Yana Diadchenko
I designed a concept for a standalone investment app that helps beginners take their first steps while giving experienced investors fast access to portfolio management and trading tools.
Responsibilities: research, product concept, UX/UI design, prototype
Investment features are located inside the bank's main app. The section is difficult to find and learn, and its capabilities are too limited for regular investment management.
Beginners lack a clear entry point, while experienced investors need deeper analytics and more advanced trading tools. According to the brief, fewer than 2% of the bank's customers invest in the stock market.
Develop a concept for a standalone investment app that lowers the barrier to entry for beginners while retaining the depth experienced investors need.
To understand the subject area, I interviewed an active investor, studied the core investment instruments, and reviewed the bank's existing section. I then compared it with five competitors and identified the scenarios the concept needed to support.
The research findings became the basis for product hypotheses to be validated with users.
I began by reviewing the investment section in the bank's existing app. It is difficult to discover, key actions lack emphasis, portfolio information is fragmented, and the available asset-analysis and order settings are not sufficient for regular use. This raises the barrier to entry for beginners and limits the scenarios available to experienced investors.
I analyzed five competitors: Alfa Investments, T-Investments, MTS Investments, Raiffeisen Investments, and Sber Investments.
Strengths: extensive investment-management tools, educational materials, analyst recommendations, ready-made strategies for beginners, portfolio analytics with sector filters, and order history.
Weaknesses: some apps, including Raiffeisen and Sber, offer a limited selection of order types, which may not meet the needs of advanced investors.
In Alfa Investments, the available order types depend on the plan; the Pro plan unlocks additional options.
T-Investments stands out with Pulse, its built-in social network for investors.
Based on the interview and competitive analysis, I formulated three hypotheses:
These findings defined the app structure and the scenarios used in the next design stage.
These users tend to have significant life and professional experience, allowing them to navigate financial markets with confidence.
These users are actively gaining investment experience and are often in a period of career and financial growth. Their income allows them to begin investing, and future income growth may increase the amount they invest.
Young professionals and early-career users who are just becoming familiar with investing. Limited financial resources may delay their first investment despite strong interest in learning and market research.
Investing is not a priority for these users, or they temporarily lack the time to focus on it. Their financial capacity is sufficient but not always stable, which leads to irregular app use.
These users have achieved career and financial success and are looking for new ways to grow their capital. They often have a strong education and personal-finance experience but may lack in-depth investment knowledge.
Of the five segments, I focused on two contrasting groups: beginners and experienced investors. This made it possible to test whether one product could combine an accessible entry point with professional tools.
Wants to start investing but does not know which instrument to choose, is afraid of making mistakes, and needs clear guidance.
Primary job: make a first investment and understand what is happening to the money.
Regularly manages a portfolio, compares assets, and uses multiple order types.
Primary job: assess the situation quickly and complete the required action without unnecessary steps.
I formulated hypotheses in JTBD format and prioritized them using RICE. Because product analytics were unavailable, the prioritization was directional: I compared expected user value, confidence, and implementation effort.
I focused first on the scenarios that influence product adoption and key actions:
After launch, I would measure not only overall activity but also completion of the key user journeys.
Primary metric — activation: the share of new users who start onboarding and make their first investment within seven days. It shows whether the product helps people move from learning about the available instruments to completing the first target action.
How I would validate the concept before launch. For this design exercise, the concept could be tested with a clickable prototype in moderated sessions with beginner and experienced investors. Participants would complete onboarding, select an asset or strategy, and place a test order. For each journey, I would record unassisted completion, time on task, critical errors, and CES. This would not prove an impact on business metrics, but it would show whether the proposed logic is understandable before development.
Goal. Help a beginner get started.
Problem. Without prior experience, it is difficult to know where to begin or which instrument to choose, while unfamiliar terminology increases the fear of making a mistake.
Solution. Onboarding introduces the app's core capabilities, while ready-made strategies help users move from exploring the product to considering a first investment.
Goal. Simplify everyday work with the market.
Problem. To make decisions, users need to assess their portfolio, see changes, and compare instruments quickly without moving through many screens.
Solution. The home screen combines a portfolio overview with quick actions, the portfolio section provides analytics, and the markets section supports asset comparison and filtering.
Goal. Preserve depth for experienced investors.
Problem. Simplifying the interface could remove the data and controls experienced investors need to make decisions and place trades.
Solution. The asset card presents detailed price movement and market data, while the purchase flow supports order-type selection and the key trade parameters.
I developed a concept for a standalone investment app and a prototype of the key journeys for two audiences, from product introduction and first investment to portfolio analysis and order setup.
The concept shows how one product can combine an accessible entry point for beginners with the depth experienced investors need.
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