Bringing BUX Zero to the big screen — A sneak peek of the BUX web app
During the past few months, we have been working on an exciting new product at BUX. We think it’s time to let you have a look behind the curtain.
We are very excited to present the new BUX web app. It’s been a long time in the making but we promise it’s going to be worth the wait. The web app is currently in development and we anticipate the first version will go live soon. For now, let’s have a sneak peek at how it looks!
Bringing BUX Zero to the big screen
Many of you know BUX as a dynamic, engaging and disruptive neobroker. We have grown a lot since our early days. Since then, we have transitioned to a trustworthy one-stop shop for investing.
We are very proud that BUX Zero is helping over a million users to do more with their money and making investing more accessible to everyone. And users love the design of BUX Zero. The pocket-size screen is very convenient. Now we want to provide more pro features native to the web platform and as an alternative to the mobile app experience.
For a long time, our users have been requesting a web app. Now it’s time to bring BUX Zero to the big screen!
A change of context
The difference between a smartphone and a computer is more than just size. It’s about the way we use them.
Smartphones are at our fingertips and in our pockets, so we use them in a more informal way. By comparison, turning on a computer seems like more of a task. This has given desktop usage a more formal feel. We open up our laptops for serious and complex tasks.
The context for using smartphones and computers differs. So, from the start, we planned to design the web app as a companion to the mobile app. Rather than copying the mobile experience and enlarging it to fill the web browser, we wanted to take advantage of the form factor — leveraging the features best-suited for large-screen browsers.
We found out that our users would prefer to use the web app for advanced charting, data visualisation, tax reporting and learning about investing. Meanwhile, they prefer to trade, top up and withdraw funds via mobile — as these features already require mobile banking.
Different app structure
Swiping and tapping are ubiquitous with mobile apps, whereas on desktop the mouse is still the king.
The quick and effortless swiping on a mobile screen means you can design an app with a deep structure and lots of full screen features to flick between with your thumbs. On the contrary, a web browser is usually much larger, so there’s no need to switch pages to access different features. But it does come with trade offs. It’s less convenient to change pages by dragging the mouse around in a desktop browser compared to a simple swipe in mobile. Frequent page switches in a large browser can also be visually uncomfortable.
Think about a deck of playing cards — a mobile app as a deck of cards stacked together, a web app as a deck of cards laid out on a large table. When you have the whole pack of cards in your hand, it’s easy to draw cards from the stack. When you have the cards laying flat on a table, it’s easier to gain an overview but more difficult to shuffle.
We have taken the different user habits on each device into account and designed the web app’s interaction based on the strengths of the desktop format. The desktop form factor allows us to combine features that are nested in several mobile tabs into a single page. Users will be able to check their portfolio, watchlist, investment list, and news side by side. Apart from the new layout made possible by the larger canvas, we can also design larger and more advanced charts and tables.
What’s next?
We have been working hard behind the scenes. Extensive user and peer research has been carried out to help us make optimal design decisions.
We have assembled a dedicated team to bring the web app to life at full speed. We are optimistic that BUX users will be able to try out our web app in a few months. Stay tuned!
