🎮 Gamifying the Financial Markets: How We Designed a Fantasy Trading Platform with 1 M+ Downloads
A disruptive fintech experience that makes stock trading intuitive, inclusive, and immersive for all.
The Challenge: Making Stock Trading Fun, Not Fearful
In India, while stock market awareness is growing, more than 90% of the population still finds it too complex to engage with. TradingLeagues approached us with a powerful vision — to simplify stock trading through gamification and make it accessible to everyone, from seasoned day traders to absolute beginners.
Our mission at Lollypop Design Studio was to convert this bold idea into a product that educates, engages, and excites.
Discover: Understanding the Audience First
Before jumping into design, we conducted intensive user research:
- Workshops with stakeholders
- Interviews with beginner and pro traders
- Market research into fintech engagement behavior
What we learned:
Millennials are seeking side incomes, and gamified platforms have their attention. But UX complexity is a dealbreaker.
Define: Financial Inclusion Through Play
We envisioned the product as a fantasy sports-style trading experience, allowing users to participate in stock market simulations. Think of it as cricket fantasy leagues — but for stock trading.
Key goals:
- Demystify trading through simple games
- Empower users with “How to Play” flows
- Reward participation through social engagement
- Drive adoption via gamified UI and smart onboarding
Design Inspiration: A Touch of Nostalgia
What if the stock market felt more like Monopoly?
We took inspiration from that classic board game — its tactile feel, card textures, and playful interface. This became our design north star.
- Typography: Custom title fonts for each game mode
- Color Palette: Vibrant, emotion-driven hues to energize screens
- Layouts: Bite-sized, scrollable game cards with intuitive CTAs
- Gamified Interactions: Leaderboards, points, rewards, and friend challenges
Wireframes That Talk
Each game was mapped to its own landing page, keeping user focus sharp. Wireframes included:
- Onboarding walkthroughs
- “How to Play” sections for every game
- Rules, rewards, and T&Cs integrated in UX
- Visual trust indicators to increase credibility
UI That Makes Data Fun
Stock trading data is complex by nature. We simplified data visualization using clear iconography, trend graphs, and friendly UI animations. Each design underwent usability testing to ensure readability, accessibility, and responsiveness.
Typography & Fonts
We chose Barlow as the base font — a clean, legible, Google-backed typeface perfect for digital. Our illustrators crafted unique header fonts with layered shadows and perspectives to differentiate between game types.
Final Results
- 📲 1 million+ downloads within the first month
- 🚀 Boosted retention due to intuitive onboarding
- 💬 Positive user feedback around ease-of-use
- 🔁 Viral growth through social + leaderboard mechanics
Lessons Learned
✅ Clear instructional design improves user trust and exploration
✅ Gamified UI motivates repeat engagement
✅ Structuring content in bite-sized flows enables self-paced learning
✅ Combining emotion (colors) + logic (UX) drives fintech success
🔍 Curious how we turn user research into design breakthroughs?
📂 Want to see how we’ve done it for leading brands?
🚀 Need a team that gets both the user and the business?Let’s connect. Let’s create. Let’s get it right from the start.
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Conclusion
The TradingLeagues project was a breakthrough in how fintech apps can be imagined — less like banks and more like games.
At Lollypop Design Studio, we believe design is the bridge between people and possibility. This project proves that even the most intimidating platforms can become approachable and enjoyable with the right UX strategy.
👉 Want to see the magic?
Visit our Portfolio →
Let’s redefine digital experiences — one app at a time.
