studying with New Zealand.

Study with New Zealand

 offers a full-service financial advisory committed to creating greater financial certainty through all life stages.

This is delivered through a wide range of financial services such as KiwiSaver, retirement planning and residential investment advice all aimed at serving a wide range of people from different financial backgrounds.

MyLifetime

The initial briefing came in at 6:30pm on a Monday, with the site set to go live shortly after the Prime Minister’s announcement on the Wednesday at 9am. A massive through-the-night effort saw the Voyage team provided an efficient SilverStripe development, standing up a complete site which was to act as the key information hub for all official New Zealand Covid-19 information throughout the global pandemic

The project included frontend development, backend development, SilverStripe CMS and 24/7 support. Following the deployment, our response team continued to work around the clock, managing huge traffic volumes, and design and development updates as the situation evolved. Each press release brought new challenges for our team to apply ourselves too.

In under 48 hours we built and launched the site from the ground up

Coffee's were consumed in the making of this site

Over 300,000 visitors to the site in the first 10 minutes

The Unite against Covid-19 website was not just about the nation uniting, but our team at Voyage uniting to deliver in unprecedented times

Department of Internal Affairs

Voyage is proud to be part of the team behind New Zealand’s initial response to Covid-19, building the covid19.govt.nz website in less than 48 hours. Working with 

 on design, we developed what would soon become one of New Zealand’s most visited websites.

Unite Against Covid-19

MaiENZ

New Zealand Defence Force

Defence Careers helps people find the career for them within the New Zealand Defence Force, whether that be in the Navy, Army, Air Force or in one of their civilian roles. With roles for everyone the defence force offers a range of career opportunities for those fresh out of high school, with and without further tertiary education and other civilians who have a passion for helping those in need.

Defence Careers

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