New Investors Platform
NextFin is a P2P platform for investors who want to have a second investment and improve your earnings from investment.
Overview
In January 2023, the funding squad faced the challenge of redesigning the investor platform. We focused on reviewing the user experience touchpoints and visuals to expand the customer base and decrease the churn rate.
Problem Statements
This poses problems for investors and individuals interested in investing because they lack trust in our brand, calculations, and the financial well-being of their wallets. Investors are dissatisfied with the calculations related to their investments, leading to a negative perception of the brand. Therefore, this project is of significant importance as it aims to restore trust among investors.
Solution
Addressing the stated issue, NextFin has undertaken a substantial project to enhance user experience and elevate the company's business goals.
Project Members
Role
Business Designer
UI Designer
Methods & Tools
Desk research, Benchmark, Card-sorting, Proto-Persona, Ideation Workshop, Sitemap, Usability Test, Figma.
Teammates
3x Product Designer, 2x Product Managers, 4x Back-end Devs, 3x Front-end Devs.
Used softwares
*For GDPR reasons, some data has been hidden.
Design process
We followed the company's design process, a default approach utilized in every project. Therefore, we brainstormed and generated multiple hypotheses about the NextFin digital product.
Product and business
- Product immersion
- Product and business goals
- Stakeholder interview
- Project alingment
Research
- Problem statements
- Desk Research
- Sprints Planning
- Card sorting
Product Design
- Data analysis
- Workshop
- Data Storytelling
- Information Architecture
UI Design
- Style Guide
- Design system
- High Fidelity Interfaces
- Documentation for Devs
Design sprint Canvas
In NextFin, we made a Design sprint Canvas to make the things clearly to the PMs and the Designers. And here are the topics: First the Main Project Objective, the Business Goal, the Company Impact and the Customer Impact, the Problem Statement, the Assumptions, the Restrictions, Obligations, the Main Hypothesis and the Expected Output.
Product Immersion
We analyzed and gathered all the documents and data (from queries and the data team), research, and stakeholder investigations. This included NPS, CSAT, user interviews, surveys, interfaces, Hotjar, etc. We then compiled them on Miro and began organizing a Research Ops, establishing a 'community' library for anyone who wants to access these data and insights.
Proto-personas
With all the data analyzed, we gained significant insights into the users and their needs. Subsequently, we created an Empathy Map for each investor within our customer base, identifying three distinct profiles: Conservative Investor, Moderate Investor, and Aggressive Investor.
The main interfaces
So, we gathered all the data onto a Miro board, and after processing a substantial amount of information, the Product team (comprising the Funding PM and the GPM - Group Product Manager) briefed us on the roadmap. We are now set to develop the first three main interfaces/dashboards for our project, named 'My Wallet,' 'Income,' and 'Recovery and Billing.
Customer Success Team
After conducting the analysis and consolidating all the data onto a Miro board, our next step was to identify the most valuable information for our users. Our initial interaction was with the Customer Success (CS) team. We conducted interviews with the head and analysts to gain our first insights. They shared documents with us and assisted in jointly analyzing them. As a result, we obtained a wealth of insights and data to understand what the customers want and need.
Card sorting
Following the interviews, we gained numerous insights and initiated a card sorting exercise to comprehend the information needs of investors for the interface. Initially, we utilized the Maze tool for unmoderated research to efficiently gather the required information. Within two days of going live, we received 7 responses out of 10, providing valuable results.
Workshop
After the card sorting, we organized an ideation workshop with the stakeholders. Our goal was to identify the most valuable data for both the product and the user. Keeping the three proto-personas in mind, we structured the activity: 'Imagine you are an investor who has downloaded the NextFin app. We need you to arrange the best data for the three interfaces/dashboards.
Back-end alignment
The workshop process yielded a wealth of insightful data for us. We organized this data into a table and engaged in discussions with the back-end developers to determine the calculations that could be implemented and those already present in the current product.
User flow
The userflow based on our workshop insights:
Wireframes
Well, the workshop and user flow were successful, so we organized additional workshops with other stakeholders who couldn't participate on that day. It was a fun and highly insightful workshop, and we started getting our hands dirty in Figma. I built the information architecture and wireframes for each page in Miro to minimize efforts in Figma – and to heed the advice from the Design Lead and the GPM to avoid designer assumptions about grid placement and alignment 😅.
Using the Design system
In August 2022, we initiated the development of our design system using Google's Material Design 2. This led to multiple discussions with the front-end team, and as a result, certain aspects of the color palette and typography were determined through these interactions.
Colors
Primary
Error
Warning
Secondary
Success
Information
Typography/Headings
Montserrat
Aa
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
Aa
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
Typography/Body text, Subtitle
Open Sans
Aa
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
Aa
ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
Building the interfaces
After receiving numerous validations from the product team, the dev team (front-end and back-end), and collaborating with the Design Lead intern, we proceeded to create the high-fidelity interfaces. These include:
Preparing the usability test
We prepared our script for moderating the usability test and devised alternative scenarios in case things did not go as planned or took a different path. As researchers/designers, we always need to be prepared for anything. 😁
Usability test
Okay, the stakeholders love it! Now, we need to determine if the users like it, and more importantly, if it addresses their pain points. We conducted interviews with 5 users, splitting them across 3 days.
Post usability test
After our usability test, we observed that investors were commenting on a specific aspect related to understanding the business segments of the companies they invested in. Additionally, we noticed some information that they found interesting but had limited relevance. Following these insights, we conducted a meeting to present the results to the product team and business stakeholders.
Interfaces post usability tests
With the approval of the product team and business stakeholders, we proceeded to refine the interfaces with the primary goal of validating the data. This marked the beginning of our journey to enhance the visual elements of the platform, bringing it to a high-fidelity state. The final iterations were shaped by the identified user needs. Note: I suggested using Data Visualization theory to design the graphics in each dashboard.
After the three main interfaces
Well, following the deployment of the three main screens to production, we delved into the design, research, and testing of the remaining screens for the investor platform interfaces. I'll showcase some of them below. However, if you're interested in exploring the entire prototype, feel free to reach out! 😁
Metrics
As a result, we have achieved some very positive outcomes, including a 34% increase in registrations and a 21% return of investors who hadn't logged in for over 2 years to the platform.
- Unique visitors;
- Signups;
- Churn;
- DAU, WAU, MAU;
- LTV;
- time spent;
Some Product Metrics
- How many investors returned?
- Is the first time the user access the platform?
- How many investors continued using the platform?
- Do investors understood the new features?
- Was there a decrease in opening help tickets?
- How much time has decreased for the signup?
Next steps
Some of the next steps for the platform, discussed with the Dev and product team:
Business goals:
Increase overall brand awareness and market share;
Increase investment platform revenue;
Share in social medias our new platform, increasing the number of new investors.
Product goals:
Enhance investor confidence in the platform;
Decrease the number of bugs;
Increase the number of investors investing in the platform;
Decrease the number of demotivated investors;
Increase the value for the provided data;
Platform up and running
After handing off the platform to the Dev team, and the production has been done, we implemented Hotjar on it and shared the feedback with users to hear their thoughts. Out of 123 so far, we received 72 positive ones (promoters)!
Some of the feedbacks:
- “Much easier to navigate, and the visualization has improved. The page looks very nice.” - Investor 1
- “Despite the short time of investment, I think this new platform has improved a lot! Congratulations on the enhancements! I will examine it more thoroughly, and if I notice anything, I'll provide feedback!” - Investor 2
- “Second time I access the new platform: as I mentioned before, it has improved a lot.” - Investor 3
- “Spent just a few minutes for an initial comparison with the previous version, and I am satisfied. Lots of information with graphs and numbers that convey the information clearly and immediately. Congratulations!” - Investor 4
Learnings
Design, Product, Dev and business needs each other.
It was a very challenging project for all of us. Apart from being extensive, it required various validations, new calculations, query creation, extensive research and testing, along with a strong analytical capability for handling complex information and multiple interfaces. Despite facing communication challenges and working with a small team, we successfully completed the project and received much positive feedback from long-time investors. As for the team (squad), we experienced significant growth and are now prepared to tackle any new challenges that may arise!
Reflections
Design is more than Research and build interfaces
It was a very challenging project for all of us. Apart from being extensive, it required various validations, new calculations, query creation, extensive research and testing, along with a strong analytical capability for handling complex information and multiple interfaces. Despite facing communication challenges and working with a small team, we successfully completed the project and received much positive feedback from long-time investors. As for the team (squad), we experienced significant growth and are now prepared to tackle any new challenges that may arise!
And I ought to remember, the main mission for designers is to build the best experience for the user, but we also need to make the business grow, and, of course, improve people's lives through the use of our products. Because our products are made for people and developed by people, right?