Why I read the stock market daily as a UX designer
Let’s open up some conversation about what we extra do as a designer so we can be a good source of motivation to each other
As you might know, I am a UX/product designer. These days, however, there is one thing on which I have been spending as much time as I do to my design studies: writing my own stock market analysis.
Every morning, I read the daily headlines for the market economy, and listen to what analysts say. By the time the market closes, I begin classifying key indexes and analyzing them. I try to listen to at least five analysts’ opinions about what happened that day and organize my thoughts by writing my own market analysis. Once I am done, I share my analysis with my family and close friends (whether in design or non-design fields), exchange opinions, and sometimes have an intensive discussion.
One day, one of my close friends seriously asked:
“Hey, now you are a designer, not an analyst at JPMorgan or something. Why are you so into looking at the stock market?”
She further said, “Let’s initiate another design project and use that time for doing actual ‘design’ work. I think that should be more worth your time.” Since I have been doing this for a while, I thought that was a very interesting, but important question.
And, here I would like to share “why” with everyone, as I believe, not merely knowing market events but analyzing the market has been an amazing nutrient for me to grow as a stronger UX designer.
First, you will learn who the good companies are, which means you will learn about “good products” that exist in the current market.
From the companies in large indexes such as Dow, S&P 500, Nasdaq, to small and medium-sized companies in other indexes like Russell 2000, in the stock market, you can discern the key players in each industry and learn where they are directing their business for the future. In order to analyze and gain optimal information, I set my own standards and rules to analyze companies, and pay a lot of attention to what products the companies have developed and successfully launched.
While looking at their promising products, I carefully analyze their UX design and strategy, which clarifies my vision of the important aspects of both product and design. As time goes by, I am gradually able to see the product, business, and design as unified. In fact, one of the most important abilities of UX designers is “product thinking,” and I believe reading the stock market might be a great occasion for designers to hone this skillset.
Second, you can read future trends, which means, you will learn about untapped needs in the future from our potential users.
Although there are plentiful information and data about future trends, I haven’t found anything as good as market reports, which analyze a large number of companies listed on the market or targeted for investment. In particular, learning about the companies who are going to be listed soon or have been recently listed, and understanding what problems they are trying to solve, can be a very meaningful indication about our future; as a designer, knowing these trends is of utmost importance.
For example, in the past, the growth of “sharing economy” platforms like Uber and Airbnb calls for a shift in the way we think about “ownership.” One of the companies that has been in the spotlight recently in the stock market, Zoom, strongly sends the signal that our future is gearing toward “a complete untact life.” I am a little bit skeptical about this, but still, it tells us something.
Given the fact that the stock market is more than a game betting on the “future,” once you start following its flow, you can quickly but thoroughly read the future for each industry, or at least absorb some important information. And yes, this is what I am doing as a UX designer: trying to identify the untapped needs as early as possible, and acting as a guide to solving such problems for my users, and ultimately designing and creating desirable, feasible, and viable solutions to satiate the thirst for both current and future needs.
Lastly, you can train your problem-solving skills every day with the world’s most difficult conundrums.
Yes, economy, finance, all these guys sound difficult. That’s why many of us hate them so much. Why is it so hard? It is because there is no simple cause or solution to the problem; rather, there are countless things you should consider in order to analyze the market situation and address the problems there. Although the stock price seems like merely a number, there are numerous quantitative and non-quantitative data reflected on them whenever these numbers change every single second.
Therefore, in order to learn about the market, you should also educate yourself with as much knowledge as possible in a variety of sectors including not only finance or economics, but politics, society, business, culture, history, mathematics, and even science. Once you know more and more about these, you can finally build your own standards and thoughts for what’s necessary to better read the market. Of course, you can get some help from others; many articles and market briefing from analysts are great resources for everyone. However, the most important thing is, in the end, you should take them as a reference, and draw conclusions based on “your own analysis.”
In fact, this process is similar to how I have to solve problems as a designer. Since usually, problems from users are much more complicated than I initially thought, in order to solve the problems, it is necessary to “listen” to various perspectives, “incorporate and evaluate” them, and “draw a line what to prioritize” based on my own thoughts and insight. And this process of 1) listening to what people say, 2) analyzing large amounts of information, 3) exploring possibilities, and 4) developing the final solution is the same as what I go through as a designer. Therefore, the stock market is a good place to practice problem-solving skills with the world’s most difficult situation, like now.
To conclude, I am writing this as I simply want to share what I do as a designer when NOT actively designing. There is no right or wrong answer, but as we’re living in these unprecedented challenging moments, I believe opening up some conversation about what we extra do as a designer can be a good source of motivation to each other. These past few weeks have been precious times for me to think of who I am as a designer and what kind of designer I wish to be. I’ve been thinking about these questions for a long time, but particularly these days I am asking myself, what are my greatest strengths as a designer and how I can make the best of my ability to contribute to our society. Through this write-up, I hope that as a designer or professional, you can also have an opportunity to think about the following questions:
What’s your definition of “UX design”?
What is your design philosophy and its values?
What is your greatest strength as a designer?
How can you leverage all of those into where you are currently in?
Recently, I have been virtually meeting so many people from all over the world, talking about my experiences in UX design, HCI master’s program, internship/full-time UX interviews, providing and receiving valuable mentorship, or even just having a casual talk about each other’s life. Through these talks, I learned so much and feel very grateful and blessed to be able to connect with some passionate/inspiring people. Yes, this is such a very challenging time for everyone, so as always, if I can be of any help or if you would like to talk with me, feel free to hit me up. I hope every one of you and your loved ones all stay safe and healthy!
Sending deepest gratitude and prayers to all workers on the frontlines of battling the most intense pandemic in modern history. This thank-you message can never be adequate. Your dedication, sacrifice, and love is indescribable, and everyone will be forever grateful.
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