Rethinking user needs for a large brand
Johannesburg Stock Exchange (2014)
The brief:
We were tasked to redesign the JSE website. Upgrade the design for the specific purpose of attracting new business. Work with the brand agency to align new branding with the new website.
The process:
I ran 14 workshops with the various business units of the JSE. I was tasked with truly understanding the business of the JSE so that I could design for not just the retail customers but the brokers, financial advisors, and sponsors as well.
I identified at least 6 distinct user groups but realised the initial strategy of focusing on the retail clients was not the most valuable archetype to design around.
I split the focus between retail clients and financial advisors/brokers/regulatory/technical clients/companies.
The end results were not as spectacular as I’d hoped. The website is currently in a bad way, and even initially, it didn’t meet all of my expectations.
There was, however, a great response from retail clients, especially novice investors who were looking for information and ways to learn about trading.
I was very proud of my ability to immerse myself in a completely new industry and learn quickly enough to impress even the executives with my knowledge of their business.
My contribution
My role in this project was as the lead UX designer. I did a full set of wireframes and a fully functional prototype using Axure.
Some samples below.
What I struggled with:
No real access to users (except retail clients)
Business-centric requirements
Lack of responsiveness
What I enjoyed:
Learning about a new industry
Being a part of a historic brand’s redesign
Introduction to the value of data
Tools I used:
Facilitation & workshopping
Wireframes & prototypes
Strategy
User research & basic testing