Problem
Under the e-commerce business model, investors are becoming increasingly aware of the choices they are making and are shifting their attention to investments that can be described as socially responsible. Recent world events such as the pandemic and social justice issues have also contributed to an increased awareness in the investor community of making socially conscious decisions, especially with the millennial generation. Corporations must also decide if they take a role in this movement by showing their ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) and Sustainability commitment to attract this growing segment of investors. Providing solutions which facilitate investors to make socially responsible investment decisions is, therefore, a major need in the world currently.
Role: Design Researcher, Branding Specialist, Presentation Designer
Timeline: Jan 2021 - March 2021
Design Team: Amy Davidson, Lauren Dodge, Andy Fraley, Rana Rizcalla
The Challenge
Designing an engaging and streamlined customer experience is critical for any company engaging in e-commerce. The experience starts from the moment they hop on their device to make a purchase and ends when the product is delivered to a satisfied customer.
The Solution
Invest’d:
Now your investment choices can share in your passion for environmental, societal, political, and diversity issues. Through our ESG 360 scorecard, we offer a clear path to discover investment opportunities that support social responsibility. The sharing of specific ESG reporting data allows you to build your Socially Responsible Portfolio and adjust your investments based on market movements or current events.
The Process
01
Network Analysis
After completing the business search and analysis within digital platform investment, cyber security, and e-commerce marketing, we have a better understanding of the current social network space within e-commerce. We also realize how vast our chosen context and distinct markets are. There was a lot of information to consider, and we hope to refine each market definition as we continue.
02
Network Design Concept
We begin to refine our network design concept by defining user groups, conducting contextual and competitor analysis, arranging stakeholder maps and choosing a single concept to move forward with. From there, we draft our first value proposition and creative brief.
Value Proposition
For socially conscious investors who want to invest in socially responsible corporations whose values align with the investors' personal values.
Our goal is to make it easy to find socially responsible companies and socially conscious Investors. We do this by providing transparency into corporate decision-making and into investors’ investment history as well as giving a high-profile destination for socially responsible investing (SRI) for discussion, networking, and match-making.
Unlike current investment practices with limited transparency such as financial technology companies, (our) the designed solution is oriented to make it easier for like-minded Investors and companies to connect through their shared values of social responsibility through be a mobile app, accessible to any interested party with a mobile device.
Creative Brief
Problem Statement:
Under the e-commerce business model, investors are becoming increasingly aware of the choices they are making and are shifting their attention to investments that can be described as socially responsible. Recent world events such as the pandemic and social justice issues have also contributed to an increased awareness in the investor community of making socially conscious decisions, especially with the millennial generation. Corporations must also decide if they take a role in this movement by showing their ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) and Sustainability commitment to attract this growing segment of investors. Providing solutions which facilitate investors to make socially responsible investment decisions is, therefore, a major need in the world currently.
Opportunity Statement:
There is an opportunity for investors to make more knowledgeable investment choices that align with their personal values. Providing the information and transparency for this to occur will both support the existence of ethical corporations and meet the needs of investors who are looking to make socially responsible investment decisions.
What is the project?
A social network that showcases socially responsible Companies and connects them with socially conscious Investors. By transparently sharing socially responsible decision-making (Hiring, Political Donations, Public Relations, etc.), the network provides Investors confidence to connect with companies that share their values. By transparently sharing socially conscious investment history, the network provides Companies confidence to connect with investors that share their values.
Who is it for?
Investors looking for companies that make socially responsible decisions, and Companies looking for socially conscious investors.
Why are we doing it?
To make it easier for like-minded Investors and Companies to connect through their shared values of social responsibility.
Where and how will it be used?
The service will be provided as a mobile app, accessible to any interested party with a mobile device.
03
Define Network Users
We conducted both user interviews and surveys from potential users. After conducting our interviews, raw data was compiled to create an affinity map then categorized and divided by commonalities.
This process allowed us to identify user insights as well as patterns around both gains and pain points within our main user groups. Survey responses provided valuable demographic information.
We then created empathy maps and personas to further understand the thoughts and behaviors of the users on a more personal level. The insights from the affinity map helped shape both of these. Personas especially helped highlight similarities as well as differences between users as well as what their influences are. From these insights, we can move forward to developing potential marketing strategies.
04
Competitor Research & Analysis
Robinhood and MSCI offer in-site into two vastly different companies that facilitate investment. The former targets the fast, new, and novice investor while the latter focuses on established, larger firms and managers. There are strengths from each that we believe should be focused on to increase the investor’s access to stock trading and ESG investments. We will focus on the best of each company as we go forward while keeping in mind the shortcomings of each.
05
Business Model Generation
Using a variety of models and tools, we focused our plans for our business. We are focusing on a platform that is hyper-personalized, provides meaningful connection, and instant gratification that also provides the ultimate ESG scorecard for SRI investing. We are creating a trusted destination for socially conscious investors who want to better the world while improving their investment portfolio.
06
Defining User Needs
After honing our user personas, our team created two user scenario matrices per user group: two for investors and two for small-cap companies. We decided to focus our investor demographic to include Millenials and Gen z-ers. From there, we began ideating app features and brand identity. We have provided a sneak peek of our brand through a mood board, but we are saving all of the juicy details for our pitch.
07
Prototyping and Brand Develpoment
Our objectives were to develop our network’s brand and prototypes. This is an exciting stage where we develop a mock-up of our network’s site and begin to show the key features of our network through prototyping.
We narrowed our brand image and are refining our network sales pitch. With most of our wireframes completed, the look of our app is nearly complete.
08
Network Sales Pitch
Our objectives were to create a sales pitch video that promotes and emphasizes our brand as well as features that will help grow our audience. This is the final exciting stage where we grow our network and showcase our product through a narrative visual.
Final Reflection
Combining the research, brand style guide, and information, we were able to create a network sales pitch video that speaks to socially responsible investors with data and a smooth visual narrative. We hope that want our product services to align with the users' values and connects with the audience through this video. This project has been challenging and eventually rewarding.
