Experience for Investors to figure out the best way to invest

In today’s modern financial world an individual has multiple different options of investing their hard earned money. Not having enough expertise people end up picking options which do not provide much growth or pick riskier options and potentially lose more money. Success is driven mostly by chance and is not well planned. Design an experience that let’s individual investors figure out the best place to invest their money. Think about the social aspect i.e. some of the best information about investing is available with your colleagues, neighbours or other people like you, who are also investing. AI can also be a powerful driver.

Individual investors, due to a lack of expertise and effective information-sharing systems, often make ill-informed decisions, relying more on chance than strategic planning for investment success.

Individual investors who are at beginner level, working professionals staying in a tier 1 city who have a good social circle.

Assumptions:

Users are comfortable with sharing their investment activities and learning from others on a digital platform.

Users are open to personalized recommendations that could influence their investment decisions.

Users have a basic understanding of how to use mobile applications.

Constraints:

Given the sensitive nature of financial data, privacy and security should be paramount.

Direct Metrics:

Decision-making effectiveness: Gauge how effectively users are able to make informed investment decisions after using the platform. This could be evaluated through user surveys or in-app quizzes.

Community engagement rate: The level of active participation within the platform's community, measured by the number of posts, comments, and shared stories.

Personalized recommendation acceptance rate: The percentage of users who act upon the personalized investment suggestions provided by the platform.

Indirect Metrics:

Revenue: Income generated from the platform, potentially through a freemium model, where users can access additional features or personalized insights through a subscription.

User growth: The rate at which new users are joining the platform can indirectly suggest the success of the platform and its perceived value.

Brand reputation: Surveys, user feedback, and online reviews can be used to measure how the platform is perceived in the market and how users perceive its effectiveness in helping them find the best investment avenues.

To create a good solution we have to look at the existing solutions and understand the problems with them.

After observing the market and competitors pretty closely. I noticed a pattern sort of "Wikipedia" approach to finance. Lots of facts, figures, and advice on how to invest in video format, audio, mini chapters.

But there’s something missing,

Amid all the "whats" and "hows" of investing, the big question being overlooked was "Why?". Why do users want to learn about investing in the first place?

Is it the trending hashtag among their social circles?

a well-meant push from parents for a secure future?

Early retirement?

Buy a home?

Travel the world?

Start a business?

It offers extensive modules on diverse topics ranging from stock market basics to risk management and personal finance. Interestingly, their first module titled 'Why should I invest?' actually translates to 'What you'll miss out on if you don't invest'. They rely on numerical calculations to indicate potential losses from not investing and then plunge into their finance encyclopedia.

Clearly understanding the "Why?" behind an individual's investment decisions is vital because it essentially uncovers the underlying motivation and goals but also highlight that these motivations are unique for every user.

As per Deloitte, just being "customer-centric" doesn't cut it anymore in this era where customers are expecting more. What really hits a home run is having a purpose. It's not just about reflecting product values; it's about aiming to make a positive difference, whether that's improving user experience, impacting people's lives, or even bettering the world.

Takeaway: We all know it’s not easy to create a investment habit as that does not reward immediately and for most of the users immediate needs feel more important. That’s why we should change our focus from “where to invest” to “What the user wants to achieve?”

Name: Thanuja

Age: 26 years old

Occupation: Software Engineer

Financial Knowledge: Beginner

Thanuja is a young professional who has recently become interested in investing as a means of saving for the future. She is tech-savvy and feels comfortable researching and learning new topics online. However, Thanuja has no prior experience in investing and finds the array of investment options and jargon quite daunting. Her goal is to find a reliable platform that can guide her to make sound investment decisions based on her financial goals.

Let’s look at the current journey Thanuja have to go through to plan her investment strategy

Alright, let's dive into the current user journey for Thanuja:

Awareness Stage: Thanuja becomes aware of the need for investment due to reasons such as wanting to achieve future financial stability, seeing her friends or colleagues investing, or her parents suggesting it. She searches on the internet and finds several investment apps/platforms promising to simplify the process.

Pain Points: Overwhelmed with information, doesn't know where to start, and struggles with the financial jargon on these platforms.

Consideration Stage: She downloads a couple of apps to understand their offerings better. She spends time exploring different investment options (like stocks, mutual funds, bonds etc.) and the potential returns they provide.

Pain Points: Difficulty in comprehending the risks and benefits associated with each investment option due to her lack of financial knowledge. Lack of personalized guidance increases her confusion.

Decision Stage: Thanuja, due to lack of proper guidance, picks an investment option based on some online article or suggestion from a friend.

Pain Points: Uncertainty about her decision due to her limited understanding of the chosen investment. Fear of choosing a high-risk investment and potentially losing money.

Usage Stage: She starts investing, regularly checking the app for updates on her investment returns.

Pain Points: Doesn't understand market fluctuations and gets stressed seeing dips in her investment value. Feels detached from the process as it doesn't resonate with her personal goals.

Reflection Stage: Thanuja evaluates her investment journey, contemplating whether she made the right choice or not.

Pain Points: Feels the process is very mechanical and impersonal. The learning curve is steep and discouraging. The focus is only on the financial returns and there's no connection with her personal life goals or reasons for investing.

In the current scenario, the entire investment journey is a stressful and impersonal process for Thanuja. The lack of tailored advice and disconnect from her personal goals lead to an unsatisfactory user experience.

In the current scenario, the entire investment journey is a stressful and impersonal process for Thanuja. The lack of tailored advice and disconnect from her personal goals lead to an unsatisfactory user experience.

Onboarding: In the initial onboarding process, the focus will be on understanding the user's goals. We will be highlighting the WHY behind our data collection makes our intentions transparent, we establish trust and encourage users to complete the onboarding process. And as we know in fintech, we need to ask a lot of data form the user and this increases the drop-off percentage, So here we will approach in a more storytelling approach which made the process more digestible and less overwhelming

AI-driven Investment Strategies: Once we have enough information about the user's financial situation and investment goals, the AI will generate a set of potential investment strategies. Each strategy will come with a detailed breakdown of its investment composition, Risk analysis, Historical performance, as well as a recommended option. This solution aims to make the decision-making process more transparent and less intimidating for users.

Goal Tracking & Visualization: Users will be able to see how far they are from reaching their investment goals, and creating a visual experience that encourages the manifestation process, users can see themselves literally surrounded by their dreamsvisualize the progress they're making. This solution is aimed at providing users with a sense of accomplishment and motivation to continue investing.

Investment Simulator: This feature will allow users to simulate investing in the market with virtual money. It will provide a safe environment for them to gain experience, test strategies, and understand market dynamics without any real financial risk, builds confidence and trust and the gamified experience of a simulator can increase user engagement.