Forex trading education, information & guidance

Trading Places, a private platform offering forex trading guidance and education, had an existing web-based subscription service through which they provided trading signals and support through multiple channels of communication. They asked us to take these offerings, and combine them into a single mobile app.

We produced an iOS app acting as a single access point for all Trading Places customers, including both free access and premium subscription options. Features include detailed trade signals in real time, a community chat to connect users together, direct updates and support from the Trading Places team to each individual user, and a risk calculator to ensure clients maintain a responsible level of risk on all trades.

I was the sole designer on this project, responsible for all aspects including initial feature definition and user journey mapping, app architecture and initial wireframes, high fidelity screen designs and branding development, and final development team handover.

Getting Started

The Client

Trading Places is a leading market analysis and financial education platform, providing FX trading signals from an experienced fund manager and investing time into training clients up to a sophisticated level of market understanding - allowing users to take advantage of the markets without having to spend time analysing market data from opportunities.

The Brief

Having started their journey using a combination of Instagram, Telegram, WhatsApp and a manual risk management calculator to connect their clients and provide support, Trading Places approached Red C with a desire to create a mobile app that offered all four of these features along with managing the subscriptions of each individual member; uniting all aspects of the business on one singular platform.

The Process

Free vs Premium

With an established online system in place the key underlying features of the app had already been identified - our task was to take these external platforms and offer the same functionality within the app; allowing all aspects of the service to operate in one place:

However, giving consideration to the fact there would be both free and premium users, we needed to clearly define which features each of these could access. The focus here was making sure free users were still able to see the value of a premium membership - to encourage them to commit to paying for it.

Wireframes

During the sitemap and wireframe development process there were two primary areas of consideration.
The first considered the fact that the app will have free users who are unable to access premium features, so we needed to introduce regular prompts to encourage subscriptions. This formed a two step process; alerting users to the presence of additional premium features with popups, before outlining what these were and the additional value each one brings to the user.

The second focused on transitioning the risk management calculator from its existing spreadsheet to mobile, ensuring it remained easy and quick to use on a much smaller screen. After understanding exactly how it worked and the correct order of input, we isolated the key fields (inputs in green, outputs in orange) and rearranged them to create a clean, simple and linear process of use.

Visual Identity

The client had provided some example apps they liked the look of, and also emphasised the need for the apps final visual feel to be striking, well defined and professional. We initially gave two options: one based on their logo and website branding, and another darker theme - which ultimately was preferred. We then created a simple style guide to be applied to the wireframes.

The Result

Trading Places

Trading Places is a subscription based iOS mobile app that utilises the knowledge of experienced traders to provide users with forex trading guidance and advice - through daily news articles and recap videos, weekly trade signals, ongoing direct updates and a functional risk management calculator to encourage responsible trading.

How it Works

Having downloaded the app and registered for an account users can view informative content in the form of articles or recap videos. In order to access the other sections of the app they must upgrade to premium - via a monthly, six monthly or yearly subscription.

Once upgraded they will receive signals (recommended trades) which give information on which currencies to buy or sell, and when to start and end the trade in order for it to be profitable. Users are able to enter this information into a Risk Management Calculator within the app - allowing them to calculate their risk, and ensuring they don’t trade beyond their means.

The Trading Places team stay in regular contact with each individual user via direct updates, reacting dynamically to any market fluctuations and ensuring clients stay informed on how trades are performing.

Key Features

Information for Free Users

The home feed presents free users with a variety of forex articles, giving them up to date information on everything from market news to useful tips on trading. In addition, weekly recap videos from the Trading Places team give an overview summary of the previous week’s trading - reviewing how certain trades performed and educating users on why this was, outlining the current market landscape and giving some early indicators of possible trades for the upcoming week.

Premium Subscription

In order to access the other key features of the app, users must upgrade to a premium account. The app utilises regular prompts to encourage free users to make this step - clearly highlighting the benefits of a premium account before giving information on pricing, and finally allowing them to make the purchase via the App Store.

Group Chat

Every premium member is able to communicate with one another in a group chat; encouraging open discussion, sharing of knowledge and promoting a sense of community within the app. To access this feature users first have to select a username, which can be edited in their profile, and allows them to tag one another in messages. Additional measures are in place to limit any screenshots of app content or sharing of 3rd party services who may be in competition with Trading Places.

Live Trade Signals

The Signals overview page is split between pending orders and active trades, with the admin activating trades manually in the backend control system. The signal details page provides an interactive graph showing research into the trade and how it's expected to go, along with a breakdown of the signal in more detail; order type & currency pairs, entry point, stop loss, take profit and risk reward ratio. Users are able to pull through this information and enter it in their Risk Management Calculator automatically

The signal activity section shows any changes to the trade in real time as the admin updates it in the backend; marking it as active, moving the stop loss/take profit points, adding any other comments or cancelling it altogether.

Calculating Individual Risk

The Risk Management Calculator allows the user to calculate their exact cash risk on each trade, dependant on their account currency, balance and desired risk percentage. While information can be pulled through from the signal directly, they can also use this tool manually if required. Their account currency, balance and risk defaults to the last value entered, meaning they don't have to re-enter them every time they use it, and a reset button allows them to clear all fields if required.

Direct Updates

Direct messages are sent to each individual premium member of the app within the updates page, including text, video, image or audio messages. The focus of this section is to give each user clear information about active and upcoming trades or anything else that might be relevant to them, separate from the group chat, to ensure key information is not missed and is easy to find.