Active Trader Pro® – Alan Sevajian

THE DETAILS

PROBLEM

Active Trader Pro^®was an aging windows desktop application that was falling behind in the competitive landscape and losing market share.

Active Trader Pro was an aging windows desktop application that was falling behind in the competitive landscape.

BUSINESS GOAL

Make Active Trader Pro^® a leading edge platform and increase market share, trade volume and assets under management .

Make Active Trader Pro a leading edge platform and increase market share.

THE STORY

Active Trader Pro^® had once been a leader in online trading, but as the years went by and features continued to get added on, the experience became disjointed and the technology outdated. It was clear that "more of the same" wasn't going to cut it anymore. A complete replatform was in order.

Through numerous rounds of interviews, round-table discussions and in-home observation with both users and potential users, the pain points started to surface. From platform limitations to inefficiencies in completing tasks, to poor use of real estate, there were plenty of opportunities to improve the experience.

WHAT WE HEARD

01

"Give me access."

"Give me access"

Potential users were trading with our competitors strictly due to technical incompatibilities.

By building both a desktop and web platform, we were able to remove the need to download and install as well as make it Mac compatible which led to an increase in the user base. The experience was seamless regardless of which version you used, something no other competitor was offering which became a big advantage for Fidelity.

02

"Markets move fast and I can’t afford to lose time with too many clicks."

"There are too many clicks involved."

A matter of seconds can be the difference between making or losing money on a trade.

A filled out trade ticket and access to essential features were 1-click away from every stock symbol, reducing the time it takes to execute a trade.

"Action Menus" were implemented anywhere a stock symbol appeared giving the user 1-click access to many function, including launching a fully filled out trade ticket, reducing the time it takes to execute a trade.

By linking tools together, the user can update the symbol on multiple tools at once giving them a full picture of news, quotes, research etc. for a company with a single click.

03

"It’s hard/time consuming to manage all of the tools that I use throughout the day."

"Having more than a couple of tools open at a time is unwieldy"

Different tasks require different tools and that can become cumbersome to manage.

About a dozen task-based layouts were created for the users to choose from. Not only did this make it easier to quickly jump between task, but it also gave new users a great starting point rather than an empty canvas. The ability to create custom layouts was also incorporated to allow each user to create the ideal workspace that fit their trading style.

Collapsible docked panels were incorporated giving the user the abillity to have 1-click access to tools they used a little less often, freeing up primary real estate in their main layout for the most important tools.

04

"I don't want white space. Give me more data."

With the amount of data that’s on the screen at one time, clarity and readability can be challenging to achieve.

Customizable features such as the ability to choose from different color themes, show and hide columns of data or add zebra striping in data grids were built in allowing the user to personalize the experience to improve readability.

The majority of the contents of the title bar were hidden, displaying only when the user was interacting with the tool. When you multiply that across multiple tools at once, eliminating extraneous noise like close icons and drag bars really starts to add up and allows the user to focus on what's important.

THE RESULTS

Active Trader Pro^® was launched to great reception from it’s users and industry experts. Users found the overall experience to be much more user friendly. The single consistent experience across web and desktop applications gave it an advantage over it’s competitors who had disjointed experiences, forcing users to relearn the application when moving between platforms. The new web based platform made it possible for users on Macs or behind company firewalls to access the app, increasing the user base as well as it’s daily logins. Active Trader Pro^® went on to win numerous awards from Barron’s, Kiplinger’s and Investor’s Business Daily several years in a row.

ATP was launched to great reception from it’s users and industry experts. Users found the overall experience to be much more user friendly. The single consistent experience across web and desktop applications gave it an advantage over it’s competitors who had disjointed experiences, forcing users to relearn the application when moving between platforms. The new web based platform made it possible for users on Macs or behind company firewalls to access the app, increasing ATP’s user base as well as it’s daily logins. ATP went on to win numerous awards from Barron’s, Kiplinger’s and Investor’s Business Daily several years in a row.

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