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Redesigning the Stock Market

2 points by rocamboleh ↗ HN
s part of my design class term project, I am attempting to develop different ways to present stock information and generally improve the UI and visual design of online brokerage sites so that they are more accessible. I came up with the project idea after debating with my friends different reasons why we don't currently invest in the stock market. The most common response was that it was too expensive. I found that this isn't so true any more; you can trade with online discount brokers at as little as $3.95/trade, and invest in penny stocks to slow grow your portfolio. So they log onto an online discount broker, such as zecco or a competitor, and tell me they were completely overwhelmed with all the information and quickly gave up. Has anyone else had this experience? What have you found so intimidating? Graphs? Stock price? Stock ticker?

I'm trying to come up with ways to present this material in a less intimidating / less overwhelming / more aesthetically pleasing fashion. How can the online investing UI be made less intimidating?

I'd appreciate some feedback!

8 comments

[ 4.5 ms ] story [ 27.6 ms ] thread
coryl
I had a concept about something like this about a year ago. I mocked up some draft designs for a homepage and user profile. You can see them here (although the domain is expiring soon):

http://sharemeup.com/sharemeup/index.php

Only the tour and index page have content.

Basically, my concept was socializing and in essence, noobifying the stock trading process. You buy shares based on dollar amount (fractional ownership, ShareBuilder.com does it as well). Ticker symbols are accompanied by company logos, so its obvious that you're buying Apple Computer stock, not just AAPL. Your portfolio is also gamified; win achievements for doing well, get placed on a leaderboard, share with friends, etc.

In general, everything about trading is complicated. If you look up your favorite company, and you're overloaded with stock information about High/Low, Bid/Ask, Volume, closing price, etc. And the more investment options are given, the worse it gets (mutual funds, options, currency, etc.). Everything appears complicated, so yes, it is intimidating. To get a better grip of what a better UI would be, it would be a good idea to look at the intentions and desires of a new trader. I think the average joe wants to start trading because: a) They think they're smarter than the average person, and can make a few bucks off their stock picks. b) They think it'll be fun to learn.

Feel free to take any of my work or ideas.

iaskwhy
I believe you were onto something there. Why didn't you went forward with it?
coryl
Bunch of reasons, ie: I don't have a trading background, accessing and executing trade data has a high barrier to entry regarding legal + financial, etc. It would be best executed by a company already in the game, like Sharebuilder.

TradeKing.com has something like an open portfolio. eToro.com is also doing this for ForEx as well.

rocamboleh
Hey Coryl, I'm trying to build a product very similar to yours. Any chance I could send you an email to discuss further?
JamesPeterson
Firstly, this is a great idea. That said, it needs to be stressed (and then stressed again!) how important it is that the simplification of the interface does not remove from the seriousness of its application; you should not lead investors to treat the market as a 'game'.

It is important that investors are well educated about their actions. Simplification must not lead to less-thought-out decisions.

rocamboleh
I completely agree, James. Certainly that this what makes the project so difficult. Perhaps one could remove all but the most essential features, present them in a simple and well-desinged manor, and sell the service as an educational / first-time investing platform
iaskwhy
A similar service, The Share Republic, launched this week: http://thesharerepublic.com/bananas/

It's still bananas (not real money) for now but I now they are working hard to get the real thing running before the end of the year. You might want to signup to see what they came up with.

Disclaimer: I beta tested it for some weeks but I'm not part of the company.

daniserra
I don't think brokerage sites are not accessible, let me disagree on that one. Players like Charles Schwab, Ameritrade and eTrade made it very simple for common people to trade online, and there are millons of individual small traders already. Also, old boards like Motley Fool helped a lot of people understand how the sistem works and encourage them to take control of their investments. Financial products like ETFs and interfaces like Yahoo finance and Google finance are visited by millions every month. What is a REAL NIGHTMARE (at least for me, a foreigner) is the paperwork related to opening an account (banking or brokerage, the same). If you can think of a way (or service) to simplify that process, you would be improving people's life.