Fidelity Center for Applied Technology
UXPin
Photoshop
InDesign
Mural
InVision
Photoshop
InDesign
Mural
InVision
Product design of a data-driven investment app
Collaborators
Dylan Burati
Meghan D'Arcy
Shubhanshu Gupta
Alexandriana Thammavongsa
Dylan Burati
Meghan D'Arcy
Shubhanshu Gupta
Alexandriana Thammavongsa
background
FCAT, the Fidelity Center for Applied Technology, is Fidelity Investments' fintech incubator. I worked there from January to June 2021 as the product designer on an Agile interdisciplinary team of co-ops. I owned all design for the product we created and led user research and testing in collaboration with the business analyst on my team, Meghan D'Arcy. As the product we created is still in production at Fidelity I am unable to show or write in detail about it, but can provide more information in person!
PROBLEM
My first day at Fidelity's FCAT (Fidelity Center for Applied Technology) for my third and final co-op, the other four co-ops and I were given the task of creating an SEC-data-powered product in six months. SEC data, which is publicly available through the EDGAR database, contains information about many types of stock market transactions; a subset of these forms detail (legal) insider transactions, which may prove valuable for investors in choosing promising stocks to trade. However, these forms are close to impossible to use for the average investor, especially if they don't have a specific stock or insider in mind to evaluate. My team was tasked with turning this data into a product. We had complete freedom over how to do so, backed by a team of finance, data, and human-centered design professionals to advise us along the way.
(Left) Insider trading forms filed for Sept. 13, 2021, contains 490 results
(Right) SEC Form 4 filing for Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix, on Jan. 21, 2020
process
Working in two-week Agile sprints allowed us to plan out our product, but pivot as needed. It also allowed all the roles on the team (data science, design, software, and business) to work in unison. We provided updates to our advisory team at the end of each sprint and took their feedback into account. I also checked in several times a week with the FCAT design team for design critique.
🌈 Empathize
We spent our first sprint researching and doing a competitive analysis of other products that use SEC data.
Key takeaways:
1. Lack of inclusivity
Financial products are rife with accessibility issues and Fidelity's own accessibility guidelines, while comprehensive, could still be cumbersome or inefficient in actual usage. For example, the guideline that all charts and graphs should have a table view meets accessibility requirements in that it ensures those using screen readers can access the information on the graph, but is tedious to the point of being unusable in most financial situations. Below is the stock price data for Netflix, Inc. (NFLX) shown as a candlestick chart and as a table, which contains 1,951 rows for just one day. Imagine navigating that with a screen reader! One of my main goals became finding or creating where needed the most inclusive way to bring our data to the user.
Financial products are rife with accessibility issues and Fidelity's own accessibility guidelines, while comprehensive, could still be cumbersome or inefficient in actual usage. For example, the guideline that all charts and graphs should have a table view meets accessibility requirements in that it ensures those using screen readers can access the information on the graph, but is tedious to the point of being unusable in most financial situations. Below is the stock price data for Netflix, Inc. (NFLX) shown as a candlestick chart and as a table, which contains 1,951 rows for just one day. Imagine navigating that with a screen reader! One of my main goals became finding or creating where needed the most inclusive way to bring our data to the user.
(Left) 1-day candlestick chart of NFLX stock price, from Fidelity.com
(Right) 1-day table of NFLX stock price, from Fidelity.com, contains 1,951 rows
2. Not for novices
From empathy interviews, we learned this product would not be for novice traders. While intermediate and advanced traders indicated both curiosity in the stock market and frustration with current research tools / strategies, novices were skeptical and unprepared to begin trading individual stocks. Encouraging these newbies to trade without first educating them on the market and setting up retirement accounts would be wholly against Fidelity's philosophy of responsible investing.
From empathy interviews, we learned this product would not be for novice traders. While intermediate and advanced traders indicated both curiosity in the stock market and frustration with current research tools / strategies, novices were skeptical and unprepared to begin trading individual stocks. Encouraging these newbies to trade without first educating them on the market and setting up retirement accounts would be wholly against Fidelity's philosophy of responsible investing.
3. trust is paramount
Most of our interviewees expressed frustration about finding, trusting, and acting on stock market information, especially in light of scandals within the investing app market. We learned that transparency about and explanations of data sources would be crucial in attracting and retaining users.
Most of our interviewees expressed frustration about finding, trusting, and acting on stock market information, especially in light of scandals within the investing app market. We learned that transparency about and explanations of data sources would be crucial in attracting and retaining users.
🌈 Define
We defined our target user and created personas from our empathy interviews, which guided our ideation process.
🌈 Ideate
Lots of team brainstorming sessions and a Google Design Sprint allowed us to flare out and think of every possible way to use this data and to create a great product. We had to work with one another every step of the way. I relied on the data scientist, Shubhanshu Gupta, to clean and help me understand the raw data, so I could brainstorm how to visualize it. I also had to design for every data hypothesis Shubhanshu had, some of which took months to test. I worked hand-in-hand with the software developers, Alex Thammavongsa and Dylan Burati to obtain APIs, ensure accessibility in both the front and backend, and learn how to design for React. I worked most closely with business analyst, Meghan D'Arcy, in deciding which ideas from our brainstorms would be most applicable to the user and always remaining on track with our goal.🌈 Prototype
We created user journeys and a site map. While the site map changed throughout the co-op as we learned, tested, and brainstormed more, it always centered around the value proposition and three broad steps of the user journey that we defined: explore, discover, and manage. I regularly shared prototypes with my team, the FCAT design team, our advisors, and my accessibility mentor for feedback from a data, technical, usability, and design standpoint. Synthesizing this feedback while keeping the biases of each discipline in mind was an incredible learning experience, and also taught me to defend my choices to people of various backgrounds.
I also checked in often with other FCAT teams to understand their design choices, research, and innovation in other financial products. The FCAT design team was incredibly human-centered and always pushed me to put the user first in every decision.
🌈 Test
We completed a MaxDif study to prioritize features and functionalities we had brainstormed and prototyped in order to define our minimum viable product. We also did user tests with FCAT employees, however upon discovering the bias held by internal testers (who were also financial professionals), we laid the groundwork for an external usability test, including quoting with a vendor, creating a screener, and preparing the prototype to be shown. This test was undertaken after we ended our co-opTakeaway
The entire co-op, I felt like my brain was overflowing with everything I was learning, from data, to personal finance, to human-centered design. Visually representing extremely detailed and technical data from many sources in an inclusive and beautiful way, all fitting on a mobile screen, pushed my creative thinking skills, but I also had to learn about the data in its raw form to understand what it meant and how an investor could use it. Working remotely with an interdisciplinary team and a boundless prompt also proved challenging. I am proud of the product we created despite the challenges and that Fidelity chose to continue developing our idea. Hopefully soon I will be able to show it publicly!