Expanding an investment start-up into savings
Role
Product Design Lead at Sharesies
Responsibilities
Research • Facilitation • UX/UI design • Information architecture
Tools
Figma • Jira • Miro • Askable • Dovetail
The background
Sharesies is an investment start-up that launched in 2016. It is based in New Zealand and Australia, and offers customers the ability to invest in the NZ, AU, and US stock exchanges themselves through its mobile app and web platform.
Sharesies started with the mission to give someone with $5 the same money opportunities as someone with $5 million.
The challenge
Although we had been steadily and successfully releasing new and iterated investment features based on customer research, data, and competitor analysis, there was still something we couldn’t control.
The investment markets themselves.
When they were performing well we were truly seeing our mission in action, but when the markets took a downturn, in turn we saw the customer activity follow as expected.
Could we identify a new opportunity for customers and the business that could rebalance Sharesies, allowing it to perform more consistently regardless of market activity?
A board paper was submitted which explored expanding the Sharesies platform.
Through this paper it was identified that an interest bearing Savings product would align with the mission, fill a market gap for the customer, and provide a consistent revenue stream for the business.
The team
As Product Design Lead for the Investing team I collaborated in an agile framework with my Product and Engineering leads to define the teams roadmap, research/identify opportunities, ideate/wireframe, and work with developers in the team to move my final designs into delivery.
The core team was made up of a Product Manager, Product Lead, Engineering Lead, Product Design Lead, Business Analyst, Tax Specialist, Marketing Lead, and 3 full-stack developers.
The wider team included a UX Researcher, Content Writer, and Legal Counsel.
A timeframe of 6 months was set for launch of the MVP in April 2023.
Initial research
We began by conducting a round of desk research and competitor analysis, looking at what similar savings offerings were out there.
Particular focus was paid to interest rates and rules or restrictions that may be in place for the account.
Initial customer interviews
We then moved to an initial set of existing customer and non-customer interviews. These were conducted through Askable and organized in Dovetail.
Facilitation and note-taking of the interviews was shared between myself, the UX Researcher, and Product Lead.
The 1 hour interviews focussed on the persons attitude to money, experiences with saving and investing, financial products, techniques they used, and the perceived differences between investing and saving.
Some key learnings
It's a widely shared belief that saving is safe and for shorter term purposes, while investing is riskier and for longer term
People commonly get penalties and fees when taking money from a savings account with a monthly withdrawal limit.
It's common for people to use techniques to try and trick themselves into saving, like setting up automatic transfers to their non-main bank, or 'paying themselves' from their salary etc
Technical proposition
Before any design work could begin the structure and mechanics of how the savings product would work needed to be confirmed.
In order to generate a competitive interest rate and maintain minimal account rules an agreement was struck with a New Zealand bank to facilitate holding the funds.
Based off our research this proposition also allowed for key account features that ensured the right market fit.
No account fees
No minimum deposit
No withdrawal penalties
Design
Brainstorming
Using the research we had gathered and the technical proposition I was able to begin the design process.
I organized and facilitated a design exercise with the wider Product Design team. This involved rapid idea generation and brainstorming for savings account concepts.
Information architecture
By introducing a second product to an existing single product investment platform, the information architecture needed to be explored as part of the design process.
The savings product needed to fit within the overall existing navigation and structure of the platform, and there had to be a way to navigate to and from the Save and Investment products.
By adding a new home screen and nesting the products, I was able to give customers an overview of their overall position and a simple way to navigate between their products. This new structure also provided a clear path for scaling.
Working with the developers to build out this new structure involved a lot of cross-domain collaboration and stakeholder management within the mobile and web domains.
This new information architecture also gave the Brand designers the opportunity to explore a new visual language for our products.
Initial design
Off the back of the design exercise and information architecture I was able to start refining down concepts based on feasibility and product requirements.
For it to be a viable initial product the experience needed to include:
The ability to open and close a savings account
The ability to add and withdraw money
The ability to view transactions
Utilizing the existing design system components and patterns, I created a flow to be used for usability sessions.
Usability sessions
We organised the usability sessions around an initial conversation and then a run-through of tasks within the prototype. There were 2 rounds of 8 existing customer and non-customer sessions, and these were conducted through Askable and organized in Dovetail.
Facilitation and note-taking of the sessions was shared between myself, the UX Researcher, and Product Lead. The wider team, including developers were also encouraged to assign themselves to sessions to observe and note-take.
Some key learnings
People wanted to know the interest rate as early as possible
Being able to name the account was popular as it allowed people to form a connection and reference goals
Having little to no account rules made it very appealing
After a sense-making session I refined and documented the MVP designs and flows. I then began to scope and prioritize the front end development with the team.
Delivery
MVP development and release
I led the delivery of the MVP experience with the developers and in April 2023 we released to mobile and web.
This release of the initial Savings product, also included the new Overview screen, and uplifted the existing Investment product with the new visual language developed by the Brand team as well.
The Brand and Marketing team developed a page on the marketing site to promote the new product, along with email and social channels.
Further iterations
Following release I was able to prioritize the data and feedback, and in collaboration with Product and Engineering we agreed on key design iterations to focus on for the next quarter.
These included:
Results so far
These rounded numbers were captured on 25 Oct 2023 after the initial quarter of the MVP release and further design iterations.
$146,000,000
Money added to accounts
$1,500,000
Net interest paid to customers
1,500
Recurring transfers set up by customers
