StockED
Stock-up on your stock knowledge
StockED
Self-driven Project
The app offers an engaging platform for individuals 18 and above to learn about financial investments. Initially inspired by Monopoly, user feedback led us to create a learning-focused app that simplifies finance and eases the intimidation of investing
Team
4 members
Tools
Figma, Figjam, Balsamiq, After Effects
Timeline
January 2024 - May 2024
Design Process
1
Exploratory
Understand the problem space
Generative
Identify and generate concepts
Evaluative
Refine and evaluate concepts
2
3
Problem Context
57%
Adults in the United States are financially literate.
24%
Millennials have basic financial literacy levels
70%
US states scored a C, D, or F for high school financial literacy
Why is Our Solution
Game-Changer?
Democratizes financial education for any age group (15 years and above)
Simulated environment empowers people to experiment and learn
Defining Design Direction
72
Survey Responses
08
User Interviews
04
Competitors
Survey Results
Stock investments are the most prevalent type of investment made by users and the most popular choice among beginners looking to learn about investing.
“Lack of financial knowledge” and “fear of losing
money” were the major barriers which stops people from part taking in investment activities.
For challenges in learning investments, respondents cited "not knowing where to start" and "too much information without knowing how to use it" as the top reasons.
73%
Beginners
34%
Afraid of losing money
53%
Not knowing where to start
61%
Investors
46%
No financial knowledge
44%
Too much info
Surveys helped us identify "stock investment" as a popular topic that users are interested in but find difficult to learn. They also indicated that promoting stock investments effectively requires addressing foundational learning challenges.
User Interviews
4 Novice stock investors or complete beginners
8 User Interviews
On Zoom
4 Experienced to intermediate stock investors
Affinity Mapping
Categorized all findings into broad themes
The resources theme studied which learning resources users have used for stocks, what they liked or disliked about them, and how and where they used these resources.
The investing theme explored experienced users' strategies, the factors they consider for buy/sell decisions, and the challenges faced by beginners and experts when they started.
The learning theme focused on users' experiences with stock learning resources - their starting points, motivation, challenges faced and preferred learning methods.
Pain Points
Users delay learning about investing until they have jobs, making it hard to balance with work.
Existing apps are limited to reading + quizzes; users prefer hands-on learning method
Fear of financial losses stops some from investing in the volatile stock market.
Learning about stocks is time-consuming and complex, leading to eventual demotivation.
User interviews allowed us to delve deeper into the pain points users experience with the investment topic identified in the survey: stocks.
Competitor Analysis
Competitor Analysis helped us further review existing investing apps and identify gaps and positives in their offerings.
How might we educate people on stocks effectively while making the learning process practical and engaging, similar to Duolingo's approach for language learning?
App Features
Information Architecture
This was followed by a design sprint with the team to collaboratively create screens for each feature.
Wireframes
Main Features
Home screen
Learn from Past
Weekly Challenges
Simulated Trading
User Testing
6 users | Zoom Testing
Users perceived learning as optional. To prioritize learning, we changed the home screen from Profile Overview to the Learning section.
Users liked the "Learn from Past" section but wanted more visuals and interactivity. We added tappable interactive graphs and short quizzes for knowledge testing.
While doing a challenge, users wanted feedback on prediction errors and factors to consider. We incorporated this into the final iteration.
Users appreciated the guided approach in simulated trading but felt overwhelmed by clicking through too many cards before making a trade.
We learned that buying or selling shares can involve various forms. So, we redesigned our trade screen to accommodate different transaction types,
StockED
Stock-up on your stock knowledge
Introducing
Design System
Branding
Get your stocks basics right via 10 in depth modules
Interactive quizzes
Learn from the past
Guided Trading
Real time stock analysis with AI
Visual indicators for factors' fluctuations
Simplifying complex definitions
Visual representation of different trading modes
Weekly challenges to apply learned concepts
Challenge results
Feedback for improvement
AND . . .
We presented our prototype to potential sponsors at the University wide Expo!
My Learnings
-
Stocks being a new topic for me and the team, it was a challenging yet exciting experience to understand stock trading and simplify the information to make it user-friendly.
-
I explored branding in depth by designing a custom character and strategically integrating it throughout the app to create a cohesive and memorable brand identity.
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Lastly, I learned the importance of seeking feedback not only from end users but also from domain experts to ensure that the app's foundation is solid and accurately addressed