Finsight

FINTECH · UX/UI

Investing, made easier to understand.

Role: Lead UI/UX Designer
Team: 4 designers
Duration: 4 months

Overview

An ETF-focused brokerage concept for college students aged 18–24, developed by a 4-person team. As UI/UX lead, I developed screen hierarchy, wireframes, prototypes, and UI refinements. I conducted 2 interviews, coded responses, and reconciled coding differences with Natalie. Together, we interviewed 8 students, surveyed 10 undergraduates, and used feedback from 5 students to refine the experience.

Problem

Students have access to trading apps, but financial jargon and unclear portfolio information make decisions difficult. Many want to invest but feel unsure where to start.

Solution

Combine clear portfolio insights, beginner-friendly learning, and financial goals with a guided ETF purchase flow, keeping information close to the decision.

Research

Interviews & surveys

Interviews with 8 college students and a survey of 10 undergraduates identified a shared barrier: understanding financial information, even when investing tools were available.

9 out of 10named lack of knowledge as their biggest barrier

6 out of 10had never invested but wanted to learn

8 out of 10learned primarily from social media or people they know

Directional findings from a 10-person undergraduate survey.

User insights

“I like visual dashboards that show how my portfolio changes over time.”
Interview 2

“I’d like a tool that breaks investing into steps for beginners without jargon.”
Interview 1

“I track my net worth as a way to measure progress toward independence.”
Interview 2

Anonymized excerpts from the supplied interview-coding file.

Personas

Alyssa Crosby

Curious novice

College sophomore balancing coursework, studying, and a part-time campus job.

Core need

Interested in investing, but unsure she has time to learn alongside her classes.

Perry Tran

Casual strategist

College senior with an internship and automatic investment deposits; discusses career goals with family and friends.

Core need

Knows a little about investing, but wants a less involved process.

Design goals

GOAL 1

Portfolio insights

Understand performance and risk. Students wanted visual dashboards to understand changes over time. Pair performance charts with plain-language risk and diversification insights.

GOAL 2

Learning resources

Learn without financial jargon. Lack of knowledge was the leading survey barrier. Bring step-by-step education into the investing flow, close to each decision.

GOAL 3

Financial goals

Track long-term progress. Interviewees linked net worth to independence. Make goal progress visible and support contributions that fit student income.

Ideation

Storyboards

Finsight storyboard for portfolio insights — **Portfolio insights**Compare performance, review risk, and consider a more diverse portfolio.

Finsight storyboard for learning resources — **Learning resources**Find learning modules and explore concepts before making a financial decision.

Finsight storyboard for financial goals — **Financial goals**Set a goal and explore regular contributions that adapt to student income.

Low fidelity prototype

The chosen low-fidelity direction explored performance, learning, trading, and discovery. Goal-setting develops further in the interactive prototype.

Selected Finsight low fidelity portfolio performance wireframe — Portfolio performance

Selected Finsight low fidelity learning modules wireframe — Learning modules

Selected Finsight low fidelity trading wireframe — Trading

Selected Finsight low fidelity market discovery wireframe — Market discovery

Prototyping

Visual system

Green and blue establish a finance-focused direction: green references growth, while blue supports the intended sense of trust and stability. White space and dark text keep financial data readable. League Spartan headings and Archivo body text provide a clear hierarchy without adding complexity for beginners.

Logo variants

Finsight navigation icons, buttons, sliders, toggles, ETF cards and pagination states — Navigation, controls & cards

Mid-fidelity prototype

Performance, learning, and goal-setting became connected screen flows. The prototype includes onboarding, ETF purchases, lessons, and financial goals.

A/B testing

Think-aloud sessions with 5 students revealed unclear actions, purchase information, and hidden goals. These before/after UI comparisons show the resulting refinements.

Clickable actions

Purchase clarity

Goal visibility

Final Product

Finances

Wallet balances and account activity.

Invest

Market information and purchase actions.

Account

Goals and account details.

Learn

Education within the investing experience.

Takeaways

Research the domain. Learning about trading helped me identify which financial information students actually needed.
Prototype ideas quickly. Figma Make helped move early concepts from paper to low-fidelity screens under a tight timeline. I then developed the high-fidelity UI.
Evaluate from the user’s perspective. Heuristic evaluation and usability feedback helped me identify issues and focus the final design decisions.

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