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Yieldstreet Mobile App

Yieldstreet connects investors with alternative assets, yet the mobile experience lagged behind the web platform. The objective of this project was to address the critical investor pain points to streamline portfolio management and on-the-go investment execution.

Key Results

72% boost in user engagement.
16% increase in mobile investment completion rate.
Reduced the startup load time from minutes to seconds.

Role & Timeline

Lead Product Designer and Research
March 2025 - June 2025

Methods

User Research / User Interviews / Competitive Analysis / Design Audit / Visual design / Prototyping / Testing

Current Experience

To understand the necessity for a redesign, the first step involved analysing user behaviour and internal technical constraints. The data revealed a significant disparity between the highly optimised web experience and the struggling mobile application. This analysis highlighted four primary areas of concern:

Low Adoption: Though the web is primary (90%), the app (8%) is clearly the preferred "on-the-go" method over the responsive web (2%).
Performance Failure: Load times were unacceptably slow (up to 90 seconds for large portfolios) with frequent errors.
UX Inconsistency: The app's visual and operational flows differed significantly from the primary web experience, forcing users to learn two distinct interfaces.
Technical Debt: There was a critical need to rebuild the app on a new framework to enable quicker engineering updates and feature delivery.

Simply put, the mobile app was hampered by both external user friction (performance, inconsistency) and internal inefficiencies (outdated framework). The challenge was two-fold: deliver a seamless, high-performance mobile experience that mirrored the web, while simultaneously eliminating technical debt.

Low Adoption: Though the web is primary (90%), the app (8%) is clearly the preferred "on-the-go" method over the responsive web (2%).
Performance Failure: Load times were unacceptably slow (up to 90 seconds for large portfolios) with frequent errors.
UX Inconsistency: The app's visual and operational flows differed significantly from the primary web experience, forcing users to learn two distinct interfaces.
Technical Debt: There was a critical need to rebuild the app on a new framework to enable quicker engineering updates and feature delivery.

Low Adoption: Though the web is primary (90%), the app (8%) is clearly the preferred "on-the-go" method over the responsive web (2%).
Performance Failure: Load times were unacceptably slow (up to 90 seconds for large portfolios) with frequent errors.
UX Inconsistency: The app's visual and operational flows differed significantly from the primary web experience, forcing users to learn two distinct interfaces.
Technical Debt: There was a critical need to rebuild the app on a new framework to enable quicker engineering updates and feature delivery.

Mapping out the current app flow with screenshots and writing sticky notes on the issues and needed changes.

User Insights & Validation

To validate these assumptions, extensive feedback was gathered from investors via the relations team, supplemented by focused interviews. The primary pain points identified were:

Inconsistent UX & Navigation: The app's complex layout and operational flows differed significantly from the established web experience, creating a steep learning curve.
Poor Information Hierarchy: Users reported that key portfolio performance data was not immediately visible or easily digestible upon login, despite monitoring being the primary use case.
High-Friction Investing: The mobile investment flow was cumbersome, involving excessive text, non-optimised visuals, and a high number of clicks, leading to abandonment in favour of the website.
Critical Performance Issues: Basic tasks and app load times were unacceptably slow due to poor underlying optimisation.

The convergence of user feedback and internal technical assessments confirmed that inconsistency and poor performance were the primary barriers to adoption.

To validate these assumptions, extensive feedback was gathered from investors via the relations team, supplemented by focused interviews. The primary pain points identified were:

Inconsistent UX & Navigation: The app's complex layout and operational flows differed significantly from the established web experience, creating a steep learning curve.
Poor Information Hierarchy: Users reported that key portfolio performance data was not immediately visible or easily digestible upon login, despite monitoring being the primary use case.
High-Friction Investing: The mobile investment flow was cumbersome, involving excessive text, non-optimised visuals, and a high number of clicks, leading to abandonment in favour of the website.
Critical Performance Issues: Basic tasks and app load times were unacceptably slow due to poor underlying optimisation.

The convergence of user feedback and internal technical assessments confirmed that inconsistency and poor performance were the primary barriers to adoption.

To validate these assumptions, extensive feedback was gathered from investors via the relations team, supplemented by focused interviews. The primary pain points identified were:

Inconsistent UX & Navigation: The app's complex layout and operational flows differed significantly from the established web experience, creating a steep learning curve.
Poor Information Hierarchy: Users reported that key portfolio performance data was not immediately visible or easily digestible upon login, despite monitoring being the primary use case.
High-Friction Investing: The mobile investment flow was cumbersome, involving excessive text, non-optimised visuals, and a high number of clicks, leading to abandonment in favour of the website.
Critical Performance Issues: Basic tasks and app load times were unacceptably slow due to poor underlying optimisation.

The convergence of user feedback and internal technical assessments confirmed that inconsistency and poor performance were the primary barriers to adoption.

Snapshots of user feedback collected during the interviews.

Mapping out the current app flow with screenshots and writing sticky notes on the issues and needed changes.

Competitive Landscape

A study of popular fintech apps was conducted to identify strengths and weaknesses in the market. This analysis focused on three key areas: onboarding, dashboard presentation, and investment flows. Special attention was paid to how competitors handled complex data display on small screens while maintaining high user trust. The insights gained directly informed the Visual Direction and helped establish best practices for streamlined navigation and clear information hierarchy in the new design.

Collection of screenshots from other finance apps for idea generation.

Snapshots of user feedback collected during the interviews.

The Core Hypothesis

Considering these performance and usability issues, the aim was to re-architect the mobile app for superior speed and unify the design to match the web experience. By doing this, investors will be able to easily and quickly monitor their portfolio and complete investment transactions while on the go. Success is measured by an increase in monthly active user engagement and the mobile investment completion rate.

Defining the Strategy

Project Goals & Success Metrics

The overall strategy focused on building a mobile platform that felt trustworthy, fast, and familiar, directly addressing the technical and experience gaps between the mobile app and the web experience.

The Primary Goal

Unify the mobile experience with the web platform through a technical overhaul, aiming to deliver a fast, trusted, and consistent user experience that makes on-the-go portfolio monitoring and investment completion seamless for investors.

Design System & Components

To ensure a fast build and reliable performance, the engineering team selected React Native Paper (based on Material Design 3) as the technical foundation. The design challenge was to prevent the app from looking like a generic template while leveraging the speed of this library.

The base MD3 system was radically adapted to the Yieldstreet brand. This involved:

Theming: Overriding core tokens—typography, colour palettes, and corner roundness—to strictly align with the web aesthetic.
Custom Components: Designing and building bespoke components for complex financial data displays that the standard library didn't support.
Brand Alignment: Ensuring that while the code was React Native, the feel was unmistakably Yieldstreet.

This strategy allowed for a faster launch without sacrificing the unique brand identity.

Optimising the Onboarding Flow

First impressions are critical for trust. The onboarding flow was overhauled to bridge the visual gap between the app and the web.

Setting Expectations: A clear breakdown of the account creation steps and an estimated completion time were added upfront to reduce user drop-off.
Visibility & Progress: For every section, a persistent step indicator was implemented at the top, giving users constant visibility into where they were in the process.
Improved Readability: Information density was optimised for mobile, breaking complex legal and personal queries into digestible, single-focus screens.
Post-signup Dashboard: The post-signup experience was refined to be more than just a placeholder. The improved design focuses heavily on education, offering bite-sized content on alternative assets and guiding users directly to make their first investment to build early confidence.

Overview of key updates in the new onboarding flow.

Comparison of the latest key portfolio updates with the previous version.

Redesigning the Portfolio Experience

Research identified that users primarily open the app to check performance, yet the old design buried this data. The dashboard was redesigned to prioritise hierarchy and clarity, mirroring the trusted web experience.

Elevating Key Metrics: The information hierarchy was restructured to prioritise the most critical data. "Net Portfolio Value" and "Total Earnings" were moved to the top of the screen with increased typographic prominence, ensuring users can assess their standing instantly upon login.
Visualising Performance: To address the feedback that data wasn't "easily visible," dense text lists were replaced with clear, interactive charts. These visual components allow users to grasp their asset allocation and performance trends at a glance, mirroring the depth of the web experience but optimised for mobile consumption.
Unified Navigation: The navigation structure was simplified to match the web dashboard's logic, reducing the learning curve for users switching between devices and making it easier to drill down into specific investment details.

Comparison of the latest key portfolio updates with the previous version.

Comparison of key updates in the new investment flow versus the previous version.

Comparison of the latest key portfolio updates with the previous version.

Comparison of key updates in the new investment flow versus the previous version.

Comparison of the latest key portfolio updates with the previous version.

Streamlining the Investment Flow

The investment funnel, the core revenue driver for the platform, was overhauled to reduce friction and match the decision-making mental models of investors.

Prioritising Offering Details: The offering page was redesigned to surface the metrics investors look for first. The key data points Net Annualised Return, Risk Rating, Term, Distribution Schedule, Exposure, and Capital Call Breakdown were moved to the top of the hierarchy. This prioritisation allows users to evaluate an opportunity immediately without unnecessary scrolling or hunting for data.
Frictionless Checkout: The checkout process underwent a massive reduction in complexity, shrinking from five steps (Complex, high drop-off) to just two (Streamlined, higher completion). By reorganising the information layout to reduce scrolling and optimising screen real estate, the interaction cost was drastically lowered, streamlining the path from decision to transaction.

These efficiency gains were the primary driver behind the 16% increase in mobile investment completion rate.

Comparison of key updates in the new investment flow versus the previous version.

Overview of key updates in the new onboarding flow.

Comparison of key updates in the new investment flow versus the previous version.

Metrics & Impact

The redesign successfully transformed the Yieldstreet mobile app from a secondary utility into a primary engagement channel. By aligning the mobile experience with the web platform and resolving critical performance bottlenecks, significant business impact was achieved:

16% Increase in Mobile Investment Completion Rate: The simplification of the checkout flow and the prioritisation of key offering metrics directly reduced transaction friction, proving that mobile investors are willing to transact large amounts when the experience feels secure and efficient.
72% Boost in Monthly Active User Engagement: By fixing the information hierarchy and introducing visual data dashboards, the app became a more valuable daily monitoring tool. Users now spend more time exploring their portfolio performance rather than just logging in and leaving.
Big Reduction in App Load Times: The technical migration to React Native Paper not only eliminated technical debt but virtually erased the "slow load" pain point. The app now opens instantly, removing the biggest barrier to frequent usage.

16% Increase in Mobile Investment Completion Rate: The simplification of the checkout flow and the prioritisation of key offering metrics directly reduced transaction friction, proving that mobile investors are willing to transact large amounts when the experience feels secure and efficient.
72% Boost in Monthly Active User Engagement: By fixing the information hierarchy and introducing visual data dashboards, the app became a more valuable daily monitoring tool. Users now spend more time exploring their portfolio performance rather than just logging in and leaving.
Big Reduction in App Load Times: The technical migration to React Native Paper not only eliminated technical debt but virtually erased the "slow load" pain point. The app now opens instantly, removing the biggest barrier to frequent usage.

Reflection & Next Steps

Balancing Speed vs. Scope

The tight project timeline necessitated a prioritisation strategy. The decision was made to focus the initial release on the highest-impact drivers: Onboarding, Portfolio Monitoring and Investment Execution. While this meant deferring full feature parity, the strong post-launch metrics validate that solving core friction points yields the highest immediate return.

The Path to Parity

With the foundation secured, the next phase of development focuses on bridging the remaining functional gaps between web and mobile. The roadmap prioritises adapting complex features such as Capital Calls, Account Management, and Managed Portfolio Setup for the mobile environment. Integrating these capabilities will complete the ecosystem, ensuring investors have full autonomy over their assets, regardless of the device they choose.

Mapping out the current app flow with screenshots and writing sticky notes on the issues and needed changes.