Redesigning Trading for Familiarity and Trust
Axi is a global, multi-regulated broker trusted by thousands of customers across more than 100 countries. The company supports traders, trading businesses, banks, and financial organizations in gaining the edge they need to achieve their financial goals.
As a multi-instrument trading broker, Axi offers a wide range of asset classes, including US stocks, cryptocurrencies, commodities, ETFs, and more. Historically, Axi has relied heavily on MetaTrader as its primary trading platform. However, to improve customer experience and strengthen its brand presence, Axi launched its own platform, the Axi Trading Platform, in selected regions.
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Following the launch, Axi gathered customer feedback that revealed opportunities to improve the user interface and overall user experience. In response, the decision was made to redesign the UI, ensuring the platform addressed user pain points while aligning with business goals and market expectations.
My Role
As the Senior Product Designer for this project, I led the revamp project, from synthesizing user feedback, creating the design system and designing the user interface
My Teammates
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Lead product designer - As the lead of the product design team, he mentored me on how to synthesize user feedback, apply best practices, and effectively test designs with users. He also guided me in presenting design solutions to high-level executives.
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Product Manager - I collaborate closely with cross-functional stakeholders—including engineers, QA, content teams, and legal—to ensure designs are not only technically feasible but also compliant with regional regulations and adaptable to multiple languages.​
Background
Axi is aiming to become one of the world’s leading trading brokers. To achieve this, the company needs to develop its own proprietary trading platform, fully independent from MetaTrader.
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To build the new platform, Axi engaged third-party contractors to develop the product based on its specifications. While the underlying technology was functional and robust, the usability and interface design fell short of user expectations. The platform’s design did not align with industry standards and suffered from an unusual information architecture, leading to poor reception among users.
The Problem
Usability issues, and uncommon interface within the trading platform market, makes it unusual for seasoned traders.
Low user-retention
Many users expressed that they're not actually used to the interface. Comparing it with competitors who are more aligned with industry standard and taking advantage of familiarity. Users that expressed this feedback usually have low trading volume or they never came back to execute another trade.
Approach & Process
We brought key stakeholders together to align on the features and screens that needed to be prioritized for the revamp. Naturally, the trading interface emerged as the highest priority, so we decided to begin with that as the first focus area.
Old Layout
New Layout
A Familiar Layout
The new layout follows a structure more familiar to traders, particularly those accustomed to platforms like TradingView. Core features such as open positions and the order ticket are now immediately visible, allowing users to seamlessly analyze and execute trades within a single interface.
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To prioritize clarity and efficiency, the table has been removed, making room for a larger chart and a dedicated positions panel. This enables traders to manage their positions directly from the trading screen without needing to navigate away, streamlining the overall workflow.
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The panel on the right are supporting features, where user can access their watchlists and read market-related news
Multi-Asset Instrument Search
One of Axi’s main product offerings is its multi-asset instruments, and we aimed to improve how users discover and select them. Instead of relying on a large, overwhelming table, we designed a focused and seamless search feature that allows users to quickly find the instruments they want.
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The search bar functions as a universal search, enabling users to type in and locate any instrument directly. To complement this, filters positioned below the search bar categorize instruments by asset classes, giving users the flexibility to browse efficiently based on their trading preferences.
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This dual approach—universal search plus asset-class filters—ensures that both goal-driven users (who know exactly what they’re looking for) and exploratory users (who want to browse by category) can easily navigate and engage with Axi’s multi-asset offering.
Re-organized information architecture
To declutter the interface, profile and general account settings are now consolidated under the "Profile" dropdown. This creates a cleaner navigation experience while still keeping essential settings easy to find.
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Within this section, users can manage general settings such as account password, account security, and theme preferences.
In addition, primary accessibility features like language selection are also located here, ensuring easy access for Axi’s global user base. This placement guarantees that users from different regions can quickly adjust the interface to their preferred language, reinforcing inclusivity and accessibility.
Re-organized information architecture
To declutter the interface, profile and general account settings are now consolidated under the "Profile" dropdown. This creates a cleaner navigation experience while still keeping essential settings easy to find.
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Within this section, users can manage general settings such as account password, account security, and theme preferences.
In addition, primary accessibility features like language selection are also located here, ensuring easy access for Axi’s global user base. This placement guarantees that users from different regions can quickly adjust the interface to their preferred language, reinforcing inclusivity and accessibility.
Margin-Meter
A highly requested feature, the margin meter has been introduced to help users monitor their open positions against their used margin. This addition allows traders to easily track their margin utilization in real time, giving them the visibility needed to better manage risks.
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By clearly showing how close positions are to the margin threshold, users can take timely actions to adjust or close trades. This helps them avoid forced liquidations, making the trading experience more transparent, secure, and confidence-building.
Phase 1 - Launch, Other Features
As part of this revamp project, we prioritized the Home page and Funds page as the first batch for launch. These core pages serve as the foundation for user engagement and financial management, making them critical to address early.
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Following this, Phase 2 will focus on releasing additional features and miscellaneous improvements, ensuring the platform continues to evolve in alignment with user needs and business goals.
What's Next & Takeaways
We are currently testing these designs with a selected batch of users through UserTesting.com, where participants receive links to directly experience the prototype. This approach allows us to gather first-hand insights into usability, expectations, and overall experience.
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Based on the feedback we receive, we plan to continue iterating on the designs to refine usability, address pain points, and align the experience with user needs.
Once we reach a solid and validated result, the designs will be handed over to the engineering team for development. This ensures that the product is both user-tested and business-aligned before moving into the build phase.
Got Questions About This Project?
Feel free to reach out, and let's have a chat! - email me at aldwin112@gmail.com