Mobile Trading Experience

Sygnum Mobile App

COMPANY

Sygnum

ROLE

UIUX Design, User Research

Industry

Fintech

YEAR

2025

Context

Sygnum’s annual survey showed strong demand for a mobile app, but internal efforts were deprioritised due to resource constraints and competing priorities. This self-initiated case study explores how a native mobile experience could enhance user convenience, increase trading activity, and drive deeper product engagement while aligning user needs with business growth.

Challenge

Clients frequently expressed frustration over the lack of a mobile app, citing difficulty accessing their portfolios on the go, something they had come to expect from other crypto exchanges.

While Sygnum’s web app was technically accessible via mobile browsers, it fell short in speed, usability, and convenience. This highlighted a critical gap in meeting user expectations and staying competitive in the market.


Outcome

Even though the mobile app was not part of the official roadmap, this case study demonstrated how a native experience could close usability gaps, increase daily engagement and aligned design strategy with long-term business growth and support for Sygnum.

Research and Insights

User feedback revealed a clear gap between Sygnum’s platform and expectations shaped by leading centralized exchanges. Despite its trusted reputation, the platform lacked essential features, creating friction in the user experience and limiting adoption. This highlights a strong opportunity to design the mobile experience for better accessibility and usability.



Extension features to be released in early 2025. Home page: Includes different wallets and Stake feature.


Current trading platform with only Market order availability.


Extension features to be released in early 2025. Trading page: Includes different order types.


Insights

1. Key Pain Points
Synthesising 130+ data points and survey responses, I identified three recurring issues:

  • Complex trading interface

  • Poor UX clarity

  • Lack of transparency

These gaps created friction for both new and experienced users, limiting their ability to trade confidently on mobile.


2. Misaligned Mental Models
Clients expected a trading experience similar to traditional finance or retail investing crypto apps. Instead, they encountered UI complexity and misaligned information hierarchy, which disrupted their mental models and created barriers to efficient action.


3. Behavioural Design Direction
I looked into DeFi platforms like Kamino, Jupiter, and Morpho, adopting design patterns such as clear dashboards, real-time feedback, and simplified trade flows to support intuitive mobile interactions.


Many UX patterns in DeFi, particularly those related to financial transactions, navigation, and real-time feedback can be effectively applied to any fintech app.


Design Gaps

  • The current mobile web design is more web-based and hierarchical, while this may suit traditional banking apps, it feels clunky for crypto use cases.

  • Experienced traders may find it inefficient to execute trades quickly, while new users risk getting lost in unnecessary drop-downs and nested navigation.


Home > Transaction history.


Home > Trade.


Feedback from users on the trading platform.


Framing the Opportunity

How might we give users clarity, confidence, and control across their portfolio and trading actions without overwhelming them on on a small screen?

Design Strategy and Direction

  1. Core Principles

To achieve what I want for the redesign, these core principles serve as a foundation to guide me in my design.


  1. Rebranding and Theming

Client feedback highlighted that the current interface felt outdated. I envisioned a refreshed look that blends Sygnum’s financial heritage, modernised for the Web3 era.

  • Dark theme: Inspired by Bloomberg, Binance, and TradingView, this conveys professionalism, reduces eye strain, and reflects the high-tech nature of crypto trading.

  • Colour refinement: Tighter palette control to improve visual hierarchy and modernity.


  1. Design Impact: Business & User Outcomes

I believe the UX design decisions are more than just visual improvements. They influence user psychology and behaviour change, playing a crucial role in both business growth and user engagement.

  • Awareness → Support faster onboarding and reduce churn. (Note: Onboarding is not included in this case study, but options like multi-tier verification access before full KYC were considered to balance usability and compliance.)

    We currently force users to complete the FULL flow of KYC process. I have noted that this could be due to regulatory compliance, business model choice and licensing requirements.


  • Attitude → Build user trust in trading flow, increasing transaction completion.


  • Behaviour → Encourage long-term platform engagement, contributing to higher activity and revenue growth.


Shows how design shifts user mindset from discovery to habit formation, driving mobile adoption and long-term engagement.

Design Solution


Next Steps and Success Metrics

The next steps would be to test and iterate these flows. To evaluate the effectiveness of the mobile app design, I would consider tracking the following measurable outcomes:

  • Retention rate: Measure the percentage of users who continue using the app over a specific period. This will reflect user satisfaction and effective design.


  • Churn rate: Calculate the number of users who decided to discontinue using the app.


  • Net Promoter Score (NPS): Gauge user willingness to recommend the app to others.


Reflections

Crypto and finance platforms often lean toward complexity, but users crave clarity. I understand that to create better experiences especially for trading terminals, deep understanding and grasp of how traders make decisions, market mechanics, trading strategies and the needs of active traders are a must.

With high mobile usage among tech-savvy users especially accredited investors in the crypto space, Sygnum has the opportunity to focus on a streamlined mobile app that fosters trust and engagement through essential features.

Lastly, design can play a strategic role in aligning client expectations with business objectives. When approached thoughtfully, design becomes a powerful growth channel in itself.