POLARIS

Problem statement

I really wanted to have an application which supports users on their way to invest sustainably. Many users find the process of investment very complicated and the possible impacts of the investments non-transparent. They are confused and overloaded with information. I created the design for an application where the user has a clear and tangible indication of their impact in form of CO2 emissions.

Research

In a first step, I wanted to know more about existing solutions on the market. I focused on existing applications in the Swiss market and conducted competitor research. I focused on so-called "neo-banks" in Switzerland, which use a mobile-first approach. After observing the market, I chose four solutions for the further evaluation:

• Flow Bank - mobile trading experience
• frankly- digitale Vorsorgelösung Säule 3a
• Viac -Vorsorge. Einfach. Besser.
• yuh - die beste Finanz-App im Web

After familiarizing myself with the products, I assessed the possibilities to search for the assets according to sustainability criteria, see metrics regarding sustainability and assess the impact of the investment. After the research, I had a good overview of the functions and current state of the interfaces regarding sustainability.

In the next step, I conducted two in-depth interviews to understand the mindset and attitude towards investment. The goal was to indicate the main pain points of the responders and expectations regarding sustainability investments. The main pain points were the lack of transparency about sustainability metrics and a large variety of labels and methods which are used to describe sustainability impact. The complexity of the process and amount of information makes it very difficult for the respondents to make an investment decision. I also found out that climate indicators are very important regarding the choice of investments. So I decided to focus on the climate impact of investments.

After conducting the interviews, I researched methods to assess the impact of investing. I was specially interested in a method for assessing the climate impact of an asset. In an article in the Republik magazine, I came across the MSCI Climate metrics, which is used by many banks to assess and show the impact. It was important to choose a clear method which can be used to assess single assets. It was important to use the metrics which are known and can be quickly understood. The amount of CO2 emissions and the degrees of warming are good known to the audience and can be explained, and that was the reason why I chose this method.

UX

Before starting the design framework, I defined the user flows for the application. I identified the following flows:

• Onboarding and defining the preferences
• Display of the current portfolio and its climate impact
• Investing in an asset

For each flow, I defined the minimum set of data needed to perform the tasks. I created an object model according to the MSCI climate metrics. According to the interviews, it was important to find indicators to display the climate impact of the investment and provide a way to search accordingly. I also decided to display the sectors of the companies, since it is possible to show the impact and potential of different sectors.

I found that implied temperature rise and amount of emitted CO2 would be good and understandable indicators. It was also important to display the financial performance and clearly distinguish between the financial and climate impact performance.

Another difficulty was the two types of data - the data sets recorded in the past versus those related to the future, for example according to climate models estimations and projections. It was important to label them accordingly.

Regarding information architecture, I decided to have only three navigation points - to display the performance and impact of a portfolio, to invest or deposit cash as well as to display settings.

UI

The goal of the visual appearance was to communicate the feeling of lightness and easiness. To create a style system, I searched for the pictures of Arctics as the region most affected by the climate crisis. I got inspired by the colours of snow and glaciers and created a moodboard. After choosing colours, I ordered them in a system to display text, financial performance, climate impact and future projections.

As a font, I chose Fixel, a unique grotesque with a human touch. This font has a combination of geometric and humanist grotesques, which results in open letter forms, wide width, crisp edges, and low contrast, striking a balance between restraint and a sense of playfulness and dynamism.

In the last step, I created a visual language for the application and created an interactive prototype to test and present the application. The goal was to create smooth and consistent animations across the prototype.

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