A New Way to Discover Your Next Investment
Yahoo · 2023
My Role
Lead Product Designer
Company
Yahoo
Platforms
iOS, Android, iPad
Date
2023
The problem
Yahoo Finance is a key platform for discovery, research, and analysis of investment opportunities, yet the Search and Markets tabs on the app were underutilized, signaling limitations in supporting effective discovery.
I conduced an audit and user feedback analysis, to identify gaps in how these tabs facilitated (or did not facilitate) exploration, uncovering key opportunities to better align it with user expectations.
Examples of shallow navigation
Examples of limited exposure
Three common trends emerged: shallow navigation, limited exposure, and lack of context.
Shallow navigation: The designs across both pages relied heavily on limited carousels and short lists, restricting users to exploring only 5-8 tickers without the ability to dive deeper into the full list.
Limited exposure: The displayed lists were fairly basic compared to what desktop users have access to. Additionally, users could only explore three markets (US, Europe, Asia), with minimal opportunities to discover securities unless they already knew the exact symbol name.
Lack of context: The lists provided lacked sufficient context, which failed to instill confidence in users when navigating or making decisions.
Understanding how investors identify opportunities
We ran two parallel studies: one through a survey and the other using interviews and jamboards. These helped us dig into investor habits, profiles, decision-making styles, and the journey investors take when making decisions. This gave us the foundation we needed to design a meaningful 'discovery' experience.
Investor Decision-Making Funnel: From Discovery to Investment
At first glance, this might look simple, but the way investors move through the funnel isn’t always smooth or structured. Some prefer a clear, step-by-step process, while others take a more flexible and experimental approach. On top of that, what investors prioritize at each stage can vary a lot:
Valuing understanding and context: These investors care about the “why,” digging deeper to feel confident in their decisions.
Valuing efficiency and knowing: These investors just want the essentials—they’re all about tools that make gathering information faster and easier.
Investor who values understanding
Investor who values knowing
While decision-making styles varied, over 50% of participants already had a clear starting point in mind. Most knew the type of security or industry they wanted to explore before they even began their research.
The solution
By spending a lot of time understanding the problem and our investor habits, one thing became clear: while the app excelled in the Analysis stage, it fell short in the Discover phase. Unless users already knew exactly what they were looking for, the app provided little value in uncovering new opportunities. This gap became the core focus of our solution, shaping our vision to bridge it effectively.
Screeners
To bridge the gaps in discovery, we leveraged screeners to create an experience that aligned with what diverse investors value, based on our initial research. These screeners were curated to reflect specific investment strategies, provide timely insights, and deliver meaningful context, ensuring they resonated with different investor types.
With the data already in place on the backend, we could easily toggle criteria to generate the right lists for each strategy. From this, we curated 54 screeners, tailoring them to different security types and approaches.
Selection of equity-based screeners we used
These screeners became the foundation for the discovery experience, directly addressing the gaps identified during our research:
Screeners helped users who didn’t know where to start by providing curated entry points, making it easier to find and understand opportunities.
It also gave them quick access to strategies that they could then filter and prioritize what is worth their attention.
Teaser cards provide a snapshot of curated content, guiding users to full screener pages where they can explore deeper insights and refine their discovery journey
These screeners were designed as interactive cards on the discovery page, offering users a teaser of the curated content before diving deeper. Each card provided a snapshot of the strategy or criteria it represented. This gave users a quick sense of what they could explore further, helping them decide which screeners aligned with their interests or goals before fully engaging with the detailed view.
Users can apply filters like region, industry, and market cap to personalize their discovery journey, striking a balance between guided exploration and customizable control.
Once inside a screener, users could customize their exploration even further by using filters to narrow down their search even further. This gave them control over their discovery process, enabling them to zero in on the opportunities that mattered most to them. This empowers users to take control of their research while still providing them with a clear starting point to guide their exploration.
Navigation Structure
The navigation structure was intentionally designed around security types, reflecting how 75% of investors already think about their investments from there—whether they focus on equities, bonds, or mutual funds. By aligning with this mental model, we made it easier for users to start their discovery journey in a way that feels intuitive and familiar. Each tab serves as a clear entry point, helping users quickly locate the types of opportunities they’re most interested in.
Each tab displays relevant screeners for each security type.
Outcomes
We launched this experience to the public in late 2022. While I won't share success metrics here, I will share some highlevel outcomes and results.
Improved user engagement
Significantly increased interaction with key areas of the product, such as Quote Summary Pages and screeners, as users engaged more deeply with investment opportunities that they cared about.
Encouraged users to take meaningful actions, such as following securities and exploring tailored screeners, showcasing enhanced value in the investment discovery process.
Increased discoverability
Streamlined navigation and tailored recommendations led to broader exploration of tools and investment ideas within the app.