A tool for beginner traders to learn personal finance management and strategic investment to resonate with their ethical values.
Role
Design Systems Lead
UI Design Lead
Prototyping Lead
Timeline
Oct. 2024 - Dec. 2024
Team
Nicole Fiumara
Jessica Jung
Swati Sardesi
Overview
Our group developed a mobile app for the Maryland Institute College of Art’s Industry Challenge course. Our mobile app empowers individuals to make informed investment decisions that align with positive social and environmental impact. The app also reduces barriers for underserved communities interested in participating in the market.
Amateur investors that are interested in planning for their financial future find most online brokers to be overwhelming when finding companies to invest in that reflect their ethical beliefs, leading to them to not use investment tools.
Solving this problem will help amateur investors gain financial literacy and feel good about the companies they invest in. This is important because everyone should be able to plan for financial freedom and ensure their money supports purpose driven companies.
User Research
To develop a detailed plan of our research, we purposefully explored the motivations, concerns, and desired features in a fintech app for beginner investors seeking to prioritize purpose driven investments.
Before conducting user interviews, we categorized our questions into 3 types: Top Level, Deep Dive, and Ethics & Interests.
Interviewees of our target user group.
The team created two user personas to help us determine the user groups.
After conducting interviews with our user group, the team analyzed our insights and discovered our user's main pain points.
Investing is complex
Lack of resources
Trust and transparency
Findings
We found that users are eager invest in companies that prioritize social causes. Majority of users feel overwhelmed by the complexities of the investment process, but are interested in learning how to invest. Gaining valuable insights into the needs and wants of our user group, we looked for opportunities our product could have.
Gaining valuable insights into user group, we looked for opportunities of the needs and wants of the user.
Wireflows
Based on the 3 user flows, low fidelity wireframes were created to help determine main interactions and component placement.
Wireflow 1: User wants to start investing by using AI assisted technology to generate a list of companies that align with their ethics and goals.
Wireflow 2: User seeks to grow their knowledge through group activities by connecting with other investors for feedback, discussions, and community building.
Wireflow 3: User wants to monitor her investments, track key performance metrics, and explore sustainable investment opportunities.
After establishing our core flows, we then adapted a style guide complete with a color palette, logos, typography, and UI elements to build Brightseed's Atomic Design Structure.
Hi-Fidelity Prototype
Combining the low-fidelity wireflows with our design systems, the team went on to create our first round of hi-fidelity wireframes. Building the overall look and interactions of the Brightseed app.
Discovering companies with shared values with AVO — our A.I. assistant.
In this flow, we will take you through entering the AVO screen, to list generation, to stock profile page, and to the checkout screens.
To test the functionality of the prototype I spoke to 4 candidates over the course of 3 days. The candidates we chose reflected our user base: those that we new investing and/or wanted to invest in purpose-driven companies.
AI-Assisted company selection and investing.
Portfolio tracking and investment goal setting.
Insights
After user testing, the team analyzed our results, categorizing them into positive and negative outcomes. This feedback will help us optimize the user experience for Brightseed.
Interface is easy to use and navigate.
Portfolio section provided good snapshot of investments.
Screens were simple, clear, and easy to understand.
Completing certain tasks felt easy and intuitive.
Overall visually appealing.
Navigation icons are confusing to some users.
Some actions in community required too many steps to complete.
Portfolio section felt overwhelming for new users.
Desire to have additional customization features such as notification types, tool tips, and impact explanations.
Next Steps
Include labels below each logo in the Main Navigation bar to inform users.
Reduce amount of steps needed in all flows.
Test light background vs dark background.
Add a confirmation screen post-investment buy and sell.
Continue to refine screens where users felt overwhelmed by information.
Re-test prototype among user base.
When we took on this challenge, we initially planned to create a financial app with gamified features as an educational product. However, our users’ desire for a brokerage and financial literacy tool led us to focus on basic needs like investments and learning.
As the project progressed, we learned more about our team dynamics and working asynchronously. I managed the project while honing my design systems design skills. I took full ownership of the style guide and components, resulting in a great UI. The team met deadlines and improved the user experience of Brightseed.