Understanding the investment universe

In my first few weeks, I organized a series of interviews with senior stakeholders. My goal was to understand the investment universe and what investment assets we offer. I also reviewed any recent qualitative and quantitative research studies to get an understanding of the target audience and what work has been already delivered before I join the team.

Defining the UX strategy

When I’m part of an in-house product squad, I always work closely with the Product Owner to define the UX strategy and get an agreement on the project timelines. It’s very important to understand upfront the product vision, the goals, the constraints and how we’d measure both the user experience and the product success.

Every project is different and is very important to pick the right UX methods based on the project constraints, for example limited budget or time. I followed an iterative design process to identify the problems, ideate and test design solutions with customers before we move into the development stage.

Following an iterative design process

The objective was to design a new investment discovery experience and allow customers to search for investment assets in the Barclays app. To find the right solution to the above challenge I did the following activities:

• Create a user story map with the Product Owner to understand the user flow and outline the high level journey and the features. Make sure we consider any insights from the strategy research.

• Design detailed user flows and work with the product team to identify any early challenges.

• Present my ideas to the team and senior stakeholders to get initial feedback.

• Test interactive prototypes with users to identify problems in the design. Plan and conduct multiple rounds of user testing.

Overcoming design challenges

Every project is different and I always consider any constraints as part of my design process.

• Technical Constraints: I collaborated closely with the development team to understand API capabilities and the available data. During implementation, I worked directly with front-end developers, conducting design reviews and providing CSS guidance to ensure the final build accurately reflected the designs and the design system standards.

• Domain Expertise: I worked closely with the investment team to understand the existing business logic and identify opportunities to improve internal processes.

• Balance design with internal constraints: I balanced creativity with internal constraints by getting risk and compliance approvals without compromising user experience. Based on the research insights, I ensured that every design decision aligned with regulatory requirements while remaining intuitive and user-friendly. Additionally, I prioritised accessibility by adhering to WCAG Level AA standards, ensuring the experience was inclusive for all users.