Ada Analytics - Project Leader
1) Who is Ada Analytics?
Ada is a new company that aims to provide a platform for users interested in the world of finance.
Its signature offering is the Adabot, an AI chatbot assistant meant to help guide users. While they're still building the platform, they sought designs and ideas for how to best utilize Adabot
2) Our Objective
Our goal was to provide user research and visual concepts that support the vision of Ada:
revolutionizing investing through the power of AI and supporting the everyday investor through user-friendly solutions.
revolutionizing investing through the power of AI and supporting the everyday investor through user-friendly solutions.
3) Key Constraints
- The current team was fully virtual, and in different time zones
- We received some wireframes and style guides made by previous teams; we couldn't communicate with them however.
- My design team consisted of just me and one other person; a teammate had dropped out of the project
- The four-week project actually overlapped with my honeymoon and tax busy season for my work
- This was my first time leading a UX project, and experiencing real-world stakeholders
- We received some wireframes and style guides made by previous teams; we couldn't communicate with them however.
- My design team consisted of just me and one other person; a teammate had dropped out of the project
- The four-week project actually overlapped with my honeymoon and tax busy season for my work
- This was my first time leading a UX project, and experiencing real-world stakeholders
4) Research / Insights
With my background in accounting and MIS, I felt comfortable with the topics and understanding the investing world.
My teammate and I determined key functions to be:
- Onboarding screens to gather user info and assess investing risk
- buy/sell recommendation screens
- educational pages that break down investing concepts and lessons
To help guide the wireframes, I had reached out to people within my network to gather information on:
- investing news sources
- feedback about current investing platforms
- comfort level with investing
- interest in an AI assistant
- preference for learning about investing concepts
A key finding the client liked was a community feature, allowing investors within a similar age group to see activity of peers.
My teammate and I determined key functions to be:
- Onboarding screens to gather user info and assess investing risk
- buy/sell recommendation screens
- educational pages that break down investing concepts and lessons
To help guide the wireframes, I had reached out to people within my network to gather information on:
- investing news sources
- feedback about current investing platforms
- comfort level with investing
- interest in an AI assistant
- preference for learning about investing concepts
A key finding the client liked was a community feature, allowing investors within a similar age group to see activity of peers.
5) Sketches and Inspiration
I reviewed different investing sites in order to view how news tiles were formatted, and also common investing topics and themes.
I partially relied on my own personal knowledge to determine categories of filters for a search engine.
I partially relied on my own personal knowledge to determine categories of filters for a search engine.
(Pictured) Possible categories and subcategories for blogs and blog searches.
(Pictured) Scribbles of a Blog homepage, search and the AI ticker sidebar.
(Pictured) Realized filter categories and categories.
Examples of categories include Assets, Metrics, Statements, Terms, Strategies and News.
Once a category is selected, its relevant subcategories would appear.
Examples of categories include Assets, Metrics, Statements, Terms, Strategies and News.
Once a category is selected, its relevant subcategories would appear.
(Pictured Below) Art board and inspiration for my above sketches.
(Pictured below) My three completed screens
6) In conclusion, and in retrospect...
The Goods
- My blog interface ended up being very straightforward and easily readable, and the client liked my work.
- It aligned with their style guide and visual look 'n' feel
- The topics provided a good starting point for a beginning investor to understand the investing world.
- I had drastically simplified the final wireframes' Filter Categories after a meeting with the client. He had mentioned that there were many technical terms and too many options in the first draft.
The "Could-Be-Better"s
- My Filter Categories mostly arose from my own judgement, and casual conversations I've had with friends or people in the past. Not formal testing.
- Because of my work and limited time outside of work, I felt urgency to hurry through the design process
- I had mostly issued surveys even though I wanted to interview potential users and have them test a prototype.
Going Forward...
- This was my first time leading a UX project, and I was happy the client expressed being able to take me and my teammate's work to the next team taking over the project.
- He was pleased with the work and ideas we had presented, despite our limited manpower.
- The UX Design Process exists for a reason. Had I slowed down a little and stuck to the work plan I created, the actual designing would've been smoother.
- This was a fantastic experience, and I look forward to more projects with different clients in the future.