Product Strategy
|
Design Research
|
Kano Analysis
Feature prioritization for GTM
How do we prioritize the right features for people who are just starting their investment journey?
Partners
Academic Project (2024)
Duration
4 Weeks
As part of an Evidence-Based Design course at the Institute of Design, I explored how user research methods grounded in metrics can shape early
product decisions.
Focusing on investment apps, I used survey-based methods such as Kano Model Analysis to evaluate
feature desirability and SUS (System Usability Scale)
to assess overall usability to test and validate a
product concept. By combining user preference data
with usability scores, the project demonstrated how
early research can reduce guesswork and guide
more confident, user-aligned product decisions.
TEAM
Naomi & Akshay
Role
Design Research & Prototyping
RESPONISIBILITIES
Survey Design, Secondary Research, Kano model analysis, SUS analysis, User Interface Design
Context
In the U.S. alone 15% of retail investors reportedly made their
very first investment in 2020.
Problem Reframe
How do we prioritize the right features for people
who are just starting their investment journey?
Research Process
4
Interviews
We began with 4 semi-structured interviews to understand users needs, mental models, and decision-making patterns around investing.
2
Surveys
A Kano Model Analysis, to measure user delight, expectation, and indifference across our features.
SUS (System Usability Scale) survey helped us gauge useful users found the overall product concept.
12+ hours
Desk research
We complemented user interviews with over 12 hours of desk research understanding user preferences through online reviews, and Reddit communities.
What are new investors saying?
We uncovered themes and needs through our deep listening interviews and from reddit which led us to include 9 features!
01
Grad students want automated saving tools to reduce
cognitive load, saving is important, but easily deprioritized
amidst academic pressures.
"Saving everyday for investing is a hassle and I don't want to spend time or my energy doing this "
Young Investor, Age 29
02
Sharing financial goals with friends builds motivation, users
are more likely to follow through when progress is shared
and social.
"I only rely on for financial advice from my inner circle of friends
and family"
College Student, Age 28
Feature Validation
We used Kano analysis and designed a survey and received
responses from 29 participants
1 feature
was considered to be
attractive (goal setting)
Concept Design
Concept Testing (SUS Analysis)
We used the system usability
score method with 6 participants
to understand how useful they find the concept.
70%
of the surveyed participants considered this concept.
Learnings & Reflections
Learning to improve sampling
This project helped me realize how crucial a representative sample is for deriving reliable insights. While our results offered early direction, I’m now more aware of the role that sampling plays in making findings truly meaningful
Testing assumption with small sample
I learned that even simple surveys can generate evidence to challenge assumptions and inform product decisions early.