Creation of a user-centered stockbroking website aligned to the functionality and user experience of Absa's overall brand experience
The approach that existed at the time involved having to call a stockbroker or log on to an unbranded platform provided by an external service provider to access a stock portfolio. This was coupled with a low uptake of younger (read: millenial and gen z) members due to a lack of understanding of the stock market. In addition, there were many regulatory considerations to make when registering which caused a high drop off rate.
We looked at the existing issues and the current competition (local and international) and worked out that we would need to reduce the number of steps required to register, provide educational content where possible, while including a demo account that would allow users to get a feel for the platform and the stock market; and ensure that users were able to get as close as possible to real time updates without having to access external platforms.
We began with a competitor analysis for all the potential South African companies/fintech institutions that were already active in the market and offered a similar value proposition to the desired one. After signing up for as many of the different offerings as possible, we then began to scrutinise what each fintech option had to offer. Competitor analysis, personas and the user requirements were then used to determine what features would be implemented while trying to reduce any friction noticed within the competition's offering.
Go to absa stockbrokers
Using what we had learned from our initial research and analysis coupled with the low fidelity prototypes that we tested, we put the high fidelity prototypes together (after a number of iterations). 2 months after development was completed and the platform was live, we saw a 30% increase in traffic.
Right from the beginning, we recognized that the target audience was most active on mobile devices, presenting the greatest opportunity for engagement. We then designed the entire site with focus on prioritizing the mobile user experience.
