Re-branding a Financial News App
UI | BRANDING
Attracting a new and tech-savvy audience to an established Financial News Publication's digital application
Project Context
Oct 2019
Work for Fractal Ink Design & Consultancy
Team : UX designer and UI designer (me)
Role & Responsibilities
UI design
Branding
Developing a visual system &
maintaining it
Tools Used
Sketch
Photoshop
Project Brief
This application was developed to modernize and refresh the identity of an established financial newspaper as it expanded into digital platforms. The goal was to attract a younger audience while enhancing the experience for loyal readers through thoughtful design. As UI Designer & collaborator on UX for this project, my role involved translating wireframes to designs, conducting usability tests and managing changes & deliverables.
Approach
Understanding target and current users was key to shaping the UX strategy, with personas serving as essential guides throughout the design process
Design & Process
Experiments & Iterations
A crucial design element was the content stack, consistently presenting key details such as the headline, subheading, date, time, location, and author for each article. This structure provides users with a quick, digestible summary of relevant facts. Readability, spacing efficiency, and hierarchy were meticulously refined to balance information density with clarity. Typography and color choices, along with minimal UI elements, created a cohesive visual system that influenced the broader app design.
Last few iterations for the design of the content stack & type choices
Accessibility was a core principle in the app’s design, but implementing a complete dark mode across all screens was time-intensive. Given the hierarchy of pages, the article screen emerged as the most frequently accessed and significant. Prioritizing accessibility, we went beyond standard features like share and comment by incorporating a dark mode, a read-aloud function, and customizable font sizes. These enhancements ensured an inclusive reading experience while maintaining usability.
Features of the Article Page alongside developments and changes that were made over iterations
Design System & Screens
The resulting design system ensures a cohesive and accessible experience. Colour enhances readability with contrast, supporting light and dark modes. Typography maintains clarity and hierarchy, while spacing follows a structured grid for efficiency. These elements come to create a seamless, user-friendly interface.
Some features of the application: personalising content, daily news by category, market updates and podcasts
The article page in dark mode; Daily news excerpts as time capsules
Reflection
Designing this news app was both a creatively rewarding experience and an opportunity to deepen my understanding of accessibility. It reinforced how thoughtful design choices can merge tradition with innovation, making financial news more engaging and accessible across digital platforms. Given the chance, I would have loved to implement a full dark mode and explore ways to make dense content like charts and tables more intuitive and user-friendly.