Manifest
Timeline
2021
My role
Product Designer
My Service
User Flows
User Research
UX / High-fidelity prototypes
User Interface & Visual Style
App to connect investors and companies
Manifest is a new platform that provides corporate access, which is a way for corporations and investors to meet in order to make investment decisions in the financial field.
The app I worked on would make corporate access more seamless by assisting investors in finding matches with companies in specific industries and connecting with corporate executives in charge of investor relations.
Challenge
– Understand the niche market in a short period.
– Design for both buyer side and seller side, desktop and mobile.
– Add new features and design the information architecture for the entire app.
I performed user research and testing, reorganized the information architecture, and produced final prototypes for a range of features as the Lead Designer. 3 months are spent on the design phase. I was able to work with the PM and engineers to develop a usable product that was shown to investors.
Defining goals
Business JBTD:
Corporate access is a genuine issue for investors and corporate executives, that's the reason for creating platform as Manifest. They wanted to have a platform that is functional and viable, providing seamless experience and present it to investors.
User JBTD:
To organize investor relations meetings directly, cutting out the broker who would typically act as the middleman between corporate executors and investors in order to reduce the overall time and costs associated with the corporate investment process.
Double diamond
Discover
I worked with the PM to analyze research data, conduct user interviews and competitor analyze to better understand the people and the market.
Define
I reviewed the data stakeholder had, organized the information architecture, and set a priority list for the features that would be designed and released first.
Develop
I created the buyer and seller interfaces, running through QA, discussion and internal & user testing. The interfaces were designed for desktop and mobile devices.
Deliver
I used Figma to send the design and style guide to the engineering team, assisted them in platform debugging and design review, and offered recommendations for the live version of the platform.
User research
I combined primary and secondary research to build the design approach. In the initial study, more than 18 business leaders were polled about their greatest investor relations process pain points.
The product manager listed “investor targeting,“ “getting time with qualified investors,“ and “administrative parts of arranging meetings“ as the main problems that we need to address at early stage.
User persona
Based on user research findings, several published interviews, news, and industry studies and reports, I designed two user personas: for buyer (investor) and for seller (company).
Internal testing
It took me 3 months to ideate, iterate and finalize the design. Each time, we evaluated the design and specifics taking into account the needs and behaviors of the users. We also carried out user testing to verify the learnability and usability of the interface with the target audience, whose feedback was taken into consideration in the iteration cycle.
Design
Investor side
Event listing
One of the platform's most important interfaces, it allows customers to browse, filter, and search events. Users may view the event's basic details and status in the list (e.g. whether they have submitted a request, or the request has been approved, etc.). They may verify the event specifics by opening the submenu.
Event manager
This is the dashboard for users to manage the events they have requested attendance (“Requested Events”), event request being approved and need to make a payment(“Pending Payment”), and paid events (“Confirmed Events”). For different status, users can make different actions accordingly, such as make a payment or add to calendar. Since “Pending Payment” is an urgent action user need to take, so we add a icon at the top right corner showing the number of pending payment to remind user.
Calendar & Notifications
In addition to list view, we also provide a calendar view for users to view events, and we present event details in a pop-up window.
Users can access notifications by clicking the tab from the sidebar or using the bell icon in the top right corner of the page, which displays the number of unread notifications. Users can easily find the information they need thanks to the six categories into which all notifications have been grouped. However, they can still choose to view all notifications at once.
Design
Company side
Invitations
One of the most crucial feature for seller side is to invite investor to connect him directly and discuss possible solutions and offers that seller can offer. This is one of JTBD from seller point of view. Sellers have the option of either importing contacts from their own contact list or sending invites to certain customers who already are on the platform.
Event manager
Sellers can manage their event on this screen by processing or removing requests, as well as by sending reminders. Additionally, the seller can see an overview of the upcoming meeting and get in touch with the buyer directly via email or platform reminders.
Testing
I tested how users would interact with with the app. Three people were included in the user testing to see whether it is understandable for a wider user base. Two of the participants were from the industry, and one was from a non-financial user group. They provided insightful feedback, which I took into account. Overall, they said that using the app is simple and user-friendly. They feel familiarity with it and their experience matches with their mental models. I am pleased with the work and outcomes at this point.
Impact
– The client was happy with the job done and was successful in obtaining investments from investors to scale the application.
– Users have responded well to the app's features and the simplistic design.
– More than 200 interested users asked for early access to the app.
Along with introducing a new app, the primary goal of my job was to assist stakeholders in obtaining investments from investors, therefore I'm pleased with that outcome.
Understanding the business is one of the project's main challenges. Corporate Access operates on a distinct framework from than traditional event booking system. I'm happy that despite the jobs being more and more challenging, I was able to successfully cope with the project.
To comply with my non-disclosure agreement, I have omitted and obfuscated confidential information in this case study.