Delve into the latest Stake app update with our Lead Product Designer

At Stake, we’ve been hard at work adding new features and functionality to our app. Among many exciting changes, the latest update includes new orders and order types, access to IPOs and Placements, a global search function and more prominent Analyst Ratings.

Underpinning this suite of features is a brand new design system and user interface (UI) that has been developed to help customers discover more and navigate the markets swiftly and with confidence.

Hear from Stake’s Lead Product Designer, Marc Lipsitz, about the decisions that go into designing a world-class investing experience for Stake customers.

Why did Stake decide to refresh the app UI?

In the fast-paced tech world we live and work in, it is important to always be evolving and to maintain best practices. It had been more than 2 years since our last major app refresh and we needed to lay new foundations to pave the way for innovative features we will be introducing in the coming months.

As we looked to add more functionality, we needed to ensure we kept the same great, seamless experience our customers have grown to love. Our new design system will underpin every new feature and ensure the experience is not only richer, but still easy and intuitive for customers to navigate through.

What are some of the biggest challenges when designing an app like Stake?

By far the biggest challenge is designing one solution that works for all our different customer types. Every customer is unique and likes to see different data. For example, some prefer just to view a stock in their portfolio by price change, while others want to see their total profit and loss. So the challenge is really around how to present just the right amount of info upfront so we don’t overcomplicate the experience, and then allow users to click through or customise things further to cater for what they like to view.

What were you most excited about as part of this release?

There are lots of great new additions. I love the global search feature – which gives customers the ability to search both ASX and Wall St stocks at the same time – as well as the introduction of logos and the faster switching between ASX and Wall St markets.

Overall, though, I am most excited for how much more there is to do and discover in the app. Our customers are constantly looking for the next big opportunity where they can invest their money. Throughout the experience, we have made it easier to discover what’s moving and what other traders are doing – and we’ll be adding even more discoverability in the coming months.

The app is more colourful now. What was the driver to add more colour into the experience?

Colour and contrast has been used to draw attention to content or certain relevant features. Colour plays an important role in communicating critical pieces of information at a glance, and with investing, there is nothing more important and exciting than a stock’s price.

With this update, as the markets move and the stock price changes, so will the primary colour on a stock page. If a stock’s price is up, the primary colour of buttons and charts will be green. If a stock’s price is down, the primary colour will dynamically change to red. This allows customers to instantly grasp the change in a stock’s performance, which adds to the exciting ever-changing movements of the stock markets.

How does this update open the door for new features and functionality on the Stake roadmap?

Our new design system lays a great foundation for future products and innovation. One of our next priorities will be to adapt the app system to our web platform. We are in the process of building an enhanced web platform and our new design system will shine there.

We’re also looking at ways to extend a customer's ability to be in the market. There are obvious time-zone challenges with investing in the U.S. from Australia and this is one tension we’re in the process of addressing as we look to add new value to our customers later this year.