IG Group

1. The Feed — Real-Time Decision Support (Web Trading Platform)

Client / Sector: IG Group — Financial trading
My role: UX Research + Interaction Design (focused ownership of “The Feed”)
Team/context: Part of a wider desktop platform redesign (multi-disciplinary)

Challenge

Help traders interpret market news and information without disrupting their trading workflow.

My contribution

• Researched how traders consumed and acted on real-time market information.
• Developed the information hierarchy and interaction patterns for a news and market-context feed.
• Explored how users could scan, filter and act on relevant information.
• Worked directly with a developer to iterate designs in working software.

Key design decisions

• Prioritised rapid scanning and information relevance.
• Structured content to support different levels of engagement.
• Integrated market information into the wider trading experience.

Outcome

Helped deliver a new feature for IG’s trading platform, refining its interaction design through rapid iteration with development.

Client / Sector: IG Group — Financial trading
My role: UX Research + UX Design (problem investigation + redesign direction)

Challenge

An iOS 7-inspired redesign introduced navigation and interaction changes that received negative feedback from traders.

My contribution

• Conducted two rounds of usability testing to evaluate the redesigned experience.
• Identified navigation and discoverability problems affecting familiar trading tasks.
• Evaluated the impact of reduced visual affordances on users’ understanding of interactive elements.
• Recommended changes to restore clearer navigation and more recognisable interaction patterns.

Key design decision

Recommended returning to a bottom navigation bar rather than retaining a less discoverable navigation approach.

Outcome

The navigation design was revised following the research, restoring a more familiar interaction model for users.

Client / Sector: IG Group — Financial trading
My role: UX Research + UX Design (discovery + direction-setting)

Problem

The existing mobile experience needed updating in line with newer iOS patterns and to better serve traders. IG also needed clarity on how its app compared to competitors and where usability breakdowns were occurring.

What I did

• Conducted paper-based competitor benchmarking to assess feature coverage, usability, and design patterns.
• Gathered trader feedback on IG and competitor apps to understand expectations and pain points.
• Synthesised findings into a structured report and delivered a stakeholder presentation.
• Facilitated/contributed to internal sketching workshops to explore solutions informed by research.
• Grouped staff and trader input into clear themes to drive prioritisation.

Key findings (from your notes)

• Strengths: clean look and feel; “News and Insight” and proximity of news to markets were valued.
• Issues: inexperienced users struggled with navigation; confusion about panel relationships; difficulty locating positions/alerts.
• Mobile constraints: limited screen estate on iPad affected primary tasks (e.g., chart expansion).
• Ergonomic errors: “fat finger/fat palm” issues caused unintended taps.

Outputs

• Benchmarking/discovery report (with executive summary)
• Theme clusters from research + workshop input
• Early concept sketches/design direction material

Outcome

Provided stakeholders with a clear evidence-based view of what to protect, what to fix, and where usability and ergonomics were breaking down—enabling more focused redesign decisions.

4. IG Investments — New Category Launch: Positioning + Journey + Wireframes

Client / Sector: IG Group — Financial services
My role: UX Research + UX Strategy + Wireframing (small team)

Problem

IG wanted to expand into investments (accounts, ISAs, SIPPs). The challenge was creating a credible investments experience while IG was strongly associated with trading, and addressing a lengthy, complex sign-up flow.

What I did

• Aligned with stakeholders on objectives and what success looked like for the investment platform.
• Reviewed competitor investment platforms across:
  • marketing sites,
  • onboarding/sign-up,
  • logged-in account areas.
• Spoke to potential customers from IG’s community to understand what they liked/disliked and what needs were unmet.
• Identified a positioning challenge: distinguishing investment offerings from trading products without confusing users.
• Sketched solutions with a developer to ensure feasibility early, then produced wireframes with clear content rationale.

Outputs

• Competitor insights and UX direction for investment positioning
• Journey considerations for onboarding complexity
• Early wireframes outlining page structure, content, and product presentation

Outcome

Delivered a practical UX direction and wireframe foundation to support launch planning, stakeholder alignment, and feasible build decisions for IG’s move into investments.

5. Pro Trading Platform — Deal Ticket Redesign (Professional Clients)

Client / Sector: IG Group — Professional trading clients
My role: UX design (discovery, prototyping, wireframes)

Problem

Professional clients using IG execution needed improvements to the deal ticket workflow—primarily around speed and access to key information (pricing, markets, and order management).

What I did

• Conducted initial conversations with the internal deal ticket manager to capture recurring client requests and pain points.
• Built understanding by visiting client offices and observing context and priorities.
• Translated findings into sketches and interaction concepts focused on speed and clarity.
• Developed a prototype and detailed wireframes for the updated deal ticket.

Outputs

• Discovery notes and workflow priorities
• Prototype of redesigned deal ticket
• Detailed wireframes for implementation

Outcome

Design deliverables were prepared for development and user testing, but the work did not progress further due to organisational/team changes.