Turning micro-investing into simple decisions for first-time traders

Role

Sole product designer

Team

PM, 2 mobile developers

Scope

Brand, website, mobile app

At a glance

Problem — Sign-up with identity checks was long and dull, and trading felt complex for first-time investors.

What I did — As the only designer, shaped the brand, website, onboarding and trade flow.

Result — Users understood where they were in sign-up and stayed engaged; trading became a series of simple decisions.

01 — The problem

A licensed exchange that had to feel simple and safe

DSTOQ was a licensed exchange for micro-investing in tokenized securities. Usability sessions showed sign-up was long and dull, and users ignored wallet-security instructions.

Why it mattered — As a financial app, sign-up required an identity check on top of the usual steps, so keeping people engaged until the end was critical.

02 — Key decisions

Trust came first: out of three tested identity directions, users picked the one that felt trustworthy, modern and crypto-native.

Reward progress through sign-up

I reordered steps, added explanation screens and rewarded each completed step with tokens.

Move Buy and Sell to the asset

The choice moved to the asset screen, so users decide what to trade before how.

One decision per step, in plain language

I split the trade into single decisions phrased like normal speech and cut the trade screen to essentials.

03 — The solution

Onboarding that holds attention and a trade flow in plain language

The reworked sign-up: each completed step earns DSQ tokens, ending on a “Good to go” screen.

The new trade flow: pick Buy or Sell on the asset screen, enter an amount, review the order, done.

04 — Impact

Users understood where they were in sign-up and stayed engaged through it; trading became a series of simple decisions.