Through a user interview with Amando, a remote instructor and freelance UX designer, I discovered that while he had savings and had already opened an investment account, he had never actually started investing. The barrier was not access or interest, but uncertainty. He felt overwhelmed by the number of options, lacked confidence in his own knowledge, and worried about making the wrong financial decision without trusted guidance.

This insight reframed the project around a core problem: beginner investors need a clearer, more supportive way to start investing because the current process feels high-risk, confusing, and intimidating. I identified three guiding principles to address this challenge: trust, simplicity, and clarity. Rather than overwhelming users with data-heavy charts or endless choices, the design needed to offer curated recommendations, short explanations, and visual cues that make decision-making feel safe and manageable. I translated these insights into task flows, sketches, and early wireframes that prioritized ease of exploration and confidence-building.