Case study · Finance · Trading desktop app
Morgan Stanley: bond quotes at the speed of the trading floor
A bond trading application that lets sales reps and traders request, discuss and close quotes in seconds, in one of the most chaotic work environments there is.
A team project at UX Team Role
UX Designer
Client
Morgan Stanley
Platform
Desktop trading app
Focus
Workflow & communication
01 · Context
Designing for a room full of shouting
On the trading floor, people sit in front of four to eight monitors, juggle several apps, talk on headsets and intercoms, and often stand up and shout across the room.
Quote requests worked the same way: fast, but with no record. Our goal was a tool as quick as shouting across the floor, with the added benefit of capturing every quote for future analysis.
Challenge 1
Better communication
Give sales reps and traders a way to communicate during critical decisions without shouting or calling.
Challenge 2
Faster task completion
Streamline how traders review, analyze and complete quote requests.
Challenge 3
Fewer separate apps
Bring in data from other applications to support decisions and order completion.
02 · Research
Getting into the trenches
- The real working environment of traders and sales reps
- User needs and pain points
- Improvement opportunities in existing use cases
- How the new tool fits into the existing application
- Long-term needs and scalability
How we gathered evidence
Competitor & feature researchStakeholder interviewsUser interviewsUser shadowing
We spent several days shadowing users on the trading floor. There was no other way to truly understand this environment.
03 · Key decisions
What we designed, and why
Decision 01
Quotes without the shouting
What we found
Sales reps and traders constantly interrupted each other by phone, intercom or across the room to get a price.
What we designed
A quote request system with a chat built for speed: quick built-in responses and instant notifications, while every bond price is captured for future data mining.
Decision 02
Clarity in high-pressure moments
What we found
In a fast-paced environment every second counts, and clutter slows decisions down.
What we designed
A clean interface with a clear visual hierarchy and quick access to essential tools, so traders find critical data fast.
Decision 03
Insights beyond the interface
What we found
Shadowing showed that traders performed the same tasks in different ways, and some steps were skipped entirely.
What we designed
Process recommendations alongside the design. Morgan Stanley used them to optimize its business processes so the trading floor could focus on critical tasks.
04 · Delivery
Iterate, refine, deploy
We worked through several rounds of wireframes and visual prototypes, refining the flows with traders and stakeholders at each step.
The result was a tool that was developed, deployed and quickly adopted into users’ daily process.
Outcome
A tool traders actually adopted
The new quoting application matches the speed of the trading floor while capturing quote data that used to disappear. Users adopted it quickly as part of their daily work, and our shadowing insights helped Morgan Stanley optimize its business processes.
4–8
monitors per trader: the environment we designed for
4
research methods, including on-site shadowing
Every quote
now captured for future analysis
Building something for women's health? Let's talk.
I’m looking for my next Product Manager or Product Designer role. Raleigh, NC or remote.
© 2026 Paulina Chabrand
Raleigh, NC · English · Español · Português