My Role
User Research,
Visual Design, UI/UX.
Timeline
5 days.
Team
Individual project.
WealthSimple Trade — Functionality Driven UX is Better for Business.
I was tasked with redesigning an app in 5 days as part of a recruitment challenge. I chose to conduct my study on the WealthSimple Trade platform. WealthSimple Trade is a commission-free stock and ETF trading app with an overly simplified aesthetic appeal. The company promotes its trade platform as being self-directed and a "smart, simple way of investing." However, simplicity doesn't always equate to better usability. In this redesign analysis, I identify and conceptualize how WealthSimple can achieve better user experience by focusing on functionality before simplified aesthetics.
Redesigned prototype.
OVERVIEWWhy this app?
The current pandemic's onset has revived interest in trading amongst a diverse group of people; you don't need to be a hedge fund manager with millions of dollars to start playing the stock market anymore. This shift in trend has led to an uptick with Millennials and Gen Zs leveraging apps such as Robinhood, E*trade, and Webull to quickly and easily make stock investments. Wealthsimple exists in the same competitive space with their mobile-based financial tools. I felt that the company is already enviably positioned in the market and has a lot of potential for growth. Through minor interaction-based improvements, their trading platform can become even more intuitive for users and potentially attract and retain a wider consumer base.
PROJECT STATEMENTHow might we improve interactions for WealthSimple Trade users to enhance usability and their overall trading experience on the app?
OVERVIEWDesign Process
APP ANALYSISDeep-Dive
I began by conducting a thorough analysis of the app; exploring what interactions existed currently and where there was room for improvements. Right out the gate, I noticed that the app's overall navigation puts a very high cognitive load on its users. Users are required to click through sets of pages to conduct isolated tasks. For example, adding stocks to your watchlist requires click-throughs of at least four different pages.
The app also packs all its content into endless vertical scrolls; packing sets of graphs into a static scroll is cognitively straining for the viewer and generally hard to perceive.
In the following analysis, I'll be doing a deep dive into some of these identified areas and expand further on why the app's current features are not delivering optimal UX and user buy-in.
WealthSimple Trade’s original UI.
APP ANALYSISDiscoverability & Watchlisting of Stocks is Non-Intuitive.
Starting with the app’s stock "discovery" and "add to watchlist" features. These features are probably the most essential for traders. It allows them to quickly and easily discover and watchlist stocks that they want to stay updated on. WealthSimple Trade makes this task quite exhaustive with their click-through interactions. Alternative interactions such as "tap and hold to preview" a stock and "slide left to add" can shave off at least three out of four steps from the process.
In addition, the app's stock discovery feature is very constraining. Users only have two ways of discovering stocks: either through a direct field search or through curated categories. Adding features such as filters can give traders better discoverability control to tailor results to meet their specific needs.
APP ANALYSISUser Dashboard is Not Optimized.
Now taking a look at the user dashboard side of the app. This is generally the most important page for traders and likely the most visited. This is where users house their account balances, portfolios and overall investments. The app is doing little in terms of providing users control over operations here and lacks features that enable users to make informed decisions.
Portfolio
Starting with the portfolio section. The stock holdings listed here are stacked vertically on top of each other. They resemble identically to the user's watchlist making it hard to decipher the user's portfolio from the watchlisted content below.
The portfolio section is also not designed to provide high-level insight into how users' stock holdings are doing compared to all their other investments (this is especially important for users with diverse portfolios). Providing oversight allows users to make informed decisions when moving forward with future investments.
Watchlist
Another cause for concern on the user dashboard is the display of watchlisted stocks. I identified a couple of inconstancies here.
Naming conventions: Users are most likely adding quite a few stocks to refer back to on their watchlist; the current naming conventions make it extremely hard to recognize some of these companies. Recognition over recall is essential for good user experience; through logos, indicators, or changed naming conventions, the content could become more scannable and easily perceivable.
Organization: As mentioned earlier, users like myself are adding tons of stocks to their watchlist; an option that allows users to manage their watchlisted stocks can help prevent the need to scroll endlessly to get to the needed content.
APP ANALYSISNeed for Progress Disclosure.
One last thing I find particularly problematic is the app's disconnected communication with their users about their deposit and funding activities on the platform. WealthSimple puts a hold on your deposited funds for security purposes; this withholds you from accessing your money for up to 3 business days. Although the app sends an initial email when you make your deposit, there is no communication after this point. Users can only see their accounts as "pending." This creates a blind spot for users and doesn't allow them to track their deposits further than the initiation. Progressive disclosure is crucial for building trust with your user base; it can help users stay informed on how their funds are being handled and instill confidence in their ability to trust WealthSimple Trade with their money.
USER RESEARCHOther Users Seemed to Agree.
After conducting my initial app analysis, I took to Reddit to gain feedback from other users. Here I received a few comments that further validated my own analysis thus far. Users had similar concerns about the app's layout design and lack of access to customizable options. Users also mentioned friction points relating to the app's poorly structured UI and the general disconnect with how certain features are delivered.
One particular user said that the "Activity" page where users view their transaction history only lets you view recent transactions. This is another issue because users should be able to view their all-time transaction activity considering it's their money being transacted within the app - this is another important redesign feature that I considered in my analysis.
OUTCOMESOverall We’re Looking Around These Themes.
Customizations
Users want agency over their experience on the app; this means allowing users to tailor interactions to fit their specific needs.
Informing Users
Informed users are confident users; communicate clearly to users how their interactions affect the system status. Present feedback to the user as promptly as possible to build their trust in the app.
Intuitive Interactions
Where possible, shave off extra navigational steps through shortcuts and micro-interactions.
REDESIGNS Final Feature Redesigns Based on Analysis + User Feedback.
REDESIGNS - INFORMING USERSImproved User Dashboard
Portfolio
I added a side scroll to differentiate the user dashboard's portfolio section from the watchlisted content below. This interaction change is more intuitive for users and informs them exactly where to navigate when looking for their portfolio.
Comparative Insight
I also added a "view insights" button to the portfolio section that leads users to an additional page where they can get a high-level overview of all their investments. These graphs are hoverable and would help users understand how their positioned overall with all their holdings to help them make more mindful investment decisions moving forward.
REDESIGNS - CUSTOMIZATIONSStock Discoverability & Watchlist Management
Relevant filters
Relevant filters like sorting by price per-share and market cap are critical for users when discovering what stocks to watchlist. With this in mind, I created an additional "Sort By Filters" dropdown to give users added control over their experience with discoverability.
Watchlist: Custom Dropdown List Containers
Allowing users to create custom list containers would better manage watchlisted stocks on the user dashboard and enable users to navigate their content with ease. In this redesigned version, users can create personalized lists where they can add their desired watchlisted stocks and organize these lists in the order that is most accessible for them. The watchlisted content’s naming conventions have also been changed for ease of recognition.
REDESIGNS - INFORMING USERSPutting The Trust Back in WealthSimple Trade
Progress Bar
Progress bars are great for keeping users informed when the system is taking care of a process. It diminishes user anxieties and enables them to build more trust in the platform. With this in mind, I added a progress bar for when users deposit funds to their accounts to when they can expect to access the money.
All-time Activity
In the recent activity section, I added an "All-time Activity" feature that would allow users to request access to all their transaction data through an emailed .pdf. This feature is still not fully captured in my redesigned UI but is still something I wanted to highlight as an essential component as per the user feedback I recieved.
REDESIGNS - INTUITIVE INTERACTIONSSlide, Tap, Add
Hold to preview
To expand further on crafting more intuitive interactions for app users. I added a hold to preview feature that would allow users to skim through stocks on the discover page and quickly scan the information without navigating to the stock's actual info page.
Slide Left to Add
The slide left to add feature is another easy swipe gesture that reduces steps from actually having to click on the different pages and replaces it with a quick swipe to add stocks to your watchlist.
REFLECTIONTakeaways
Considering this was my first ever app redesign study, I was thrilled at the opportunity to tackle this. By applying heuristic evaluation techniques and my own knowledge of crafting delight through improved user experiences, I was able to take apart the app's current UI and implement my own changes to achieve the level of usability that I imagine for myself and other WealthSimple Trade's users. This process enabled me to exercise my critical and creative thinking skills to re-contextualize what was already there and enhance it for a better user experience. Although I hoped to have landed at a better place quality-wise with some of my redesigns, I'm still quite pleased with what I managed to execute in the little time that I did have. Thank you for taking the time to read this brief case study!