Rethinking digital pensions: Experiences that serve, not distract

Automatic Enrolment was a landmark success. Over ten million people are now saving for retirement who might never have participated otherwise. Yet what looked like a problem solved has revealed new, more complex challenges: contribution levels remain too low for many to enjoy a comfortable retirement, engagement is sporadic, and the shift from employer to individual responsibility has left many unsure how to act.

The challenge now is not to bring people in and onboard them, it’s to help them move forward.

Digital platforms and channels sit at the centre of this next phase. They are the mechanism by which the industry can turn passive participation into active decision-making. But that only happens when digital experiences are designed to serve, not to distract.

Understanding members through generational mindsets

The diversity of members’ needs and behaviours means one-size-fits-all solutions rarely work. Understanding generational and life stage mindsets can help providers design experiences that resonate with real people, ensuring that engagement is meaningful rather than performative.

Millennials & Gen Z: Comfort with tech, discomfort with uncertainty

Early-career Millennials and Gen Z are digitally fluent and expect instant access to information. Yet they’re also navigating unstable housing markets, student loans, and an economic climate that makes long-term planning feel abstract. For them, pensions can seem distant and dull, something to be dealt with “later.”

Digital tools can make later feel like now. By translating contributions into relatable outcomes, what a £50 top-up this month could mean at age 65, or how investments contribute to causes they care about,  platforms can convert awareness into immediate, manageable action.

Generation X: Pragmatic, pressed for time

Gen X is in the thick of it – careers, families, mortgages. They don’t have time for endless notifications or gamified dashboards. They want relevant, personalised information that respects their attention and shows them how their small choices make their future more secure.

For this group, the most valuable digital experiences are those that provide meaningful nudges, not noise. When tools clearly demonstrate the return on incremental effort, a one-per-cent contribution increase, a recalibration after a job change, engagement becomes purposeful rather than perfunctory.

Baby Boomers: From planning to peace of mind

Pre-retirement Baby Boomers are shifting from accumulation to consolidation. Their focus is on stability and predictability, not experimentation. They need reassurance that their decisions are sound and their data accurate.

For them, the key action is often confirmation: checking that the plan holds together, that income projections make sense, that the numbers can be trusted. Clear design, secure access, and straightforward navigation give this cohort confidence to act when it matters most – whether that’s adjusting drawdown plans or deciding when to retire.

Three pillars of effective digital pensions products

These differences across generations point toward three shared priorities for effective digital product design, each one essential for turning inertia into action.

Clarity – A well-designed platform reduces friction. It answers questions before users even know they have them and provides easy pathways to take the next step, whether that’s changing a contribution rate or consolidating pots.

Trust – Security and compliance are the foundation of confidence. Members must believe that what they see is correct and that their information is safe. Trust transforms passive scrolling into decisive behaviour.

Data Integrity – Without reliable, up-to-date data, everything else collapses. The pensions industry’s long-standing data debt remains its biggest obstacle. Clean, connected data doesn’t just improve accuracy, it makes it possible to give members advice-like guidance that feels personal and actionable without crossing regulatory lines.

AI and the shift from engagement to action

Artificial Intelligence has the potential to address many of these challenges, but its value lies not in multiplying notifications or inflating screen time, but in creating relevance.

• Early-career Millennials and Gen Z can see how modest, consistent contributions accumulate over time or understand the social impact of investments.
• Mid-career professionals can understand how changes in earnings, family circumstances, or market conditions affect their projected retirement outcomes.
• Pre-retirement members can model different income scenarios under varying assumptions, building confidence in their decisions today.

AI’s job in this scenario is to remove barriers to action, delivering the right insight at the right moment, not keeping people hooked to a dashboard.

Measuring outcomes

The pensions industry has long measured success in participation and engagement rates with customers. The next chapter will be judged by the ability to translate participation into active savings progress. When members understand their position, trust the data, and see what to do next, action naturally follows.

Valuable engagement isn’t about how often people log in. It’s about what happens after they do.

Regardless of generation or life stage, every person with a pension is aiming for the same outcome: a financially healthy future. We must help them take the right steps, at the right time, to get there. The result won’t just be better digital products, but a more confident generation of savers, and ultimately, a more sustainable pension system.

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We design and develop trusted digital products for leading pension providers. Contact our experts today to see how we can help!