Project details

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Client:

IG Group

Tool:

Figma, Adobe Illustrator, Maze, Hotjar, Google Analytics

Figma, Adobe Illustrator, Maze, Hotjar, Google Analytics

Explore Hub

👀 You can find the prototype at the very bottom of the page 👀

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

Goal

  • Increased client time in platform – correlated with higher client retention. An improved content offering will help to position IG as an ‘end to end’ trading service where clients can access all the information and content they need to successfully find trade ideas, analyse them, execute them and monitor existing positions

  • Increased CIPC – data science analysis shows that clients that use our content are twice as valuable as those who don’t

Product Metrics

  • Increase in news articles read by clients

  • Increase in time spent on news articles read by clients

  • Increase in secondary interactions (post news) - these to include moving onto further analysis activities (e.g. interacting with relevant charts through) and trading

  • Increase in % of active clients interacting with news and analysis content

(🔥🔥🔥spoiler alert - we've met all metrics + increased trades per user by 19.52% !!!!🔥🔥🔥)

Project scope

1. Timeline: Jan'24 to May'24
2. Platforms: iOS and Android (only mobile) platforms
3. Content: IG proprietary + Reuters news content
4. Regions: We have a roll-out plan in 3 stages:
a) UK, APAC+ and EM & other English language Site IDs,
b) APAC+ and EM
c) Europe
5. Clients: All clients in respective regions
6. Products: All products in respective regions
7. Languages: TBD

I followed 5 stages of the design thinking process:

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Image

Empathise ⭐️

  1. First, I mapped the current journey to identify the entry points and pain points, which helped establish the "As-Is" status - which was a plain section with list of articles

  2. Then reviewed nearly 200 pieces of feedback in Airtable and categorized them into key sections: Quality, Time, Search/Filtering, Personalisation, Customisation, Notifications, Navigation, and UI.
    From this analysis, the main conclusions were:

    • Quality – Need for breaking news, higher-quality trading insights, clear flags for key economic events, more global/macro-economic coverage, and broader news sources.

    • Time – News should be displayed promptly and kept continuously updated.

    • Search/Filtering – Users want the ability to search and find specific markets more easily.

    • Personalisation – News and analysis should be more relevant to watchlists/trades and tailored to sectors rather than just countries.

    • Customisation – Menus should be easily customisable.

    • Notifications – Users expect alerts for breaking news and other relevant updates.

    • Navigation – The "Explore Hub" should be easier to find.

    • UI – The interface should be easy to scan, with the most important news highlighted.

  3. Discovery sessions - to understand what users think about the current access to news and insights. First we did briefing session with our UX research team, we defined purpose of the research and what we want to learn.

  4. Competitors analysis - scrutinized Capital.com, CMC markets, eToro, CityIndex, XTB, Plus500, Coinbase, Forex and CoinMarketCap

Define ⛳️

Pain Points

  • Traders miss opportunities due to lack of integrated, timely information.

  • IG is seen as only a trading execution platform, not a research destination.

  • Users rely on external news sources instead of IG.

  • IG’s proprietary content is underutilized because it’s hard to discover.

  • Economic events and analyst insights are not surfaced effectively.

Assumptions

  • If market insights are integrated seamlessly into the trading journey, traders will engage more deeply.

  • Providing timely, relevant, and personalized content will improve trading confidence and frequency.

  • Increased content engagement directly correlates with higher client value and retention.

  • Traders prefer a “one-stop” platform where they can research and trade without switching contexts.

Target Audience

Active and aspiring traders across IG’s mobile platforms (iOS and Android), seeking timely, reliable, and actionable insights to support trading decisions.

Goal

Transform IG from a pure execution venue into a comprehensive trading ecosystem by increasing client engagement with content, driving higher retention, confidence, and trading activity.

Success Metrics

  • Growth in number of articles read.

  • Growth in time spent per article.

  • Increase in secondary actions after content (e.g., chart interactions, trades).

  • Increase in % of active clients engaging with content.

  • Growth in trading activity.

Mission

To position IG as the end-to-end trading companion - where traders can seamlessly discover, analyse, execute, and monitor their trades, all in one place, with the insights and tools they need to succeed.

Ideation Phase ☯️

The ideation phase focused on generating multiple solution concepts through brainstorming and rapid sketching to visualize different user journeys and content discovery flows. Early sketches were reviewed with business stakeholders to confirm alignment with strategic priorities, while concepts were validated with technology leads to ensure feasibility and surface potential constraints. This dual-track approach enabled rapid refinement, ensuring that proposed solutions were both business-viable and technically achievable before moving into prototyping.

Prototyping and Usability Testing

Two prototypes were developed and tested with clients through two rounds of usability research. The purpose of this research was to understand how traders discover and consume content in our prototypes, the challenges they face, and what role IG’s platform could play in reducing friction.

Key Findings

  • Value of integration – Participants agreed that having news, insights, and social content within the mobile app would eliminate the need to switch between IG and external sources, making trading decisions more efficient and seamless.

  • Increased engagement – Several participants noted that integrating this content would encourage them to spend more time within the IG app, rather than searching elsewhere. One participant described it as a potential “game changer” because of its accessibility.

  • Confidence in decisions – Access to diverse and timely insights was seen as a way to build greater confidence in trading decisions and reduce reliance on external platforms.

  • Positive reception – Clients expressed excitement about this direction for the IG platform and were eager to see the features implemented in their apps.

  • Mixed views on social features – Some participants valued a social section as a way to gauge peer opinions and increase confidence, while others preferred the option to hide it from their feed.

  • Contextual Alerts – While more than half of participants do not currently use alerts from IG or other providers, the majority (including non-users) saw strong value in contextual alerts. They were viewed as a way to highlight market changes that might otherwise be missed and to surface opportunities in new markets. A minority indicated they would not personally use alerts due to their trading strategy, but still acknowledged the potential usefulness for other traders.

Prototyping and Usability Testing

Two prototypes were developed and tested with clients through two rounds of usability research. The purpose of this research was to understand how traders discover and consume content in our prototypes, the challenges they face, and what role IG’s platform could play in reducing friction.

Key Findings

  • Value of integration – Participants agreed that having news, insights, and social content within the mobile app would eliminate the need to switch between IG and external sources, making trading decisions more efficient and seamless.

  • Increased engagement – Several participants noted that integrating this content would encourage them to spend more time within the IG app, rather than searching elsewhere. One participant described it as a potential “game changer” because of its accessibility.

  • Confidence in decisions – Access to diverse and timely insights was seen as a way to build greater confidence in trading decisions and reduce reliance on external platforms.

  • Positive reception – Clients expressed excitement about this direction for the IG platform and were eager to see the features implemented in their apps.

  • Mixed views on social features – Some participants valued a social section as a way to gauge peer opinions and increase confidence, while others preferred the option to hide it from their feed.

  • Contextual Alerts – While more than half of participants do not currently use alerts from IG or other providers, the majority (including non-users) saw strong value in contextual alerts. They were viewed as a way to highlight market changes that might otherwise be missed and to surface opportunities in new markets. A minority indicated they would not personally use alerts due to their trading strategy, but still acknowledged the potential usefulness for other traders.

Prototyping and Usability Testing

Two prototypes were developed and tested with clients through two rounds of usability research. The purpose of this research was to understand how traders discover and consume content in our prototypes, the challenges they face, and what role IG’s platform could play in reducing friction.

Key Findings

  • Value of integration – Participants agreed that having news, insights, and social content within the mobile app would eliminate the need to switch between IG and external sources, making trading decisions more efficient and seamless.

  • Increased engagement – Several participants noted that integrating this content would encourage them to spend more time within the IG app, rather than searching elsewhere. One participant described it as a potential “game changer” because of its accessibility.

  • Confidence in decisions – Access to diverse and timely insights was seen as a way to build greater confidence in trading decisions and reduce reliance on external platforms.

  • Positive reception – Clients expressed excitement about this direction for the IG platform and were eager to see the features implemented in their apps.

  • Mixed views on social features – Some participants valued a social section as a way to gauge peer opinions and increase confidence, while others preferred the option to hide it from their feed.

  • Contextual Alerts – While more than half of participants do not currently use alerts from IG or other providers, the majority (including non-users) saw strong value in contextual alerts. They were viewed as a way to highlight market changes that might otherwise be missed and to surface opportunities in new markets. A minority indicated they would not personally use alerts due to their trading strategy, but still acknowledged the potential usefulness for other traders.

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:

  1. News - A live feed with filtering options ("All news" and "For you"), featuring both articles and video news from Reuters and other sources

  2. Top Traders - Insights into the positions and strategies of IG's most successful traders, allowing users to learn from proven performers

  3. Economic Calendar - A focused view of high-impact market events with clear visual indicators of potential market impact and forecast data

  4. TipRanks Integration - A widget providing professional analyst ratings and stock insights to complement internal research

  5. 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:

  1. News - A live feed with filtering options ("All news" and "For you"), featuring both articles and video news from Reuters and other sources

  2. Top Traders - Insights into the positions and strategies of IG's most successful traders, allowing users to learn from proven performers

  3. Economic Calendar - A focused view of high-impact market events with clear visual indicators of potential market impact and forecast data

  4. TipRanks Integration - A widget providing professional analyst ratings and stock insights to complement internal research

  5. 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:

  1. News - A live feed with filtering options ("All news" and "For you"), featuring both articles and video news from Reuters and other sources

  2. Top Traders - Insights into the positions and strategies of IG's most successful traders, allowing users to learn from proven performers

  3. Economic Calendar - A focused view of high-impact market events with clear visual indicators of potential market impact and forecast data

  4. TipRanks Integration - A widget providing professional analyst ratings and stock insights to complement internal research

  5. 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

_____________________________________

TL;DR

I created the Explore Hub from scratch, ran the full end-to-end process, and made customers happy, stakeholders happy, and drove +19.52% more trades per person for those interacting with it.

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

_____________________________________

TL;DR

I created the Explore Hub from scratch, ran the full end-to-end process, and made customers happy, stakeholders happy, and drove +19.52% more trades per person for those interacting with it.

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

_____________________________________

TL;DR

I created the Explore Hub from scratch, ran the full end-to-end process, and made customers happy, stakeholders happy, and drove +19.52% more trades per person for those interacting with it.

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