← All work Kate Shaw
← All work
Fintech · Trading & Banking · 2021 – 2023

Securities Retail Trading Platform

Merging two trading platforms for 500,000 retail investors — without forcing a single customer to migrate.

My role Lead Product Designer, Authorised Officer
Platforms Web · iOS · Android
Users 500,000+ retail investors
Outcome +20% trading volume
Context

Swissquote had been maintaining two trading platforms for retail customers for over six years. The newer platform was intended to decommission the original — now over 20 years old — but customers weren't happy when forced to migrate, and the move was rolled back after complaints.

To deliver new features and improve the overall customer experience, we had to find a way to successfully migrate all customers and decommission the old platform. The stakes were high: finances are emotive, and Swissquote's most loyal, high-net-worth customers actively resisted change.

The original Swissquote eTrading platform shown on an iMac — a dated orange-and-white interface with dense navigation and data tables
The original platform — trusted by 500,000 loyal customers, over 20 years old, and politically impossible to simply switch off.
Challenge

When customers' trust is invested in the product they already have

  • 500,000 of Swissquote's most loyal, high-net-worth customers didn't want to change platform
  • Executive management had lost confidence in delivery teams after the previous rollback attempt
  • The perceived benefits had to clearly outweigh the friction of change — for each type of customer
  • Finances are among the most emotive decisions people make; even small UX missteps read as threats
Strategy

Three rollout options, one that earned executive confidence

I had to start by creating a rollout plan that executive management could be confident in. I focused on where we would be adding value to customers, the risk in terms of percentage of customers, pros and cons, and all the important prototyped visions. I presented three approaches to the executive management team and secured agreement on one before executing.

The v1 Classic Migration strategy diagram — a phased timeline showing how eTrading and Standard Account customers would be progressively moved across, with pros and cons for each approach
One of three rollout strategies I presented to executive management — showing the phased migration path, customer percentages at each stage, and the trade-offs.
Process

An emergent design process

Unpacking 20+ years of infrastructure is no mean feat. I had to be flexible and adaptable — working with technical constraints to still deliver new features and stability. I adopted an emergent design mindset: being critically aware of evolving situations, understanding the unknowns well enough to pick the right design tool at the right moment.

Jobs to be done Customer journeys Prototyping Wireframes User testing Sketches Sitemaps Iterations Business testing Peer review
Design documentation for the Add to Favourites feature — showing the search interface, filter states, and the favourites modal with annotated interaction notes
Design documentation for the personalisation features — annotated wireframes showing edge cases, error states, and interaction logic for the engineering team.
The redesigned eTrading platform shown on a MacBook — a clean, modern account overview with clear navigation, asset tables, and position management
The redesigned eTrading platform — cleaner navigation, unified account overview, and a design system built to scale across every product surface.
Outcomes
+20%
increase in trading volume
Following the redesign of the securities trading platform encompassing crypto, FX and equities
1

Migration without force

Successfully moved Swissquote's most resistant customers by making the new platform demonstrably better — not by removing their choice.

2

50% reduction in tech maintenance costs

Design system consolidation eliminated the overhead of maintaining two separate platforms and their component sets.

3

Cross-platform trading capabilities

Unified experience across 3 mobile apps and 2 web apps, plus delivery of ESG trading functionality to all customers.

4

Promoted to Authorised Officer within 9 months

A regulatory designation at Swissquote awarded in recognition of the quality and rigour of the design work.

The new eTrading experience across devices — tablet showing a stock order ticket for AAPL, and laptop showing the full account overview
Cross-platform: the same design system powering a tablet order flow and the full desktop account overview — consistent experience across every surface.
Learnings

Reflections

The most important thing I learnt is how amplified customer resistance to change becomes when money is involved. The value proposition of the new platform had to be crystal clear — and demonstrable before migration, not just promised after.

I learnt about teaching customers to 'learn by doing': how to help users adopt more efficient methods in the platform, and when it comes to errors, that prevention is better than cure. This project pushed me to be the most adaptable I have ever been — constant problem solving and pivoting in an environment where the technical constraints changed weekly.