Metholodology
Design Thinking Process
- Applied Design Thinking methodology to create the Trade Architect Application.
- During the Discovery phase I identified the Problem and Audience.
- Ideate phase, defined the best solution suited for the organization.
- Research, together with the User Research team we interviewed both associates and clients to understand their needs.
Trade Architect
Problem Statement
The Active Trading group needed a platform, for education purposes, to teach new users to trade beyond the traditional buy-and-hold, and introduce them to trade options and complex strategies.
Use case
Users wanting to start interacting with thinkorswim shared that it was very complicated to navigate and were overwhelmed by the amount of information at their disposal. In order to help them make the transition, TD Ameritrade created Trade Architect. The second need satisfied by this product was to give users access to thinkorswim online without having to download the thick layer application.
Solution
- The MVP included streamlining the trading process.
- Improved the trade ticket.
- Integrated the education with the platform (phase 3).
- Integrated the funding process with the TD Ameritrade flow.
Results
On the first year, Trade Architect increased the number of trades from 14K to 24K.
By focusing on the users mental model, we were able to streamline the trading flow.
The technology team was able to implement better security features, and users had access to their accounts via their browsers.
We designed version 2.0 with Accessibility in mind.
Components and micro-interactions were normalized across the entire application.
User Research
We approached the user research from multiple angles. First and foremost, we created user interviews to understand how their trading style, habits, patterns and pain points.
Also, we interview the call center operators to quantify the most common issues that users were having when they connected with them and we focused on trying to replicate the same quality experience.
Insights
Entry level users, were overwhelmed by the complexity of thinkorswim (TOS).
As much as they appreciated how much they could customize TOS, they would keep it in the default setting.
Based on their trading style, users would evolve into the type of trader that they would feel more comfortable as.
Personas
Using a combination of methods, we created personas to help us understand the wide range of users and their evolution according to their trading styles and interactions with the trading desk.
We identified five types of traders:
- Fundamental Investors
They focus on factors such as financial statements, earnings, dividends, management quality, and industry trends.
- Technical Traders
Rely on charts, patterns, and technical indicators.
- Day Traders
Do not hold positions overnight, minimizing their exposure to overnight risks.
- Swing Traders
Hold positions for a few days to several weeks, aiming to capture short-to-medium-term price swings in the market.
- Position Traders
Have a long-term investment horizon and hold positions for months or even years.
They focus on macroeconomic trends, industry analysis, and fundamental factors to make investment decisions.
Insights
- Users evolved into their trading style.
- There are two distinctive types of options traders.
- Creating accessible applications we were supporting power users.
Information Architecture
Since Trade Architect was a One-Page Application, the sitemap helped solved and address a series of complexities for developers.
We identified the different stages of the user's mental model when they were trading.
Insights
Developers used the color code sitemap as a reference know what component to use from the design system.
By organizing the web application following the users mental model we were able to streamline the trading flow.
Wireframes
For this project, I created over 500 pages of wireframes trying to identify as many user scenarios and interactions as possible.
Focus
- Design System components
- Interactions
- Page variations based on user interaction
- System messaging
- Empty state and overflow
