My role & process
Owned the design process across research, problem framing, information architecture, user flows, and final UI.
Tools, Platforms, Methodology
Arth is building a simpler way for India’s new investors to start, learn, and grow their money.
With guided flows, clear insights, and simplified decisions, Arth turns confusion into confident action
PROBLEM
Investing apps overwhelm passive retail investors with real-time, engagement-driven data they can't act on causing anxiety, confusion, and early churn.
The User Problem:
Financial Anxiety & Aimless
Investing
Decision Paralysis: With thousands of Mutual Funds available, users don't know where to start, leading to "analysis paralysis.
Emotional Volatility: Without a clear "Why," users panic during market dips. They view their money as a fluctuating number rather than a future milestone.
Trust Deficit: The technical friction of KYC and e-signing (Aadhaar redirects) creates "security anxiety," making users feel they are losing control of their data.
The Emotional Brief: "I have money, but I don't have a plan, and the process of setting one up feels stressful and unsafe."
The Business Problem:
High Churn & Low Conversion
From a business perspective, the most expensive problems are users who leave before they invest and users who stop their SIPs.
Onboarding Drop-off: Every time a user is redirected for an eSign (via eMudhra) or identity check (via Entrust), the business loses a percentage of potential revenue to "redirection friction.
Low Lifetime Value (LTV): If a user doesn't anchor their investment to a goal, they are likely to withdraw their money at the first sign of a market correction, ending the revenue stream for the platform.
Operational Overhead: Manual errors in bank linking or KYC lead to failed mandates, which require expensive manual support and technical intervention.
Design hypotheses
SOLUTION
ARTH is not a trading app, a financial advisory firm, or a wealth manager. It's a goal-first investing companion.
I did 8 moderated user interviews across three segments: anxious beginners (25–35, first investing app my collogues), lapsed investors (30–45, tried and stopped my brothers), and "set and forget" users (My girl friends) who auto-contributed but never opened the app, read Reddit Threads, app store reviews. Alongside this, I did a competitive audit of 6 apps to understand how people naturally categories financial goals.
"I know I'm supposed to invest for retirement but it feels so far away. When the market goes down I just close the app I don't know if I should do something or ignore it."
~Gaurav(Brother)
I opened Zerodha, saw all those numbers, and just closed it. I don't know what any of it means. I just want to go to Europe in two years — tell me what to do.
~Avantika(Friend)
Priya Rathod
Arjun Khanna
One major issue across all these apps is that they allow screenshots even on highly sensitive screens like Portfolio and KYC. and dark patterns are not completely banned.
Three tensions that shape the design
Tension 1 · Aspiration vs anxiety
Users are excited about goals (Europe trip, home, MBA) but scared of losing money. The interface must anchor every decision to the goal, not to market risk.
Tension 2 · Simplicity vs trust
Users want "just tell me what to do" but also need to feel the recommendation is legitimate. Showing reasoning (even lightly) builds confidence without overwhelming.
Tension 3 · Automation vs control
Auto-invest SIPs reduce friction but feel scary. Users want the option to pause, not the obligation to stay. Agency = comfort.
Trade-offs made
Users want to explore all 2,000+ funds, but beginners get overwhelmed. I restricted the "Browse" experience in favor of a guided flow. I traded "User Autonomy" (freedom to buy anything) for "Curation" (suggesting only 3–5 funds based on their goal). To eliminate Analysis Paralysis. By narrowing the funnel, I increase the likelihood of the user actually completing their first investment.
Me as a designer usually want "instant" actions. But in finance, instant can feel "cheap" or "unsecured." I intentionally added friction to the transaction flow. I traded "Efficiency" (one-click buying) for "Confidence."
Rejected Bloomberg Principle; used Goal-based cards to reduces cognitive load for first-time investors.
Muted the red/green volatility on the main home screen to promote Promotes long-term holding over impulsive trading.
Key design decisions
Core flow reversal
Goal → Plan → Fund
Not fund → portfolio → return
Primary interaction
Goal card
Not fund → portfolio → return
Success metric
% goals on track
Not portfolio return
Avoid Bloomberg principle
Since t5his app is for beginners, I decided to avoid the Bloomberg Principle. For someone just starting out, high data density isn't helpful it's intimidating. A beginner's biggest hurdle isn't a lack of information; it's analysis paralysis (being so overwhelmed by data that they do nothing). High data density causes Cognitive Load. A first-time investor will feel overwhelmed and close the app if they see 50 flashing numbers.
Progressive Disclosure
Investment apps require heavy data entry. Use Progressive Disclosure, didn't show 20 fields at once. Break it into steps: 1. PAN, 2. Bank Details, 3. E-Sign.
Added intentional frictions
purposeful friction is necessary. Adding a 1-second "Processing..." delay with a haptic pulse before a final trade confirmation makes the system feel "careful" rather than "impulsive."
Goal cards as the primary home experience
The home screen replaced the portfolio performance chart with goal cards showing each goal's name, progress bar, and a single "on-track / adjust" status. Portfolio value is accessible but deprioritized one tap away. This reduced average "time to understanding" in usability tests from 47s to 11s.
Kept Risk Disclosure and explainable AI Upfront
Followed by SEBI & Regulatory guidelines Investment risks cannot be hidden in tiny grey text. They often need to be "above the fold" or presented in a high-contrast modal before the first investment.
Banned dark patterns
no pre-filed checkboxes, Everything must be an active choice by the user.
iOS (Human Interface Guidelines)
Tab Bar: Use a bottom tab bar for primary navigation, Rely on a top-left "Back" button and the native left-to-right swipe gesture. filled/outlined states to show active tabs.
Goal-led onboarding — ask "what for?" before "how much risk?"
"What are you saving for?" → timeline → monthly surplus. App calculates the SIP — user just says yes or adjusts.
Applied Confirmation sheetand Modal Bottom Sheets
iOS: Use "Action Sheets" that slide up from the bottom for trade confirmations. so in prototype if any pop up opens for confirmation in will be from bottom to unlike toast message on websites from top to right. Android: Use "Modal Bottom Sheets" with rounded corners (Material 3 style).
Fund recommendations with "why"
Every suggested fund shows a one-line reason tied to the goal's timeline and risk. No fund jargon on the surface.
Milestone system with meaningful celebrates
We introduced four milestone triggers: goal creation, 25% reached, 50% reached, and on-track anniversary. Each had a brief in-app animation and a concrete "next action" card (add a recurring deposit, update your target date). This was built with keeping the engineering team in mind to be entirely declarative no separate campaign tooling needed.
Monthly "goal check-in" nudge
A gentle push notification + in-app moment that celebrates progress and suggests if a SIP top-up would help.
Expected Outcomes
What the design achieves vs existing apps
Name Explored
Key Learnings
Information architecture is an emotional decision
What you show first tells users what matters. Hiding returns isn't burying data it's saying "your goal matters more than today's noise." IA encodes product values.
Solo projects reveal your prioritisation instincts
With no PM or stakeholder to delegate to, I had to decide what the MVP needed vs what was nice-to-have. I cut social features, referral mechanics, and dark mode to stay focused on core flow quality.
What I'd do differently
I'd conduct diary studies over 2 weeks instead of one-shot interviews. Financial behavior is habitual a snapshot misses how people actually feel at the end of a stressful month. below is snapshots of my 2weeks dairy studies.
Learnt What is Sandboxing, System-Level Permissions, Accessibility Services, Screen Obscuration, Bloomberg principle, the Custodian (like CDSL or NSDL), Logic Engines, Payment gateway like ACH,
