Boosting Strategy Mode Adoption via Usability Testing on SoFinX App

Boosting Strategy Mode Adoption via Usability Testing on SoFinX App

Fintech

Fintech

App

App

B2C

B2C

Role

UX/UI Designer - Collaborated with designers, product managers, engineers, and data analysts

Tasks

Usability test, Interface Design, Interaction Design, User Flows, Prototyping, User research

Duration

2023-2024

Overview

Rescuing a Powerful Feature from Its Own Complexity

In the previous phase, I validated users’ interest in copy-trading strategies through an MVP launch.

A user put it bluntly: “This feature looks powerful, but I have no idea how to use it.” That was the turning point.

I ran usability tests to understand where users got stuck—and applied those insights directly to the app’s onboarding and strategy display. The redesign helped users finally understand the feature, and actually use it.

Highlights

An end-to-end customizable copy-trade experience
for better control and lower risk

Create Strategy Robot.

VIDEO

Signal Card/Info.

IMAGE

Add Strategy/Create Strategy Robot Interface.

IMAGE

The Problem

The Problem

The Problem

Strategy Mode works—But Too Hard to Use

Only 37% adopted the high-performing strategy follow mode.

Users weren’t rejecting the concept. They just didn’t know how to start, or felt overwhelmed midway.

To fix this, I ran usability tests to identify a simpler, clearer way to guide users through the strategy-building flow.

Design Challenge

How can I find the real barrier behind low strategy usage, and resolve it by keeping its core logic?

Strategy follow wasn’t getting adopted, even though it delivered results. But simply improving the UI wouldn’t fix it. I needed to understand what exactly was blocking users from engaging.

The challenge was to reshape the experience so it felt simple and intuitive—without stripping away the complexity that made strategy follow powerful in the first place.

Hypothesis

Hypothesis

Hypothesis

Was bad UX the biggest factor behind the losses?

Losses are part of investing, to make sure the answer of this question, I broke the issue down into possible causes:

Market volatility

Sudden price swings beyond investor control.

Signals failure

Choices driven by emotion or poor risk control.

Investor’s own act

Delayed or inaccurate signals affecting trades.

UX flaws

Design issues that mislead or cause missteps.

Business Goals

Business Goals

Business Goals

Reduce loss, Boost adoption.

Based on user research and data validation, I aimed to achieve two key goals through the Strategy-Following Mode:

Reduce the investors loss rate

below 50%

Current metric: 83%

Boost the first-time robot creation rate

to 80%

Current metric: 60%

User Interview

User Interview

User Interview

Investors: “Hard to choose a signal worth copying”

The answers I was eager to learn.

To understand why investors were losing money, I conducted 20 user interviews and focused on several key questions:

How do you choose a signal provider? What do you look for?

Understand decision-making and criteria

Were there any confusing steps in Creating your trading robot?

Identify flow issues and cognitive gaps

How’s your robot performing? Is it meeting expectations?

Understand expectations and results

User Interview /

Key Findings

The MVP forced users into blind acceptance.

From these feedback, I mapped it onto user journey to see where expectations broke down. This revealed how confusion made users into blind acceptance.

I distilled the interviews into 4 recurring themes of feedback:
Signal card indicators are unclear

No explanation, so users ignored them

Believing high returns = guaranteed profit

This led to unexpected liquidations

Unclear what happens after following

Lack of confidence led to drop-off

Complete followed signal’s risk

Copying all signals' trades is hard to manage risk

User Interview /

Extended Insights

Investors may want a particular strategy.

The Beginning of Strategy Mode.

- Signal selection revealed diverse investor intentions.

“Can I just follow their gold trades?”

“Gold’s been volatile. I’m not confident trading it, can I follow someone good at it?”

These feedback above revealed that investors had their own trading interests. Our MVP didn’t offer a customizable experience, which became the spark for Strategy Follow Mode.

Quant Analysis

User Research /

Quant Analysis

User Research /

Quant Analysis

User Research /

Most investors fails to make reasonable decisions by misleading signals.

With the data team’s help, I dug into the numbers:

Finding 1 – Why are investors losing money?
Robot PnL Distribution

93% of robots lost money — and surprisingly, 70% of those losses came from the platform’s top ROI signal.

Conclusion 1

This raises a red flag: the platform’s top signal may not be as reliable as it seems.

The Hidden Risk Behind the Top ROI Signal

Lifetime ROI looks solid, but zooming into just 7 days uncovers a consistent drawdown.

Conclusion 2

Long-term returns mask short-term risks—making retail investors with smaller capital especially vulnerable.

Finding 2 – Narrowing focus shows how strategy can reduce losses.
Complete Copying (Default Mode)

Default mode copies every trade under a signal—every symbol, every PnL—resulting in heavy losses for most robots.

Conclusion 1

Blindly following all trades leaves users highly exposed.

Focused Symbol (Strategy Mode)

If users only followed the top-performing symbol of each signal in the past 7 days, 90% of robots would’ve turned profitable.

Conclusion 2

This reveals two key factors:

Performance must be based on recent data.

Following a single symbol reduces blow-up risk.

Competitor Analysis

User Research /

Competitor Analysis

User Research /

Competitor Analysis

User Research /

Investors can’t customize strategies on existing platforms.

Does other platform share this vision?

Before designing, I reviewed three major copy-trading platforms (Gate.io, FollowMe, eToro), analyzing their limitations:

Criteria

Gate.io

FollowMe

eToro

Copy Mode

Full copy or single-symbol copy

No strategic combinations

Subscription-based full copy

Requires external accounts

No internal trading

Full copy per signal

No asset or strategy control

Strategy Flexibility

Basic flexibility (single symbol only)

Limited within signals

No flexibility (all subscriptions automated)

Signal-only copy

No symbol-level control

Performance Indicators

Clear indicators

Only recent 30 days

Scattered data

Third-party lookup required

Clear basic indicators

No short vs. long-term toggle

Usability

X High learning curve (funding & robot setup)

Simple setup

External account connection required

Simple interface

Straightforward flow

Key insights

Most platforms are either rigid (no customization) or overly complex.

No competitor effectively solved "helping users make clear, informed decisions."

It finally clicked:
Develop a customizable strategy copy model.

Investors weren’t making bad decisions—they lacked the right structure to choose clearly.

Focused Design Challenge

So now I see it more specifically, the core design challenge is:

How might I use "Strategy-Following Mode" to boost overall profitability?

Solutions

Solutions

Solutions

01 - Strategy Copy Mode

Strategy Copy User-flow
Old flow

Investors could only follow one signal source, with all actions blindly mirrored.

New flow

A new strategy-following flow — build robot with chosen symbols, conditions, and multiple signals.

Iterations
Spot a high-performing symbol and take advantage of it.

Investors can copy specific symbols, customize copy-trade parameters, and add them to their personal strategy pool—maximizing control and minimizing risk.

Before

Only complete-copy access.

(MVP/Flow-0.0)

Signal detail page.

IMAGE

After

Add Strategy in a same user-flow.

(New Version/Flow-2.0)

Signal detail page - Add strategy.

VIDEO

Customizing strategies to meet investors’ needs

Turning copy-trading into a strategy you can actually control.

Direction

Reverse copying lets investors rethink strategies beyond simple mirroring.

Leverage

Adjust ratios based on provider and capital to reduce liquidation risks.

Conditions

Stay in control by setting your own trading hours and volumes.

New Version

Parameters focused on one symbol.

(Flow/2.1)

Add strategy - popup.

IMAGE

Combine cross-signal strategy, Create the unbeatable robot.

I enabled investors to combine symbols across signals and build their own robots based on their preferences.

New Version

Combine strategy to create robot.

(Flow/2.2-2.3)

Create strategy robot flow.

VIDEO

02 - Clearer Signal Info

Iterations
New sorting + filters to spot signal based on investors needs and worth coping.

Guide users toward quality signals with enhanced filters for safer, more convenient choices.

Before

Single sorting caused misleading signals.

(MVP/Flow-0.0)

Signal list page.

IMAGE

After

Switch sorting and filtering freely.

(Flow/0.0)

Signal list page.

VIDEO

Deeper and more valuable signal indicators.
Active Rate

Use recent trading activity to spot inactive or invalid signals.

Risk Level

Measure risks by provider’s max drawdown. Scale it into High/Medium/Low.

Timeframe toggling

Compare signal results across time periods.

Before

Vague parameters and provide no reference value.

(MVP/Flow-0.0)

Signal list page.

IMAGE

After

Clearer hierarchy to spotlight high-value content

(Flow/0.0)

Signal Detail page.

VIDEO

03 - Optimized Create Robot User Flow

Keep investors confident in what happens next.
Before

Create Robot - popup.

IMAGE

Lack of Transparency and Risk Control

1. Investors could complete follow in a few clicks but had no clarity on capital flow or leverage impact.

2. No capital warnings or stop-loss mechanisms.

(Flow/1.1)

After

Create Complete-copy Robot - popup.

IMAGE

A

Clear capital information

Investors now clearly understand how their funds move and are used.

B

Control risk upfront: Copy Leverage + Minimum Capital

Prevent beginners from inadvertently over-leveraging.

C

Stop-loss conditions, Enhanced risk control

Offer flexibility and a clearer exit strategy.

(Flow/1.1)

Notification Center.

VIDEO

D

Push notifications, Prevent mistakes

Instant alerts on important settings reassure investors.

Measured Impact

Strategy Following proved more stable and profitable.

During a recent copy-trading competition held on the platform, I analyzed the performance of all user-created bots. The results were clear:

73%

strategy robots achieved positive returns

Average ROI 124%

56%

complete-copy robots achieved the same

Average ROI 37%

Total of : 65% robots were profiting

Investor Quotes

Investor Quotes

Investor Quotes

After Strategy Mode Went Live

Simz / 3 yrs investor

Yo, my robot finally made money. I’m shocked.

Helen / new investor

I made a profit and didn’t panic once. Who am I.

Nick / 7 yrs investor

Feels illegal that i’m able to do this setup.

Me

Team Impact

Foundations Formed Along the Way

Beyond product outcomes, my work also brought long-term value to the team’s design and development process:

Initiated internal Design Reviews

I implemented a team-wide design review ritual to help align feedback early, reduce last-minute churn, and give iteration decisions more breathing room and clarity.

Built a flexible Design System

I established a reusable, adaptable design system that significantly sped up front-end development—especially valuable during rapid iterations and shifting requirements.

What’s Next?

What’s Next?

What’s Next?

Strategy worked. But…adoption didn’t.

Even though strategy bots outperformed, they were used in only ⚠️ 37% of cases.
So I asked: What’s stopping users from choosing what works?

Here’s what I did next to improve adoption:

Used usability testing to identify blockers

Observed where users missed, misunderstood, or gave up on the strategy feature.

Reworked the app to spotlight strategy

Improved placement and guidance so users could see, trust, and adopt it.

Built and Designed by Eric

©2026

Built and Designed by Eric

©2026