Tradelab
A SaaS suite for in-house programmatic traders
- Role
- Product Designer
- Duration
- 2017 — 2020
- Team
- Product Owners · Developers · QA
- Impact
- 10+ tools shipped
- Tools
- Sketch · InVision · Abstract
Context
Tradelab is a programmatic agency enabling clients to improve marketing campaign performance through in-house Traders responsible for optimization. The product team built tailored internal tools to replace market alternatives that lacked critical features.
Challenge
- Replace external trading tools with in-house equivalents tailored to actual trader workflows.
- Keep design and experience consistent across 10+ tools in constant development.
- Bridge product, dev and QA on shared specs without slowing delivery.
Key decisions
— Why, not just what.Workshops with trader leads, not just stakeholders
The real workflow lives with the people optimizing campaigns daily. Workshops surfaced needs the product team couldn't see from the outside.
One design system for the whole suite
10+ tools with overlapping users meant component consistency was the only sustainable way to ship at pace.
Mixed-method research
Focus groups, observation, exploratory surveys, card sorting and prototype testing each answered different questions — no single method covered the workflow.
Solution
- Designed a SaaS suite of 10+ trading tools used by in-house traders.
- Built a Sketch-based design system to align the design and front-end teams.
- Established a recurring research cadence using Carine Lallemand's UX methods.
Outcomes
- →Replaced external tools with in-house equivalents tailored to the trader workflow.
- →Improved consistency across the suite via the design system.
Learnings
Internal-tool design rewards proximity to the user — sit next to them.
Mixed-method research compounds: each method removes a blind spot the others can't.
Agōn
A fitness app for serious gym-goers