4 Weeks
🔑 Key Impacts
- Delivered a modern, intuitive registration experience that increased user trust
- Validated design direction through desirability and usability testing
- Created a cohesive UI kit and style guide to support long-term brand consistency
- Improved clarity and reduced friction across the registration journey
- Enabled Tradovate to better position itself as a modern, credible financial platform
🎯 Objectives
- Redesign the user registration flow to align with Tradovate’s emerging brand
- Improve first-time user experience and instill credibility at initial touchpoints
- Validate usability and design direction through iterative testing
- Complete research, testing, and handoff within a 4-week sprint
- Deliver a high-fidelity prototype, annotated designs, and a scalable UI system
🧠 Background
Tradovate is a modern trading platform in the commodities and futures space, targeting a user base that expects both power and simplicity. As a younger competitor in the industry, Tradovate needed to modernize its registration experience—a critical moment where users decide whether to trust the platform with sensitive financial data.
The goal was to create a seamless first impression through clear interaction patterns, visual cohesion, and brand credibility.
🔍 Research & Strategy
I led the UX strategy by first understanding user expectations and competitor standards in financial onboarding.
Key research activities included:
- Competitive analysis of direct and adjacent trading platforms
- User interviews and desirability testing of early design explorations
- Establishing three guiding design principles:
- Credible – Instill user confidence and trust in a regulated space
- Vibrant – Create visual distinction and brand energy
- Goal-Oriented – Drive users to complete registration smoothly
These principles were consistently applied across all design stages and validated through user feedback.
🎨 Design Execution
Using moodboards and style tiles, I tested visual directions with users using adjective-based desirability assessments. Based on the most resonant themes, I delivered:
- A modern, polished visual system rooted in trust and clarity
- High-fidelity wireframes and interactive prototypes of the full registration journey
- Key improvements:
- Streamlined form flow by removing redundant fields
- Introduced modal confirmations for legal agreements
- Applied visual hierarchy and added microinteractions like tooltips and inline validation
- Designed confirmation emails to align with the platform’s tone and structure
🧪 User Testing & Iteration
We conducted multiple testing rounds focused on speed, trust, and clarity. Key takeaways included:
- Users appreciated a minimal, guided flow with clear action cues
- Plan selection was better deferred until after core onboarding
- Reducing informational noise and highlighting secure interactions built trust
Feedback drove updates that improved comprehension and reduced friction—ultimately leading to a more intuitive and credible experience.
🤝 Client Collaboration & Handoff
In close partnership with Tradovate’s leadership and dev teams, I provided:
- Annotated screens for smooth engineering handoff
- A modular UI kit and brand-aligned style guide for scalability
- Strategic recommendations for future iterations, including community engagement tools and onboarding personalization
The client quickly adopted the assets and requested further design support post-project.
🧭 Reflection
This project showed how small design decisions can make a big difference in perceived trust—especially in the financial space. Through collaborative iteration and user-led validation, we were able to create a registration experience that feels as modern and credible as the platform behind it.
“I now see the importance of talking to our users.” — Rick, CEO of Tradovate