Challenge

Create a from-scratch, responsive web app for a fintech startup that allows retail investors to buy structured notes for as little as $1,000.

Jump ahead:

Mobile prototype
Desktop prototype

• My Role: Lead Designer
• My Team: 2 Product Managers, 2 front end developers, 4 backend developers
• Client: In-House Role
• Business Goal: Create diversity in existing product portfolio and generate new revenue streams
• Duration:1 year

Why structured notes?

A structured note is a type of investment which allows you to invest in stocks and equities without direct market exposure. Generally a complex investment product, structured notes have historically been used exclusively by wealthy investors with a financial advisor. Because of this, a large majority of everyday investors are unfamiliar with structured notes. The startup sought to democratize this investment vehicle. How might we design the app in a way that makes notes feel approachable? How do we educate while maintaining people's attention?

Process

1. Started with high-level business needs and proposed a vision
2. Discovery phase focused on concept validation, market fit, and design iteration
3. Created a Figma prototype to communicate vision to users, stakeholders, & developers
4. Created detailed designs and worked with engineers to make product a reality

Discovery

Concept Exploration

I worked very closely with my product manager/structured note SME to create some early designs. I made three small design concepts that presented notes in different ways. What problems could this investment solve for people? How do people prioritize those types of problems in real life? I used these questions as north stars to think about ways to visualize the UI The below concepts used the idea of a weekly featured note and searchable, trending notes as jumping off points.

Research & Design Iteration

Once we had some ideas down, we began what was ultimately a very in-depth process of user testing and rapid prototyping. The bulk of this early user research occured over several months. Our goal (and eventual output) was to find a clear product vision, a product/market fit we were confident in, and clarity around who our future users might be.

• Discovery ran from approximately June - December 2021
• 43 interviews (participants sourced via userinterviews.com) using proto-personas as a guide
• Over 1,000 people surveyed (across 5 separate Maze studies)
• Countless design iterations

Test > Iterate > Repeat

I put a lot of care into how we were presenting complex concepts, studying what participants had trouble grasping and what we could do to simplify. I iterated or removed anything that missed the mark or wasn’t valuable enough. My goal was to make the design “invisible” and get participants to talk about structured notes. After a few rounds of testing/iterating, this exact phenomenon started to occur.

Our user research and iterations led us to the following conclusions, which shaped our final concepts:

• Notes presented as themed baskets (for example, FANG companies or environmental companies), which made notes feel more accessible to participants
• Learning module was tested for different lengths, presentation of content, and even the premise of needing a learning module at all (answer was yes)
• Teach users how notes work through interactive examples (“How it works” tab on note details screen), streamlined “Learn” module, tooltips and slide-out info panels
• limit the data on screen, focus on the narrative and key info

Updated Personas

We filled in the proto-personas with data-driven details we learned from testing. While we did not have real users yet, this seemed to be the demographic we would eventually be serving.

• Gender had no significant bearing on wants or behaviors
• Likely to invest $1-5k to start (self-reported via ~20+ interviewed participants)
• Risk tolerance has minimal bearing on how much they'd invest with Halo; $1k seen as small
• Interest in alternative investments is high across the board

Final MVP designs

After nailing down our direction, we got to work get everything development ready. We worked with a team of six engineers to bring the vision to life.

Note: Both prototypes are robust and good representatives of the built app.