District 214 is a public high school district in the state of Illinois/USA, focused on innovation and empowering students for the future. Our goal was to design a stock market simulator for the first Finance & Investing Competition of D214 to help students learn and grow through real-world experience.
Starting by developing a deep understanding of the goal and exploring the problem, we designed the entire journey focusing on the user experience. The app simulates an entire year of stock market activity in just one hour, and through UX design principles we ensured the experience was smooth and engaging, rather than overwhelming.
Year: 2024
Country: United States
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Style guide
The first step was defining a quick style guide that aligned with the school's brand assets. We used icons that were easy to understand and buttons with clear messages, allowing students to navigate the simulator effortlessly.
The brand colours were the foundation of our palette, complemented by shades of grey to help guide the flow, support interface elements, and ensure visual contrast. For the typography choice, we followed the brand guidelines with some adjustments to sizes and weights to ensure clarity and legibility.
The simulator has two views: one for students and another for admin. To create a clear visual distinction, we used dark mode for the admin interface.
Students flow
Once the students log in, the simulation begins. The timer starts and they can immediately start making decisions. Students can view all the stocks available, analyze each one, buy and sell, and manage their own portfolio. They also have access to economic indicators, current events and analysts' opinions to support their decision-making. Additionally, they can check the leaderboard to see how they are performing.
Admin flow
The admin, typically the teacher, is responsible for setting up the simulator for the students to use. This includes setting the timer duration and update frequency, as well as managing the current events for the selected date and analysts' opinions. Additionally, admins can access the leaderboard to monitor how the teams are performing.
This project was a collaboration with software engineer Jack Mullinkosson and his team, who invited us to take on the design role for this project.
