Iress - B2B FIX Project Design
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The Client
Iress is a technology company providing software to the financial services industry.
The Goal
As a Senior Product Designer, I was responsible for building a single, global, cloud-native FIX Hub incorporating next-generation tools and services to delight our customers and provide the best-in-class FIX onboarding experience available anywhere.
To achieve this goal, I worked closely with the development team and other stakeholders to ensure that the FIX Hub was designed with the customer's needs in mind, while also taking into account the latest technologies and industry best practices.
Research & Planning
My first step was to conduct extensive research to understand the challenges that customers were facing when using existing FIX solutions. I also worked to identify emerging trends and technologies that could be incorporated into the FIX Hub to provide a superior customer experience.
User Research
Conducting interviews with participants to gain deeper insights into their experiences with the existing FIX systems proved to be a valuable and enlightening endeavor for the FIX project. Considering the intricate landscape involving various user types and their interactions, it became imperative to thoroughly document the intricacies of their workflows. Directly involving end users allowed us to gather firsthand narratives of the obstacles and difficulties they encountered while working with the FIX systems.
Product Roadmap
Based on this research, I developed a comprehensive product roadmap that outlined the key features and capabilities of the FIX Hub, including its cloud-native architecture, next-generation tools, and services. I also worked to design an intuitive and user-friendly interface for the FIX Hub that would make it easy for customers to onboard, manage their transactions, and access the information they need.
Also, affinity diagram was created to aggregate the needs, wants and pain points of the FIX Hub users interviewed by our team.
Project Planning has been done by our team with Product Managers and Stakeholders.
Miro board and Figma are used for team collaborations.
High Fidelity Wireframes
Development
User story creation points can be seen below.
Wireframes
Team Collaboration
We collaborated very often with product managers and owners on wireframes to meet the needs of stakeholders and users.
Throughout the development process, I collaborated closely with the development team to ensure that the FIX Hub was being built to the highest standards of quality and reliability. I joined daily scrums, created design review sessions and made sure everything is aligned.
Usability Testing in Development Phase
I also conducted extensive usability testing as part of our project development process. Usability testing is a crucial step in the design and development of any product or service. It involves systematically evaluating the user experience to ensure that it is optimized for customer needs.
During the usability testing process, I recruited a group of participants who used different FIX systems such as VeriFIX, miniFIX. This group allowed us to gather valuable insights from different perspectives and ensure that our product would cater to a wide range of user preferences and requirements.
The usability testing sessions were carefully moderated to maintain consistency and objectivity. Moderation involved guiding participants through specific tasks, recording their interactions, and collecting feedback. It ensured that the testing process remained standardized and that participants' feedback was focused on the relevant aspects of the user experience. The moderated sessions also allowed us to probe deeper into users' thoughts, preferences, and expectations, helping us gain a comprehensive understanding of their needs. The feedback we received was positive, with users praising the simplicity and ease of use of the interface. Users also noted that they felt more secure when sharing financial information using our system.
The insights gathered from this usability testing played a pivotal role in shaping the final design and functionality of our product. It helped us make informed decisions to enhance the user experience, resulting in a more user-friendly and customer-centric solution.
Conclusion
Ultimately, my goal was to create a FIX Hub that would be the gold standard for the industry, providing customers with a world-class experience that would exceed their expectations and help them achieve their financial goals with ease and confidence. We aimed to improve the financial information exchange experience for users. Through user research and testing, we developed a user-friendly and efficient system that simplifies the process of exchanging financial information while ensuring the security of the system. By enabling seamless communication between users and their financial professionals, our design solution empowers users to take control of their finances and achieve their financial goals.