Belay's new API offers insurance for trading platforms, similar to flight insurance, but designed for stocks. With over 40% of U.S. adults considered financially illiterate, Belay takes the complexity of options and simplifies it via insurance, enabling investors to protect themselves in the event they sell their stock at a loss.
As a product design intern, I worked closely with the Head of Product and a Senior Product Designer mentor to design prototypes for 2 potential integration partners: the Trove app and the Invstr app.
Belay aimed to integrate its insurance product across all trading platforms. The main challenge was demonstrating seamless integration with limited resources and time, especially since the potential partners were early-stage startups.
I designed interactive prototypes using elements from Invstr and Trove and streamlined the policy purchase journey for ease of use. The prototypes helped to secure partnerships with two platforms, leading to the API's launch on the Trove app in fall 2023.
The Head of Product requested that I develop a general user flow for the policy purchase process that could be applied across different apps for efficiency:
The user selects an existing share from their portfolio.
The user adjusts the policy duration and level of protection.
After placing the order, the user receives final confirmation.
The policy durations were chosen based on past user research conducted by Belay. The goal of the test was to understand what policy durations resonated the most.
*Results and images from the user research are confidential.
I started with creating a prototype for Invstr, an app for novice, risk-adverse investors seeking trading lessons. Here are some of the design choices that I made:
Initially, the plan was that users could buy shares and choose a policy at the same time. However due to technological constraints, I decided to separate the stock purchase flow from the policy purchase flow.
Working on an insurance product meant that there were a lot of legal guidelines. So I had to communicate that Belay's stock insurance was a separate, third-party service.
In order to accomplish this, I added Belay's logo to important CTA buttons and included Belay's name in the header for every page.
I made sure to stick to using a black logo so that it wouldn't be visually disrupting.
Before interning at Belay, I wasn’t aware of some investment terms and insurance policies. However, my lack of prior knowledge allowed me to empathize with beginner investors who were the target audience.
I added a "details" button with explanations of stock insurance, making it easy for beginners to understand.
The second app, Trove, marks Belay's initial launch integration. Like Invstr, the app's user base primarily comprises young, beginner investors. I made several iterations of the Trove prototype and did the following:
My design mentor suggested exploring Apple's new TipKit for iOS 17, which simplifies the ability to integrate tutorials and explanations into apps. This approach is superior to popup dialogues that block important parts of the screen.
When I used Trove, I noticed that it didn't require users to review their order details before completing a purchase request.
I decided to have the total cost and the order details shown on one screen so that users can review the important details.
Another red flag that I noticed while using Trove was that some of the UI elements didn't meet the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.2).
I noticed that the buttons didn't have enough color contrast and was able to bring up these concerns to the Trove developers.
The interactive prototypes I created for Belay accomplished the following:
If I were to continue working on this project, I'd validate design decisions using metrics like revenue, API usage growth, and retention rates.
Designing prototypes for Belay was an invaluable opportunity for deepening my UX experience. I learned that the design process is ongoing and iterative, especially when handling new business and legal requirements.
