Advisory

The problem

Research reports are written for analysts. Investors need something different: a clear next step, a reason they can understand, and an honest picture of what could go wrong. Advice that is generic, dense or disconnected from what the investor is trying to achieve rarely gets followed, which means even excellent research fails the person it was meant to help.

How I approached it

I treated the advisory module as a translation problem. The raw material was equity and mutual fund research from analysts; the output had to be simple enough for someone who is not a finance professional to act on. I started from investor goals and the questions they actually ask, then worked backwards to the structure of each recommendation: what is suggested, why, and what risks sit alongside it.

I defined the requirements in PRDs and user stories, prioritized what had to ship first, and kept suitability and disclosure obligations front and centre because this is a regulated advisory product. I worked with research analysts to keep the content accurate, with designers to keep it readable, and with engineers to launch the module in stages.

The outcome

The advisory module launched, giving investors recommendations written in plain language with rationale and risk context, so they can see the reasoning and make the decision themselves.

What it taught me

Clarity is a product decision. Every sentence that needs a finance degree to understand is a place where trust leaks out.