BlackRock iShares:
Simplifying complex financial decisions
Redesigning a complex fund comparison experience through research, accessibility, and clearer information hierarchy.
Role: Associate UX Product Designer
Tools: Sketch (migrated to Figma), Usertesting.com, Miro
Timeline: 4 months
Company: BlackRock
Turning complex financial data into confident investment decisions
Why do investors need to compare four funds at once? That question shaped the entire project.
The original comparison experience gave users access to large amounts of financial data, but user research revealed a different challenge: understanding the information was often harder than finding it.
Our goal wasn't to add more data. It was to help investors focus on what mattered and make decisions with greater confidence.
What we set out to do
- Reduce cognitive load during fund comparison
- Surface meaningful insights without hiding important information
- Introduce visual cues that support faster decision-making
- Improve accessibility across the experience
- Create a scalable foundation during the Sketch-to-Figma migration
How we did it
Research and discovery
We conducted moderated usability sessions with investors to understand how they compared funds, which metrics influenced decisions, and where confusion appeared.
- User interviews and usability testing
- Analysis of comparison behaviors and decision patterns
- Identification of high-friction areas in dense data tables
Information design and visualization
Rather than adding more information, we focused on helping users interpret existing information more efficiently.
- Explored different chart formats and comparison models
- Tested visual approaches with users and stakeholders
- Introduced lightweight visualizations that supported faster scanning and understanding
Accessibility and system improvements
The project also became an opportunity to improve consistency and accessibility across the experience.
- Led migration work from Sketch to Figma
- Improved typography, hierarchy, spacing, and color contrast
- Created clearer implementation guidance for engineering teams
Design improvements
Comparison experience
- Reorganized information hierarchy around decision-making needs
- Reduced visual noise and improved scanability
- Introduced clearer grouping of key metrics
Data visualization
- Added visual comparisons to complement numerical data
- Supported faster pattern recognition
- Ensured WCAG-compliant color usage and sizing
Mobile experience
User testing consistently showed that comparing multiple funds was significantly less effective on mobile.
The findings ultimately contributed to the team's decision to roll back the mobile experience and focus on single-fund exploration instead.
Results that mattered
- +15% increase in engagement with comparison tables (desktop)
- Users spent less time scanning metrics and more time evaluating relevant funds
- Accessibility improved through updated hierarchy, typography, spacing, and color contrast
- Research findings revealed that fund comparison was significantly less effective on mobile, helping the team make a more informed product decision
One of the most valuable lessons from this project was that simplifying a product doesn't always mean removing complexity from the system. Sometimes it means helping people understand that complexity more clearly.
Good design isn't about showing less information. It's about helping users focus on the information that matters.
Keywords
Product Design - UX Research - Usability Testing - Data Visualization - Accessibility - Information Design - Product Strategy - Design Systems
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Who am I? Hi, I'm Lucila, but you can call me Lu.
I'm a Senior Product Designer who helps teams understand users, untangle complexity, and build products that actually make sense. I know how to move fast without losing structure. Argentina taught me the first part, Germany shaped the second.