Influx
Envisioning an AI-driven social investing app with personalized insights and community strategies.
User Research, UI/UX Design, IxD Design, Product Design, Design System
Summer 2024
Solo Project
Figma, Miro, Adobe Illustrator, AfterEffects, Photoshop
Influx is a social investing app designed to simplify investment for young adults by combining AI-driven insights with a social platform. Users can get personalized investment recommendations, track friends’ activities, and engage in gamified challenges. The app also features educational content and real-time news to help users make informed decisions and stay updated on market trends.
With Influx, users can invest confidently and stay connected with friends, while receiving tailored insights and updates to guide their financial journey.
New investors frequently struggle with complex investment jargon and lack access to clear, unbiased information. They often turn to friends, acquaintances, or social media for advice, leading to inconsistent guidance and confusion about investment decisions.
Before starting the design phase, I identified key pain points and analyzed three leading investment apps to understand how they addressed these issues.
I interviewed individuals matching our proto personas— students, newbie investors, and people who recently started investing—to identify key pain points.
Investment Jargon and Complexity
Users often struggle with the complex terminology and concepts in investing, leading to confusion and frustration.
Lack of Unbiased Information
There is a lack of clear, impartial investment information and tailored guidance free from bias.
Investment Choices
Users are often unsure about selecting companies for investment and designing a portfolio that aligns with their goals.
Diffiulty Tracking Risks
Users wish they could better monitor and assess the risks associated with their investments to make more informed decisions.
Based on my research, I developed three personas to represent our target users, guiding the design and functionality of the app.
“I’m eager to start investing but unsure where to begin or how to navigate the options. There are so many choices, it feels overwhelming.”
“Investing is more fun when I can share my journey with friends. It’s exciting to compare strategies and see how we all grow together.”
“I need to know the risks and benefits of my investments, and I want a system that helps me keep track of everything in one place.”
I created journey maps to understand users’ daily challenges and identify opportunities for solutions, with each persona having a unique scenario.
I selected the most promising How Might We (HMW) questions and generated ideas for each to explore potential solutions.
I identified key user issues trough research and developed targeted solutions, providing a clear overview of our approach.
Ana feels overwhelmed by investing complexity and struggles to find reliable, personalized advice.
The AI chatbot and educational resources provide personalized guidance and clear, unbiased investment information.
Jordan struggles with tracking investments and building a balanced portfolio, and wants to see friends’ investments for better decisions.
Social investing and gamification features enhance learning from friends’ portfolios and keep Alex engaged.
Lena is worried about investment risks and seeks a better way to manage and track her portfolio over time.
AI predictions and portfolio tracking help manage risks and provide a comprehensive view of her investments.
Based on the key features I mapped out where the main categories & subcategories should be located on the app & how they need to be connected.
I created user task flows for all the features I added to the app to illustrate the various navigation paths a user may take to complete that task.
I iterated multiple times on the wireframes to ensure that the new features were as easy as possible for users to navigate, refining the structure based on feedback and usability testing.
Users felt the social investing feature lacked depth and desired more control over their interactions with friends.
Users preferred shorter, quick courses over long, extensive ones in the learning section. They wanted content that could be completed efficiently.
Users appreciated the overall experience but noted that some text was difficult to read and requested clearer typography.
After completing the initial visual design, I conducted user testing and identified a few areas for improvement. I made adjustments based on this feedback to refine the user experience.
Start quickly with the simple setup and personalized quiz. This quiz tailors the user's investment recommendations to their preferences, making it easy to find the right fit for them.
Fluxie provides personalized investment advice, forecasts market trends, and recommends tailored portfolios based on user's risk profile and interests, ensuring they have the insights needed to make smart investment decisions.
Users can discover how others are investing and share their own choices. This feature lets them see friends’ investments and learn from their strategies, enhancing user's own decision-making process.
Users can stay informed and enhance their investing knowledge with bite-sized learning modules and real-time news updates.
The design system for Influx is a set of reusable components and style guidelines that keep the app looking and feeling consistent.
Exploring a new field
This project introduced me to the investment domain, requiring extensive research to understand the landscape and user needs before diving into the design process.
Solo Project Management
As my first solo project, I navigated the challenges of managing timelines and coordinating all aspects of the project independently, which greatly enhanced my project management skills.
Future Enhancements
Moving forward, I aim to expand the features to offer broader functionalities, providing users with more diverse tools and options to enhance their investment experience.
