2021
Stockstars by Invstr - A Snap Mini Game
Lead UI UX Designer
Invstr's goal with Stockstars was to introduce a condensed version of its successful iOS and Android investing app onto Snapchat, targeting a younger demographic interested in finance.
The game provided a risk-free environment for users to engage in fantasy investing while incorporating real-time news articles and a comprehensive financial dictionary to impart essential investment knowledge.
As a lead designer on the Stockstars project, my responsibility was to oversee the creation of drafts, wireframes, prototypes, and final designs, ensuring a seamless user experience from start to finish.
The project's core objective was to blend education with entertainment, making financial literacy engaging and accessible to Snapchat's primary user base, typically aged between 15 to 25 years old. By leveraging Snapchat's platform features, the aim was to create an immersive gaming experience that not only entertained but also educated users about investment risks and market dynamics, ultimately empowering them to make informed financial decisions in the future.
Project Goals
1.
Create a seamless and interactive user experience within Snapchat that effectively blends education and entertainment to make financial literacy accessible and engaging for users aged 15 to 25.
2.
Integrate real-time news articles and a comprehensive financial dictionary into the game to provide users with up-to-date investment information and essential financial knowledge in a risk-free environment.
3.
Utilize Snapchat's platform features to develop an immersive fantasy investing game that entertains users while educating them about investment risks and market dynamics, empowering them to make informed financial decisions in the future.
The Design Process
Research
Understanding the user, competitors and looking into existing Mini games.
Discussions with Snapchat on the Mini structure and capabilities.
Define
Defining the goals and challenges of the project.
Deciding what we give importance to in the mini version of our game.
Defining the pain points we might run into and coming up with solutions for them.
Design
Low fidelity & high fidelity wireframes. Preparing realistic prototypes.
Presenting them to stakeholders throughout the process to make sure we are meeting their needs as well as ours.
Visual design including preparing style guides, branding and UI design from scratch.
Test & Develop
Local launch of the game.
Usability tests & review metrics. Track usage and get feedback from users to improve before global launch.
Second iteration release globally.
Continue usability tests & review metrics, improving the game continuously throughout its lifetime.
Project Case Study
My Role
As the lead UI/UX Designer on the Stockstars project, my responsibilities extended to every aspect of crafting the app's user interface and experience. Beyond creating wireframes, prototypes, and final designs, I led the conceptualisation and implementation of a cohesive design system. This system included defining design principles, establishing UI components, creating interactive prototypes, and documenting design guidelines to ensure consistency and scalability across the app.
The Challenge
Balancing Engagement and Education in Game Design
The main challenge we faced was developing a game that not only captured the attention of Snapchat's youthful audience but also effectively conveyed complex financial concepts in an engaging manner. This required a deep understanding of user behaviours, educational needs, and technical constraints specific to Snapchat's platform. Our target users, primarily students and young adults, were receptive to new information but lacked exposure to financial education, making it crucial for the game to strike a balance between fun gameplay and educational content.
Additionally, integrating features from the full Invstr app into a mini-game format suitable for Snapchat posed technical challenges that needed innovative solutions. We had to ensure that while the game remained entertaining, it also met stringent educational objectives outlined by Invstr and aligned with Snapchat's user interface guidelines. Balancing these aspects while catering to diverse user needs and expectations added complexity to the design and development process.
The project's success relied heavily on effective collaboration between our design team and Snapchat, requiring regular meetings and feedback sessions to refine features such as the Glossary, price alerts, and analytical tools to enhance the learning experience within the game environment. Continuous iterations and testing were crucial to ensure seamless integration and functionality across different devices and user interactions within Snapchat's ecosystem.
The Solution
Our approach centered on a meticulous analysis of features from the full Invstr app to determine their relevance and effectiveness in a mini-game context on Snapchat. We prioritized features that served clear educational purposes while enhancing user engagement and gameplay dynamics. Thorough discussions and brainstorming sessions within the team, coupled with feedback from Snapchat, guided the refinement of these features to align with project goals and user expectations.​
The integration of a comprehensive Glossary feature, derived from Invstr's financial terminology dictionary, proved instrumental in educating users about key investment terms and concepts within the game environment. Price alerts and analytical tools such as the carousel and instrument stats were seamlessly integrated to provide real-time market insights and encourage users to analyze stock performance, fostering a deeper understanding of investment strategies.
Designing a mini version of our fantasy finance game allowed us to offer shorter and more engaging gameplay sessions, catering to Snapchat's dynamic user interactions and preferences. Regular usability testing and feedback loops ensured that the game's UI/UX remained intuitive and impactful, contributing to increased user retention and learning outcomes. Through strategic design iterations and close collaboration, we successfully addressed the project's challenges and delivered a compelling, educational gaming experience with Invstr Stockstars on Snapchat.
The Results
Invstr StockStars successfully launched on Snapchat, supported by bespoke lenses and an Invstr Brand Profile within Snap. Following a successful pilot in Ireland, Canada, and the USA, we expanded globally across seven languages. User engagement steadily increased, reaching 1.25 million users within Snapchat. Positive coverage from reputable platforms like Hypebeast and Mashable further validated the project's success and its impact on educating younger generations about finance and investing.
The Softwares
I have used the following software to create this project.
Figma
