RUNNER UP AT DESIGNATHON 2023
InvestIQ
LOLLYPOP DESIGN STUDIO
INTRODUCTION
The Project
Designathon by Lollypop Design Studio is a 16 hour design sprint where teams are given a problem statement and have to come up with and design screens for their version of the perfect solution.
Deliverables
User surveys
User personas
Information Architecture
Competitive analysis
Wireframing
Prototyping
Design Role
UX Design
UX Research
UI Design
Duration
16 hours
Tools Used
Figma
FigJam
Google Forms
Please note: this project is best viewed on desktop.
Design a solution that streamlines the investment process for novice investors, boosting their confidence and enthusiasm when purchasing their first stock or mutual fund.
THE PROBLEM STATEMENT
When purchasing a stock or a mutual fund, users undergo a lot of emotions — often feeling doubt, uncertainty and overall feeling like the leap to their first investment is too large to take on. The goal here was to ease out the process by reaffirming the users that they are in safe hands.
New investors often face significant barriers when entering the world of stock and mutual fund investments.
CONTEXT
When it comes to making their first investment, a lot of new and first time investors often face significant barriers when entering the world of stock and mutual fund investments, including a lack of confidence, limited understanding of the investment process, and overwhelming amounts of information, sometimes not enough. The question therefore was: is there a way to streamline this process for even the newest of the new members?
We followed three main steps, which were further subdivided as shown below.
THE DESIGN PROCESS
1 DISCOVER
PRIMARY RESEARCH
SECONDARY RESEARCH
USER PERSONAS
2 DEFINE
EMPATHY MAPPING
DEFINING SOLUTIONS
INFO ARCHITECTURE
3 IDEATE
WIREFRAMING
DESIGN SYSTEM
USER INTERFACE
We conducted 15 semi-structured interviews to gain firsthand knowledge of the pain points users face when attempting to begin their investment journey.
1.1 PRIMARY RESEARCH
To understand core problems faced by users while investing.
To uncover trigger elements that hold back users from making their first purchase.
Interview Objectives
People between the ages of 18-29.
Focused on users who are just beginning to earn and extrapolated their issues to users who have been earning for longer as well.
Interview Participants
What does investing mean to you?
Do you face any problems while investing?
Can you elaborate on the problems you face?
What would make the process easier for you?
Some Interview Questions
The interviews were based around the previously mentioned questions, but were semi-structured in nature.
Probing questions were asked as and when needed.
Interviews were between 20 and 30 minutes.
On the Interview Structure
Some screenshots from the interviews.
Interview Insights
Here are the key insights that were found:
USER INTERVIEWS: RESULTS
We also floated a short survey to kick off our competitor analysis.
USER SURVEY
The demographic of the respondents.
Survey results.
We did a competitor analysis to understand what apps that are presently successful have in common, and to identify what they may be missing.
1.2 SECONDARY RESEARCH
Kite by Zerodha, Groww and Upstox were some of the products we considered during the competitor analysis. These apps are among the most popular in India, and were commonly used among users that filled the survey (Zerodha and Groww) and those we interviewed (Upstox).
This is really where we started crafting our solution. We zoomed in on the importance of onboarding as an important facet to bring about user retention.
We realised that a smooth, engaging onboarding is key for user retention.
SECONDARY RESEARCH
Research shows that good onboarding helps retain users — and this retention allows them to move forward and make their first investment. We realised that if our product manages to keep the user’s attention for the duration of the onboarding, the cogs begin turning in their mind to actually use the product to make an investment. The positive nudges toward making an investment can happen only after this phase has been passed, and that is why we emphasised this feature significantly.
We studied the average Indian person’s financial literacy to make decisions about the feature structure of the app.
SECONDARY RESEARCH
One of the common trends we found from our primary research was a lack of information in the users’ minds about both the way that investments work, as well as with some of the common terminologies required in the investing world. When we researched this topic, we found the above as results — and due to this data (and the implied prevalence of the issue) we decided to include a section in the bottom nav dedicated purely towards learning and keeping up with the market.
We also found that gamified experiences greatly increase customer retention and satisfaction.
SECONDARY RESEARCH
We wanted our product to feel friendly and interactive so that our users feel comfortable. To do so, we introduced elements of gamification. This also served as a means to retain users, as verified by secondary research.
Finally, we also verified that personalisation positively impacts user experience.
SECONDARY RESEARCH
We wanted our product to feel friendly and interactive so that our users feel comfortable. To do so, we introduced elements of gamification. This also served as a means to retain users, as verified by secondary research.
I used the insights I found to create two user personas.
1.3 USER PERSONAS
These personas are referred to throughout the product life cycle in order to remain focused while making redesign decisions.
Meet Raj:
USER PERSONA 1
This is Raj Patel.
Demographic: Raj is a 24 year old interior designer, based in Mumbai, India.
Goals: He started working 10 months ago, and believes his total income is lacking. He wants to begin investing because he knows that it can help him earn money, but there’s so much risk involved that he’s scared about starting and trusting people with his money.
Motivations: He wants to get the confidence to actually take the plunge and invest. To get familiar with the process and feel like he’s in safe hands.
Frustrations: There is so much risk involved, and he feels like there is no guarantee of his money’s safety. He opens apps and feels overwhelmed and often simply closes them.
Meet Anushka:
USER PERSONA 2
This is Anushka Gupta.
Demographics: Anushka is a 21 year old final-year engineering student, and she is from Bengaluru, India.
Goals: When COVID restricted everyone to their homes, she had some extra time to learn, and her dad suggested that she tries investing. Her dad is willing to provide any monetary support if and when required along with guidance.
Motivations: To dabble in the world of investment. To get familiar with the process and see that it’s fun and doable.
Frustrations: There are so many options of where to begin, and there are so many places to go. She doesn’t know what to do.
2.1 EMPATHY MAP
To understand the users’ thoughts and actions better, I created an empathy map.
With the users in mind and having consolidated all the pain points, we began to define our features of our solution.
2.2 DEFINE SOLUTIONS
We chose to make InvestIQ a product that deals with mutual funds only. This is for a variety of reasons:
Some of the other solution features are outlined below:
Upon finalising all the key solution features are mapped out, I created the information architecture.
2.3 INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE
With the user flow and information architecture to get us started, we began designing wireframes.
3.1 LOW FIDELITY WIREFRAMES
Here is the design system:
3.2 THE DESIGN SYSTEM
3.3 HIGH FIDELITY WIREFRAMES
Here are the some of the final designs for InvestIQ.
The complete set of screens are better viewed on Figma.
Categorising users during onboarding.
EXPERIENCE 1
InvestIQ is a product meant to provide solutions after hearing out the user, as opposed to right away. Categorising users during onboarding provides a customised experience, and drives home that we’re listening to them right from the start.
Money personality quiz during onboarding.
EXPERIENCE 2
Taking the idea of the previous experience — that is, of listening before helping — further, we implemented a money personality quiz in the onboarding experience as well. This creates a gamified experience, increasing the user’s interest and therefore their retention, as well as enables InvestIQ to understand their risk appetite, etc., without asking them directly. This helps personalise recommendations present in the landing page.
This also helps the user better understand their own needs and wants. A novice investor is often confused and unsure about their own needs, with misconceptions about how investing works. Through the money personality result, we help put words into the users’ mouths to show them that we understand them and where they’re coming from.
The landing page is simple and personal.
EXPERIENCE 3
The landing page has minimal information on it so as to not overwhelm the user. There are filters, so the user can search for any specific funds they have in mind. The recommendations are front and centre, so the user feels like the experience is personalised. Since popular banks are listed, the user develops a sense of trust and security. On the top right corner we have the user’s badge, used to provide external validation with respect to their progress in their investing journey.
There is a section for learning.
EXPERIENCE 4
The learning page focuses on three broad topics: first, helping users familiarise themselves with investment terminologies; second, helping users visualise how their investments convert to returns to remove any preconceived notions about the rate of conversions; and finally, enabling users to keep in touch with the news and the market after they have made an investment.
The investment to returns calculator is an interactive system that allows users to either enter their end goal or to enter how much they want to invest per month and concretely see the rate of growth and returns. This helps users get an accurate estimate of the time it takes to get returns.
The profile page allows easy viewing of smart statements.
EXPERIENCE 5
The profile page is designed to bring about transparency. Through our research, we found that users want to know where their money has gone after making an investment. We wanted to make this information very easily accessible. There is also a button to plan your goals, which is meant to help nudge any users (who are yet to decide how they are going to go about investing) make the leap.
The profile page also has a place to plan your goals and get clarity of thought with respect to how to go about the investment process. Having this level of understanding — with a clear action plan to achieve a goal in mind — will also gently nudge users to make their first mutual fund investment.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The Finish-Line
This journey was absolutely crazy! With the hectic 16 hour time crunch in place, it was interesting to create a product’s full lifecycle, and so fulfilling to earn the Runner Up award. I learnt so much from this process. My key insight was that following an organised and well-planned design process from start to end can carry you through anything. We made a timeline in the beginning and stuck to it, and this proved to be essential for the completion of the challenge.
There are some areas that need improving — the primary one being that due to the 24-hour sprint, we were not able to carry out user testing due to potential users being unavailable. As I refine this study, I will carry out thorough user testing and improve the designs further. Again, the designs are better viewed on Figma, so I would request you to check them out on there.
I want shoutout Sakshi from my team for leading alongside me throughout the journey, as well as the rest of the team for cooperating. I also want to thank Lollypop Design Studio for making any of this possible. The event was very well-managed, with no hiccups, and I felt comfortable in the studio. And I want to thank you, the reader, for making it all the way. If you have any feedback or would like to get in touch, please feel free to contact me!