My Process
- Research everything: Competitive analysis, fintech best practices, UX patterns in trading, user behavior insights, and subject matter expertise.
- Brainstorm and ideate: Run design workshops at various stages.
- Wireframe: I consolidated my team's ideas into a few versions of a trading app in Sketch.
- Gain feedback: Share with business stakeholders to obtain insights and suggestions for improvement.
Research & Analytics
I worked with a UX research duo (an analyst and a strategist) in order to gain more in-depth client knowledge.
- Conduct an analysis of client behavior on the website (e.g. successful trades made and percent of drop-off, time on site, other pages visited, types of trades enacted, number of repeat visitors, etc.).
- Determine the needs and desires of real trading clients.
Core Principles
Speed and quick access
- Ability to schedule trades ahead of time
- Saved trades that you can access without having to enter all the fields again
- Quick trade, a feature to access trade from other pages within the app
Clarity and ease of use
- Provide relevant help and tips throughout the page
- Make the page informative as well as functional
- Use contextual imagery/icons to help the user
- Segment the order flow to avoid long and overwhelming forms
Personalization
- Show information and options that are meaningful to the user
- Show stocks similar to those already purchased
- Ability to have preferences, such as "environmentally friendly companies"
- Show stocks/funds recommended by Ameriprise adviser
Robust search
- Search features should be highly functional, allowing the user to search by a variety of parameters
- By symbol
- By industry
- By exchange
Project Execution
First I gathered information and requirements from the mobile app product owner and various subject matter experts in the company. Then I conducted a design workshop with the other product designers in order to define our guiding principles and get some rough sketches. I decided to focus on replicating the functionality available on the desktop site for MVP, while modernizing the look and feel and fitting it to native mobile standards. I iterated over multiple concepts, used research to narrow down my selections, and conducted more brainstorming sessions with the design team. Finally, I produced two workable low-fidelity prototypes to bring to testing.
Result
I delivered a user flow diagram, two alternative sets of wireframes, and two clickable prototypes in InVision. The prototypes could be used by the UX Research team to run A/B testing and user surveys. When research and testing is completed, the design team will move on to high-fidelity mocks that can be handed off to the mobile app development team.
Gallery
Aayla is a tremendous asset to any team looking to further their UI/UX journey. She is driven, organized and a strong communicator and thought leader. She truly thinks from a 'client first' perspective and can design with both mobile and desktop in mind. Most of all her creativity and ability to be agile makes her a great addition to a team. — Katie Schumacher, Senior Digital Product Owner
