Opening a bank account in the middle of a tax return.

Context

Spruce was a new banking product being introduced into H&R Block's existing tax flow. The offer was regulated, and the flow it joined already spanned multiple products, handoffs, and user types.

My work centered on the in-office integration across tax-prep software and the customer-facing companion monitor. I coordinated with peer designers working on adjacent online and mobile touchpoints so the Assisted experience remained coherent with the broader product system.

Mapping the tax journey

Before designing screens, I worked with stakeholders to inventory H&R Block's products, service paths, and decision points. Customers entered different paths and saw different combinations of offers depending on channel, product context, and progress in the office.

I used flow maps and working boards to find where Spruce prompts belonged, where they would create friction, and which adjacent teams needed to sign off on overlaps. The mapping showed where deeper integration was required and where lighter alignment was enough.

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1

1Approval

Amazon, Chosen Products Review, then Refund Advance eligibility.

2

2Financial Product Offers

The note under Refund Distribution: For clients with existing Spruce cards, we would want a treatment here to show Spruce. If a client is not getting an EC, we would also want a treatment here that shows Spruce instead of EC.

3

3BlockWorks Legacy 2020

Labeled "Emerald Card Focused" on the board and mapped as step labels without screens.

Conditional logic in BlockWorks

The in-office software had tight UI and technical constraints, so new architecture could not be invented freely. I focused the wireframes on conditional logic, decision sequencing, and message clarity inside what the system could support.

Tax Pro and customer screens

In the office, the Tax Pro worked in one software environment while the customer followed parts of the process on a companion monitor. The two screens had different jobs.

Usability testing showed customers were quick to feel overwhelmed when too many options or too much product explanation appeared at once. Tax Pros often preferred denser screens because the detail helped them explain choices and sell related H&R Block products. I simplified where customers needed confidence and speed, and kept density where Tax Pros needed context and control.

The in-store handoff, including QR-based sign-up on the companion monitor, came from working through what information was legally passable and what was merely distracting.

Testing and decision paths

I partnered with H&R Block's research team on multiple rounds of usability testing with customers and Tax Pros, moving from wireframes to higher-fidelity prototypes. Each round tried different copy densities, sequencing, and sign-up prompts. Changes that came out of testing:

• Removed nonessential legal copy from the companion monitor and parts of the Tax Pro flow where it added friction without helping decisions
• Reframed the offer around refund timing to match what users expected
• Refined choice architecture and copy to make decision paths clearer
• Let users continue through earlier steps without forcing an immediate sign-up decision

Emerald CardDirect depositOffboarding and return

Inspect whole board

Refund Distribution → Emerald Card Selected. The note under Refund Distribution asks for a Spruce treatment for existing Spruce clients and for clients not getting an Emerald Card.

Outcome

My 2022 work covered the design and testing of the Assisted Spruce integration. H&R Block publicly reported that Spruce launched in the Assisted channel in January 2023, the following tax season. This case does not claim that every proposed state shipped unchanged or that later adoption and business results were caused by my design work.