Built a mobile investment platform from scratch for a major financial institution, establishing product strategy and execution roadmap.
The client needed a modern mobile-first investment platform to compete with emerging fintech players. Existing solutions were desktop-focused and didn't meet the expectations of younger, mobile-native investors.
65% of target users preferred mobile for financial tasks
Competitor apps showed 3x higher engagement on mobile
Legacy systems couldn't support real-time market data on mobile
Interviewed 45 users across age groups to understand investment behaviors
Analyzed competitor apps and identified gaps in personalization
Mapped technical constraints with engineering team early
Would delay launch by 6 months and overwhelm mobile users with complexity
Validated with 80% of users who said they'd use a simpler app if it was reliable
Testing showed native app performed 40% better for our use cases
Delayed advanced charting tools to prioritize quick order execution
Built custom notification system instead of using existing infrastructure (better UX, more dev time)
Limited to iOS first to ensure quality over broader reach
Established 2-week sprints with clear release milestones
Worked closely with designers on mobile-first interaction patterns
Coordinated with backend team to optimize API response times for mobile
Ran weekly stakeholder demos to maintain alignment
Would have involved compliance earlier – discovered regulatory requirements that added 3 weeks
Should have built analytics instrumentation from day 1, not as an afterthought
Would push back harder on scope creep from stakeholders in final month