M1 Dividend Simplification
During my internship at M1 Finance, our team focused on improving three areas where dividend information was lacking: explaining negative dividends, showing the status of earned dividends, and displaying historical dividends.
Measuring Success
We Increased User Engagement By 20%
The dividend improvements yielded promising results. While the specifics of post-internship data remain confidential due to an NDA, we noticed an encouraging near 20% uptick in user engagement with the dividend features. Further testament to our success was the palpable positive buzz within public domains like the M1 Facebook group and Reddit community. Discussions flourished around these improved features, with users praising the enhanced clarity and transparency.
Understanding The Community
Income Investors Want To View Specific Dividend Information
The dividend project was prioritized because there was an increase in support tickets regarding dividends, ranging from confusion about the difference between earned and paid dividends to requesting more information about their dividends. The current M1 product does not put much emphasis on dividends.
Ideation & Brainstorming
The Great Design Workshop
To kick off our project, we had a design workshop where we brainstormed and discussed the current problems surrounding dividends on a broad scale and worked toward potential, actionable solutions. At the end of the workshop, we concluded that we would focus on three areas: explaining negative dividends, showing the status of earned dividends, and displaying historical dividends. Based on the results of the dot voting, we decided to focus on one of the problem areas in three different sprints.
Design Decision
Using Tooltips To Explain Negative Dividends
There are three different types of negative dividends: ADR fee, foreign tax, and a reversal. Before the implementation of this feature, users did not receive an explanation of negative dividends, only so a deduction from their account. This caused them to constantly be confused, which in turn caused several complaints to customer success.
Before the implementation of this feature, users did not receive an explanation of negative dividends, only so a deduction from their account. This caused them to constantly be confused, which in turn caused several complaints to customer success.
During a meeting with our backend engineer, we learned that we could not decipher the difference between a foreign tax and a reversal. To solve this, we combined them into one tooltip called “deduction,” which explained what a reversal and foreign tax is and that it could be either.
Design Decision
Using a Modal To Breakdown Earned Dividends
Users were uncertain about the difference between earned and paid dividends, the status of earned dividends, and the timeframe from earning to payment. One issue was that the total amount of earned dividends was displayed on the portfolio page without any indication of which company they came from or how much came from each company. This lack of specificity made it difficult for users to track and understand their dividend earnings accurately.
When designing the modal for displaying the breakdown of earned dividends on the web platform, I made the strategic decision to leverage the total amount of earned dividends on the "My Portfolio" page as a call-to-action button.
Design Decision
Using a Static Component Because of Backend Constraints
Given the time limitations, our team made the decision to make the time frame static in order to save development time and meet the overall project deadline.
By implementing a static time frame, we were able to simplify the implementation process and allocate more time to other critical tasks, such as displaying historical dividends.
Design Decision
Using an Interactive Bar Chart To Visualize Historical Dividends
When working on displaying historical dividends, I was obsessed with three questions: how to display the data, where to place the feature, and what data to show. I surveyed the current data visualization in the app and explored various options to ensure that the historical dividend information was presented in a clear and informative manner.
Dividends are often received at regular intervals, such as quarterly or annually. The bar chart effectively visualizes how dividend earnings have changed over time, allowing users to identify patterns or trends in their dividend income. This time-based visualization is essential for users to track and analyze their dividend performance effectively.
Conclusion
I Learned to Mindmeld with Engineers Early and Often
Communicating with my team was my most challenging obstacle during the internship. Sometimes, I would update a mobile design with the iOS engineer and forget to mention the changes to the Android and Web engineers. This led to confusion and inconsistent design. Eventually, I adapted and made sure to communicate all design updates during stand-ups.
