PRODUCT DESIGN · INVESTING
Four questions to a first investment plan: helping new investors choose funds with confidence
I designed the investment plan flow for Telda Stocks: a short, friendly questionnaire that turns a customer’s goals, timeline and comfort with risk into a personal mix of equity, fixed income and gold funds, ready to invest in.
COMPANY
Telda
PRODUCT
Telda Stocks
ROLE
Product Designer
TIMELINE
2026
STATUS
Live
02
Why a plan?
Choosing an investment is overwhelming, especially for people who are new to investing or unsure which fund fits them. Telda Stocks offers stocks, funds and precious metals, and for a first-time investor every one of them is a decision they don’t feel ready to make.
The plan flow helps customers discover suitable options through a simple guided experience: a few questions about their goals, timeline, comfort with market changes and preferences, then a personal fund mix they can understand, adjust and invest in.
03
The problem
Most new investors don’t lack money or interest. They lack a starting point.
FOR NEW INVESTORS
“Where do I start?”
Stocks, funds, metals, and the words that come with them: equity, fixed income, risk. Every screen asks for knowledge they don’t have yet.
FOR UNSURE INVESTORS
“Is this the right fund for me?”
Even people ready to invest freeze at choosing, because picking the wrong fund feels worse than not investing at all.
FOR TELDA
Customers who never start
Every customer who gives up at the first choice is one who never makes a first investment, however good the products are.
04
Research
I studied how established investment questionnaires guide people to a portfolio, and compared them with what a first-time investor in Egypt actually needs from a phone screen.
Vanguard investor questionnaire
Corebridge investment questionnaire
Robinhood strategies
Local recommendation matrices
INSIGHT 01
Ask about life, not finance
People can’t rate their “risk tolerance”, but they know what they want their money to do and how they’d feel if it dropped. So every question is about their life.
INSIGHT 02
“Not sure” is an honest answer
First-time investors often don’t know yet. Every question has a neutral option that keeps the plan balanced instead of forcing a guess.
INSIGHT 03
Faith is a filter, not a score
A Sharia preference doesn’t change how much risk someone takes. It changes which funds fill the plan, so it never affects the mix.
05 — THE CHALLENGE
How might we turn a few honest answers into a fund mix people understand, trust, and actually invest in?
Constraints: as few questions as possible · plain words in English and Egyptian Arabic · Sharia-compliant options · a recommendation, never a promise of returns.
06
Writing the questions
Four questions, each with short options and a one-line description in the customer’s own words. The Arabic isn’t a translation: it’s written in everyday Egyptian Arabic, the way customers actually talk about money.
Q1 · GOAL
What are you hoping your money helps you do?
عايز تستفيد إزاي من الاستثمار؟
Build my future
Save for something coming up
Just getting started
Q2 · RISK
How do you feel about market ups and downs?
بتتعامل إزاي مع تغير قيمة استثمارك؟
I’m okay with the ride
A few changes are fine
I prefer staying steady
Q3 · TIMELINE
When do you think you’ll need this money?
ممكن تحتاج الفلوس دي إمتى؟
Soon
Later
Not sure yet
Q4 · VALUES
Would you like your investments to follow Sharia guidelines?
تحب استثماراتك تكون متوافقة مع الشريعة؟
Yes
No preference
07
From answers to a plan
Each of the first three answers adds points to two buckets: equity, for growth, and fixed income, for stability. The balance between them splits 90% of the plan, and gold always takes the remaining 10% as a hedge against inflation and devaluation.
The Sharia answer then picks which funds fill each bucket. Two very different customers end up with very different plans:
EXAMPLE A
Build my future · okay with the ride · later
Equity 72% · Fixed income 18% · Gold 10%
EXAMPLE B
Save for something · staying steady · soon
Equity 18% · Fixed income 72% · Gold 10%
08
The solution
A guided flow from the Stocks home to a first order, with every screen doing one job.
STEP 1
A clear way in
A “First time investing?” card on the Stocks home leads to a short intro that sets expectations: a few questions, then a plan made for you.
STEP 2
How much, how often
Customers start with any amount, with quick picks from EGP 500, and choose between a one-time investment or a monthly one.
STEP 3
A plan you can understand
The recommendation shows the mix, what the money could have grown to over the past years, and a monthly-deposit slider. A short “Why funds?” explains diversification in plain words.
STEP 4
Yours to adjust
Customers can change each fund’s share and lock the ones they’re happy with, so the plan is a starting point, not a verdict.
STEP 5
From plan to purchase
The plan summary breaks the investment down by fund, then a single order review buys all of them at once, with fees shown up front.
09
Details that build trust
Money decisions need small signals of honesty and care.
01
Past, not promised
Growth is framed as what the plan could have made had you started it years ago, never as what it will make.
02
Sharia at a glance
A clear badge marks a Sharia-compliant plan, so customers don’t have to check every fund.
03
“Not sure” never punishes
Neutral answers keep the plan balanced instead of pushing customers to an extreme.
04
Light and dark
Every screen was designed for both themes, down to the 3D illustrations.
10
Impact
The plan flow is live in Telda Stocks. First-time investors now go from “where do I start?” to a personal fund mix and a first order in one guided flow, without needing to know what equity or fixed income means first.
4
questions about life, not finance, from goal to a personal plan
3
fund types in every plan: equity, fixed income and gold
1
order review to buy the whole plan, with fees shown up front
2
languages written natively: English and everyday Egyptian Arabic
11
What I learned
Fewer, better questions. With as few questions as possible, each one had to earn its place. Asking about people’s lives instead of their finances got more honest answers than any risk-tolerance scale.
Honesty is part of the design. Showing growth as what the plan could have made, giving every question a “Not sure” option, and showing fees up front matter as much as the plan itself for a first-time investor.
Language is design too. Writing the Arabic in everyday Egyptian Arabic, not translating it, made the questions feel like a conversation instead of a form.