I was the Senior Product Designer on this project for TD Bank in 2025-2026. I worked with a product owner, a copy writer, additional designers and a team of developers.
We created more than 15 new components for responsive web and mobile, delivered ahead of schedule, as well as launching new public site pages announcing the new brand.
Stock Trading Platform
Context
TD Bank is one of the top 5 banks in Canada serving millions of customers across North America. As part of their larger road map, TD was looking for ways to remain competitive within millennial and gen Z demographics. Millennials are poised to inherit the largest generational transfer of wealth in history and competition for their business is top of mind for financial services. Market comparisons revealed TD’s current stock trading platform wasn’t reaching these users as effectively as their competitors and the need for a redesign was apparent.
Discover
We did a competitive analysis of other stock trading platforms.
I looked at competitor’s products that were popular with our users that were traditional banks and online only services like Wealthsimple.
We checked the banks existing research on our target demographic.
I spoke with researchers at the bank about which values were most important to these users and important context to keep in mind.
We ran usability tests and user interviews on the existing experience.
We asked users to score the existing experience on usability, visual appeal, ease of use and relevance of content. This information would help shape a design approach and provide a benchmakr to measure the new designs potential for success
Define
Discovery gave us a lot of potential areas for improvement, but we narrowed it down to addressing 3 issues that would see the biggest impact for Island Getaway.
Users valued clean, modern, and thoughtful design.
There was a strong preference for brands that resembled tech companies in design over a traditional bank. Lots of white space, vibrant colors and illustrations and thoughtful micro interactions were scored favorably while reserved palettes, flat iconography and stock photos were viewed as outdated and possibly intimidating.
The existing experience scored well on usability tests.
The existing app and web experience scored well enough with users, letting us know the core experience shouldn’t change too much but there was room for improvement in accessibility and limiting actions that took them out of the experience.
Our research showed users needed more financial education.
Users reported a desire to be more hands on with their financial decisions but felt overwhelmed and unsure of themselves when faced with a barrage of new terms and processes necessary to trading. There was also uncertainty in how to evaluate TD’s stock trading platform against other options. Establishing trust and educating without overwhelming new users would be a key focus of the design.
Develop
Ideate
We created wireframes for pages in the search and booking flow, a proposed branding refresh, and a proof of concept desktop and mobile view of the landing page to present to the client.
Feedback
While the client was enthusiastic with the overall direction, there was apprehension in changing the logo and branding too much and potentially causing confusion with their existing users. They also requested a stronger focus on highlighting their local expertise of the island to better position themselves against national platform competition.
Iterations
I agreed to keep their existing logo but to clean up the image quality and I tweaked their brand colors to meet accessibility while still looking close to the original. After addressing the website feedback I made a clickable prototype for testing with users.
Deliver
Our final solution addressed the three problems we had uncovered:
The new brand and visuals were appealing and well received.
There are now clear entries into the user journey at the top of the page for both booking a rental as a guest, and listing a property as a local. Adding a favoriting function helps users keep properties they are considering saved for later booking.
The web experience score improved by 12%.
Improved visuals and pared down copy help reduce cognitive load and aid users in making informed decisions when booking a vacation that they can look forward to.
We introduced new techniques for delivering educational information without overwhelm.
Adjusting the existing brand colors helped fix contrast issues while updating the brand typeface improved legibility for mobile users.
Outcomes
We increased conversions through the booking flow.
Users were finding the entry point to the booking flow faster, bounce rates reduced, and more users were returning to the site after favoriting properties.
We met accessibility criteria.
Reducing friction points in the user journey helped contribute to the increase in booking conversions.
The website is now listed first when searching for vacation rentals in Hilton Head.
A combination of a truly responsive website design and relevant copy editing earned the website more visibility with search engines.