Fintech · 2025

Tradu

Token architecture and onboarding redesign for Jefferies' trading platform. A one-week brief that earned three engagements.

Context

Tradu is a multi-asset trading platform, wholly owned by Jefferies Financial Group. Built with raw colour values, no design tokens. The brief was one week: design a light mode for onboarding.

What I did

The existing dark mode used hardcoded colour values. I worked backwards: defined primitive tokens from the values in use, then derived semantic tokens that both modes resolve to. One abstraction, two modes.

The one-week brief expanded across three statements of work:

Light mode token retrofit
Onboarding UX audit: 19-screen flow, reducing taps, rethinking progress indicators, redesigning field states
Corporate site UX audit

The strongest decision was on accessibility. Tradu's brand guidelines specified a darker shade of their accent orange for light mode. The standard shade was lighter, higher contrast, and passed WCAG AA more cleanly. I recommended the standard shade universally. Tradu amended their brand guidelines.

Primitive token scale showing dark-mode and light-mode tokens derived as inversions from the same base. — The primitive token scale, with dark-mode and light-mode tokens derived from the same base.

Progress-bar position variants compared, from compact top-of-screen treatments to bottom grouping with the primary action. — Progress bar variants explored, ending with the primary-action grouping at the bottom.

Selected states in light mode comparing black indicator vs Tangerine indicator across radio buttons, multi-select buttons, and text fields. — Field states in light mode. Tangerine produces clearer visual separation in the lighter environment.

Annotated Figma frame from the corporate-site UX audit showing recommended changes. — Final recommendations from the corporate site UX audit.

Impact

~45s and 11 taps removed from the onboarding flow (measured). One-week brief earned three engagements.

Impact

>8× Agency account growth
The initial project's success led to a full UX audit.
19 steps Refined end to end
UX refinements shipped across app onboarding and corporate site.
~45 seconds Less to complete onboarding
11 taps removed, cognitive load reduced throughout.

Credits

Alan Long Lead Product Designer, Onboarding

Sole product designer on Tradu's onboarding flow. Designed a light mode for the flow, in the process extending the token foundation. After the light mode work, scope expanded into a UX audit of the onboarding flow and the corporate site.

Next project

2.4× Attendee engagement vs prior event View project