New perspectives

With the apoAsset relaunch, the fund company and the Visionaere agency demonstrate how strategic design and innovative technology can be combined in a user-centered online presence that is not only visually appealing, but also accessible and functional for every user.

Setting the course: from strategy workshop to user-centered design

The course for the relaunch was set during a strategic remote workshop. The most important requirements were defined in an interdisciplinary project team together with the apoAsset experts from management, marketing and sales. A competitor analysis by the Visionaere agency provided insights into the market situation and best practices and provided impetus for the new information architecture. The focus was on translating the specific needs of the various target groups – from private investors to consultants and partners to institutional investors – into a new, user-centered structure. The aim was to make navigation intuitive and reduce the complexity of the fund section in order to shorten user paths.

Clear visuals, intuitive navigation

A key objective of the redesign was to implement the desire for a clean, generous look. The sometimes complex financial products were to be made accessible and easy to understand, and apoAsset’s dual specialization in multi-asset and healthcare funds was to be made visible.

Particular attention was paid to the design of the “Insights” section, which underpins apoAsset’s expertise with current articles, videos and press releases. An interactive filter option allows users to sort the content according to their individual interests. This increases the relevance of the information and strengthens loyalty to the brand.

Accessibility as a basic design principle

Accessibility was seen as an integral part of the design from the outset and not as an afterthought. The design team was guided by the comprehensive specifications of WCAG 2.2 (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines), which go far beyond the mere legal requirements. This strategic approach creates decisive added value and strengthens the brand image. Sven Lützen, Managing Director of Strategy Consulting at Visionaere, emphasizes the importance of this approach: “An accessible website is not just a legal necessity – especially for responsible financial companies. It expresses the company’s aspiration to make products and content accessible to as many people as possible.”

In practice, this means the consistent implementation of various design decisions. These include ensuring strong contrasts between text and background to optimize perception for visually impaired users. In addition, clear focus indicators have been implemented to enable intuitive keyboard navigation for users with motor impairments. The provision of meaningful alternative text for all images and graphics also ensures that screen readers and other assistive technologies can correctly convey the visual content. This careful implementation ensures that the website is usable by a wide audience without limitations and demonstrates a deep understanding of inclusive design.

Technical architecture for maximum efficiency

The strategic and design decisions were underpinned by a robust and future-proof technical implementation. Visionaere relied on a modern and agile architecture.

A modular system with WordPress, Timber and ACFack

A combination of the CMS WordPress, the extension Timber (Twig Templates) and the Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) plugin was chosen for the relaunch. Timber separates the program logic (PHP) from the presentation (HTML), resulting in clean code and faster development and maintenance. The ACF plugin provides the necessary flexibility to make even complex content structures intuitively editable for editors. This modular structure is the basis for efficient further development of the website and ensures that future adaptations can be implemented without great effort. This reduces long-term operating costs for the customer and enables a high level of agility.

Data integration at the heart of the fund website

A key aspect of a modern financial website is the reliable, up-to-date presentation of fund data. To ensure this, various API interfaces were connected to seamlessly integrate fund information from data providers and capital management companies (KVGs) such as HANSAINVEST and Anevis into the website.

This connection enables the automatic display of fund information in real time, which eliminates the need for manual updates and ensures the reliability of the data. This technical solution ensures that both private investors and sales partners or institutional investors have access to up-to-date information at all times.

Tailor-made content for different profiles

The technical implementation reflects the target group constellation of apoAsset. Visionaere’s development team developed a solution that enables individual outputs for different user profiles. Based on the profile selection (private investors, consultants & partners, institutional investors), specific content, navigation elements and documents are displayed. This approach ensures that the information displayed is highly relevant and also reflects the legal requirements. The entire website has also been developed to be fully responsive to ensure optimal display on all end devices – from desktop to tablet to mobile devices.

Collaboration delivers the best results

The success of the project is the result of close and trusting collaboration. The close timing of the implementation, which was completed in just 4.5 months, is proof of the speed and agility of the project teams at the agency and client. Sandra Düppe, Communications & Marketing Manager at apoAsset, is very positive about the collaboration: “The relaunch went smoothly despite the ambitious schedule. The collaboration with Visionaere was characterized by mutual trust and a deep understanding of our needs right from the start. The convincing result shows that reliability and a common goal are the basis for successful digital projects.”

Outlook

With its new website, apoAsset is positioning itself as a modern, future-oriented player in the financial market. The modular structure allows the platform to be continuously developed and adapted to the needs of users.

Positive aspects of this project:

• Early involvement of all stakeholders: Tight project scheduling requires continuous, close communication and decision-making by all parties involved.
• Accessibility as a strategic investment: Accessibility is not an option, but a necessity and a quality feature that improves the reach and perception of the brand.
• Modularity for future viability: The decision in favor of a modular design (Timber & ACF) not only reduces development time, but also enables cost-effective scaling in the future.
• Quality assurance as an ongoing task: To ensure accessibility after the relaunch, processes for content creation should also be established.