Project details
Client:
IG Group
Tool:
Figma, Adobe Illustrator, Maze, Hotjar, Google Analytics
Explore Hub
Challenge
IG, a leading financial trading platform, needed to create a dedicated content ecosystem to better serve traders seeking market insights. Prior to this initiative, only 21% of iOS clients, 25% of Android clients, and 32% of web platform clients used IG's news and analysis features, with just 4% utilizing the economic calendar. This represented a significant missed opportunity, as data showed that clients who consume IG content generate twice as much value and new clients are three times more likely to place their first trade when engaging with content.
Problem
Traders need timely, relevant information to make informed decisions, but IG's existing platforms were primarily seen as execution venues rather than comprehensive research destinations. Our research revealed that users were:
Missing trading opportunities due to lack of integrated market information
Forced to switch between IG and external news sources
Unaware of valuable content created by IG analysts
Unable to efficiently discover high-impact economic events
Not benefiting from insights of successful traders on the platform
Solution
With a clear mission to "encourage as many clients as possible to consume as much IG content as possible at as many stages of the client lifecycle as possible," I developed a content strategy focused on increasing visibility and engagement with IG's valuable but underutilized content assets.
While Explore was designed as a platform-agnostic concept, we initially focused on mobile, where clients were particularly underserved and where the app needed enhancement beyond being merely an execution venue.
Based on these insights, I organized the Explore hub into five key sections:
News - A live feed with filtering options ("All news" and "For you"), featuring both articles and video news from Reuters and other sources
Top Traders - Insights into the positions and strategies of IG's most successful traders, allowing users to learn from proven performers
Economic Calendar - A focused view of high-impact market events with clear visual indicators of potential market impact and forecast data
TipRanks Integration - A widget providing professional analyst ratings and stock insights to complement internal research
Expert Analysis - In-depth content created in-house by IG analysts, including market commentaries and trading recommendations
User Testing
We conducted both moderated and unmoderated testing to validate our design decisions:
Users found the new design contained substantial information without feeling overwhelming
The separation of content types into distinct sections improved navigability
The integration of different content formats (video, articles, event data) created a comprehensive research experience
Card sizing and information density required refinement to optimize scanning efficiency
Solution
With a clear mission to "encourage as many clients as possible to consume as much IG content as possible at as many stages of the client lifecycle as possible," I developed a content strategy focused on increasing visibility and engagement with IG's valuable but underutilized content assets.
While Explore was designed as a platform-agnostic concept, we initially focused on mobile, where clients were particularly underserved and where the app needed enhancement beyond being merely an execution venue.
Based on these insights, I organized the Explore hub into five key sections:
News - A live feed with filtering options ("All news" and "For you"), featuring both articles and video news from Reuters and other sources
Top Traders - Insights into the positions and strategies of IG's most successful traders, allowing users to learn from proven performers
Economic Calendar - A focused view of high-impact market events with clear visual indicators of potential market impact and forecast data
TipRanks Integration - A widget providing professional analyst ratings and stock insights to complement internal research
Expert Analysis - In-depth content created in-house by IG analysts, including market commentaries and trading recommendations
User Testing
We conducted both moderated and unmoderated testing to validate our design decisions:
Users found the new design contained substantial information without feeling overwhelming
The separation of content types into distinct sections improved navigability
The integration of different content formats (video, articles, event data) created a comprehensive research experience
Card sizing and information density required refinement to optimize scanning efficiency
Solution
With a clear mission to "encourage as many clients as possible to consume as much IG content as possible at as many stages of the client lifecycle as possible," I developed a content strategy focused on increasing visibility and engagement with IG's valuable but underutilized content assets.
While Explore was designed as a platform-agnostic concept, we initially focused on mobile, where clients were particularly underserved and where the app needed enhancement beyond being merely an execution venue.
Based on these insights, I organized the Explore hub into five key sections:
News - A live feed with filtering options ("All news" and "For you"), featuring both articles and video news from Reuters and other sources
Top Traders - Insights into the positions and strategies of IG's most successful traders, allowing users to learn from proven performers
Economic Calendar - A focused view of high-impact market events with clear visual indicators of potential market impact and forecast data
TipRanks Integration - A widget providing professional analyst ratings and stock insights to complement internal research
Expert Analysis - In-depth content created in-house by IG analysts, including market commentaries and trading recommendations
User Testing
We conducted both moderated and unmoderated testing to validate our design decisions:
Users found the new design contained substantial information without feeling overwhelming
The separation of content types into distinct sections improved navigability
The integration of different content formats (video, articles, event data) created a comprehensive research experience
Card sizing and information density required refinement to optimize scanning efficiency
Results and Impact
Users who actively engaged with this tab showed a +19.52% increase in trades per user, occasional users experienced a +12.82% boost, while non-users saw a -6.67% decline.
The newly created Explore hub directly addressed our key team metrics with impressive week-over-week improvements on Android (Week 26 to Week 27):
120% increase in average time spent by clients in the Explore hub
1788% increase in total articles read
2095% increase in breaking news articles read
2394% increase in IG content articles read
1136% increase in "For You" personalized articles read
2910% increase in total videos seen by clients
1976% increase in total event interactions inside the Explore hub
1390% increase in unique users interacting with the Explore hub
These results directly aligned with our primary metrics of increasing news articles read, time spent on content, secondary interactions, and percentage of active clients engaging with news and analysis.
Conclusion
Integrated content creates value - Bringing news, analysis, events, and social insights into one ecosystem significantly increased engagement
Personalization balances information density - "For You" filtering helped manage content volume without sacrificing discovery
Content variety matters - Different formats (video, articles, data) served different user needs and consumption patterns
Platform integration drives usage - Having content within the trading app eliminated friction and increased consumption
Results and Impact
Users who actively engaged with this tab showed a +19.52% increase in trades per user, occasional users experienced a +12.82% boost, while non-users saw a -6.67% decline.
The newly created Explore hub directly addressed our key team metrics with impressive week-over-week improvements on Android (Week 26 to Week 27):
120% increase in average time spent by clients in the Explore hub
1788% increase in total articles read
2095% increase in breaking news articles read
2394% increase in IG content articles read
1136% increase in "For You" personalized articles read
2910% increase in total videos seen by clients
1976% increase in total event interactions inside the Explore hub
1390% increase in unique users interacting with the Explore hub
These results directly aligned with our primary metrics of increasing news articles read, time spent on content, secondary interactions, and percentage of active clients engaging with news and analysis.
Conclusion
Integrated content creates value - Bringing news, analysis, events, and social insights into one ecosystem significantly increased engagement
Personalization balances information density - "For You" filtering helped manage content volume without sacrificing discovery
Content variety matters - Different formats (video, articles, data) served different user needs and consumption patterns
Platform integration drives usage - Having content within the trading app eliminated friction and increased consumption
Results and Impact
Users who actively engaged with this tab showed a +19.52% increase in trades per user, occasional users experienced a +12.82% boost, while non-users saw a -6.67% decline.
The newly created Explore hub directly addressed our key team metrics with impressive week-over-week improvements on Android (Week 26 to Week 27):
120% increase in average time spent by clients in the Explore hub
1788% increase in total articles read
2095% increase in breaking news articles read
2394% increase in IG content articles read
1136% increase in "For You" personalized articles read
2910% increase in total videos seen by clients
1976% increase in total event interactions inside the Explore hub
1390% increase in unique users interacting with the Explore hub
These results directly aligned with our primary metrics of increasing news articles read, time spent on content, secondary interactions, and percentage of active clients engaging with news and analysis.
Conclusion
Integrated content creates value - Bringing news, analysis, events, and social insights into one ecosystem significantly increased engagement
Personalization balances information density - "For You" filtering helped manage content volume without sacrificing discovery
Content variety matters - Different formats (video, articles, data) served different user needs and consumption patterns
Platform integration drives usage - Having content within the trading app eliminated friction and increased consumption