Definer Labs: Empowering Cryptocurrency Investors with a Comprehensive Investment Dashboard

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Navigating the Fragmented Crypto Investment Landscape

The rapid growth of cryptocurrencies has made investing in them increasingly popular. However, investors often face challenges in managing their portfolios efficiently due to the fragmented nature of information across multiple platforms. This disjointed experience can lead to missed opportunities and suboptimal investment decisions.

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CONTEXT

Lead to help revamp the investor portal and financial literacy resources, facing challenges with site information hierarchy, investors getting lost on their journey to understand their investments, and financial education resources.

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ABOUT

Definer Labs, a leading fintech company, has experienced rapid growth in recent years, yet the investor portal was not meeting its full potential in terms of user engagement and comprehension. In 2023, active usage was slowing, threatening user satisfaction and investor confidence. I was part of the effort to enhance the investor experience and improve the clarity and accessibility of financial information on our site.

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OUTCOMES

• Increase in investor portal engagement boosted from 8% to 18%
• User comprehension and satisfaction increased by 20%
• Financial literacy resource usage up by 30%
• Development hours decreased by 25% optimizing project time

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PROJECT GOALS

• Create a design that simplifies investor navigation and decreases drop-off rates
• Enhance understanding of investment information and financial literacy resources
• Increase user engagement and satisfaction

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MY ROLE

I led this project's design strategy and development by working closely with the internal UX design team and collaborating with the marketing and financial education teams.

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By conducting user research and testing of our previous site, I identified user pain points and created a new design that streamlined navigation and improved access to financial information.

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KICKOFF

In 2022, we noticed that investor engagement metrics were below our targets. Analyzing site engagement, we identified significant user drop-offs and confusion throughout the investment information journey.

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COMPETITIVE RESEARCH

After thorough research, we categorized our users into three types:

1. Novice Investors (new to investing and seeking educational resources)
2. Intermediate Investors (have some experience and need detailed investment performance data)
3. Expert Investors (looking for advanced analytics and tools)

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To better understand these groups' needs, we conducted a competitive analysis of similar fintech platforms and compared them to our own site structure and educational resources.

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What did we find?

• Different investor groups had varying priorities and information needs.
• Competitors displayed information in a more direct, digestible manner, with clear pathways to accessing investment details and educational content.

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IDENTIFYING OUR PROJECT NORTH STAR

User testing and site analytics revealed that users struggled to navigate our site, find investment information, and access financial literacy resources. Our competitive analysis confirmed that our competitors had more user-friendly designs.

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As a design team, we deconstructed our design system, analyzed testing results, and focused on improving our components and site structure. The goal was simple: make it easier for users to understand their investments and access financial literacy resources.

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ITERATIVE DESIGNING

We explored different site structures for various types of investors, focusing on projected high-traffic periods, such as quarterly earnings reports and major market events.

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With each iteration, we refined our site structure and updated our design system. However, we faced challenges in streamlining information due to the diverse needs of different investor groups.

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USER TESTING AND ACCESSIBILITY

Visual Insights:

• Confusion with certain components (e.g., clickable cards that weren’t, inconsistent headers, copy inconsistencies)
• Errors in information architecture

We conducted user testing of various site templates and concluded with a design that incorporated user desires, our new design system, and aligned with our business goals of enhancing investor understanding and engagement.

Accessibility testing was crucial in our design overhaul. We ensured compliance with WCAG standards, tested screen reader compatibility, checked contrast ratios, and ensured keyboard accessibility for all interactive elements. Feedback from users with disabilities was integrated into our iterative design process, aiming to create an inclusive platform for all investors.

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CREATING A DESIGN SYSTEM

Based on user testing results and competitive analysis, we designed a simpler design system for our site. This new layout focused on key information users sought and incorporated features offered by our competitors.

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UNFORSEEN CHALLENGES

While there are many experienced investing users, based on user interviews and surveys I discovered there was a gap in knowledge of investment terminology.

Some users voiced there was a lack of understanding of investment terminology that was not previously addressed

This is when call outs for uncommon daily terms were created for users to have a better grasp and build upon their financial literacy and autonomy

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RESULTS

This effort led to improved user engagement across platforms, increased understanding of investments, and an uptick in the use of financial literacy resources. By streamlining our designs, we also reduced design decision fatigue within our team through a templatized page layout applicable to similar page types.

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FUTURE STEPS

• Mobile Integration: Expand mobile app features to align with website improvements based on user feedback.
• Enhanced Analytics: Implement Component Tracking & Hotspotting to better understand user behavior and preferences.
• Additional Features: Introduce new features based on user requests and market trends to continually improve the user experience.
• Increased Accessibility: Ensure our sites and components are more accessible to all users, including those with disabilities.

REFLECTIONS

Reflecting on this project, I grew significantly as a designer, learning the importance of user-centric design and agile methodologies. This experience reinforced the value of iterative testing and continuous improvement based on user feedback.

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From user testing and interviews, I gained a deeper understanding of our users, but a blind spot remains: accessibility. While our improved information hierarchy is better, it still fails some accessibility tests. I am working to become more knowledgeable about accessibility and how to make my designs more inclusive of all users' needs, regardless of their demographics.