Replacing a manual trading process with a self-Serve trading platform
Designed an end-to-end unlisted stock trading platform to replace manual, WhatsApp-driven workflows.
About SN Capital
SN Capital is an unlisted share trading platform that enables investors to buy and sell shares of pre-IPO companies.
Overview
The project focused on replacing SN Capital's manual trading process with a self-serve trading platform.
At the time, investors could only express interest through a website form, while everything after that pricing, documents, transaction was handled manually over calls and messages. This resulted in slow transactions, limited visibility, and high operational dependency.
I designed the platform from scratch, enabling investors to discover opportunities, place orders, track transactions, and manage their investments through a single platform.
Industry
Fintech
My Role
Product Designer
Timeline
2.5 Months
Team
1 PD, 1 PM and 3 Engineers
Problem
The unlisted share market in India is growing. Pre-IPO stocks, ESOPs, and startup equity are becoming increasingly attractive investment opportunities. While established platforms have digitized parts of the experience, investors still face fragmented workflows, limited visibility, and varying levels of transparency.
SN Capital had the inventory and the demand. What it lacked was a product experience that could compete with modern investment platforms.
Understanding the problem
To understand how the business operated and how transactions were being handled, I spoke with 5 operations team members, 3 investors, and key business stakeholders. I also reviewed competing platforms to understand industry standards and opportunities.
Insights from operations team
Only 1–5% of visitors contact the team.
Transactions take 3-5 days with little visibility.
Every transaction requires manual intervention.
Trust concerns and pricing mismatches drive drop-offs.
Insights from investors
Investors wanted to browse before KYC.
Selling felt more difficult than buying.
Lack of updates after payment created anxiety.
Trust depended on transparency, proof, and product quality.
Insights from competitive analysis
Buying was digital, but selling remained largely manual.
Fee structures were often hidden or unclear.
Transaction tracking was limited.
No platform balanced information depth with simplicity.
User problem
Investors were expected to commit significant capital without having the transparency, visibility, and confidence they expected from a modern investment platform.
Business problem
Despite attracting significant traffic, only 1–5% of visitors converted into active leads, with many dropping off due to the friction of a manual, relationship-driven process. As competitors moved toward frictionless, self-serve experiences, SN Capital's growth remained constrained by its operational capacity rather than market demand.
Process
Mapping the manual process
Before designing the platform, I audited the manual lifecycle of how unlisted transactions were handled. The journey relied heavily on offline coordination, moving from web enquiry forms to team calls, price discovery, and document collection. Charting these exact operational steps was critical to figuring out how to transform a relationship-manager-driven service into a structured, digital experience.
Learnings
The old way took too long. Moving between phone calls, forms, and manual check-ins dragged transactions out for 3-5 days.
The team still needed to step in manually. While browsing and uploading files could be digitized, final price confirmations and matching buyers with sellers still required human oversight.
Designing the logic
Once the old process was mapped out, my next step was working with product and engineering to turn those manual checkpoints into system rules. We focused on automating data collection while keeping a clear safety net for the parts that still needed human oversight.
Digitizing Compliance
Instead of verifying every document by hand over calls, we built a unified KYC flow to handle the heavy lifting automatically. By integrating instant checks like PAN, Aadhaar, and bank penny drops, we slashed the manual workload down to just one operational checkpoint: verifying the Demat account details on the backend.
Designing asymmetrical order tracking
Because buying and selling unlisted shares require completely different operational workflows behind the scenes, a single generic status bar wouldn't work. I mapped out two distinct tracking frameworks based on the exact steps the backend needed to execute:
Embedding the relationship manager as a safety net
Moving to a self-serve platform can make users feel isolated during high-value trades. To prevent anxiety without cluttering the UI, I strategically embedded the assigned Relationship Manager's contact details directly into high-friction areas like the Explore and Order Tracking pages, giving users an instant escape hatch if they hit a snag.
Learnings
Not every manual step should be automated. The biggest wins came from automating repetitive tasks while preserving human judgment where it mattered.
Self-serve experiences still need a safety net. Easy access to human support increased confidence during high-value transactions.
Designing with business constraints
Before moving into high-fidelity screens, the product manager and I locked down three strict product constraints. We had to design around these operational realities rather than ignoring them:
Verification was mandatory before trading
Investors could freely browse stocks to eliminate early friction, but they couldn't place a single buy or sell order without completing the unified KYC flow first.
Transactions weren't instant
Unlike the public stock market, private market trades don't settle in milliseconds. Because a buyer's order takes T+1 days to complete, the interface had to prioritize continuous clarity over speed.
Manual checks were still required
The platform wasn't designed to completely automate the backend. Critical steps like verifying the seller’s Demat holdings, still required human operational approval before the transaction could advance.
Iterations
Onboarding questions
The onboarding questionnaire created an unnecessary barrier before users could explore investment opportunities. I integrated the required information into the KYC flow and removed the separate onboarding experience.
Outcome: Reduced friction during signup and allowed users to reach investment opportunities faster.
Explore page simplified
The initial experience encouraged users to transact too early. The flow was redesigned to help investors evaluate opportunities first and commit only when they had enough context.
Outcome: Improved content hierarchy, reduced cognitive load, and made stock exploration the clear focal point of the experience.
Long scroll to progressive tabs
Important investment data was buried within dense content. Information was reorganized into a clearer structure, helping investors find relevant insights faster.
Outcome: Made investment evaluation faster and reduced the effort required to understand an opportunity.
Learnings
Investors wanted enough information to make a decision before taking action. Pushing transactions too early reduced confidence instead of increasing engagement.
Investors didn't need less information, they needed better organization. Clear structure made complex data easier to understand without removing transparency.
Solution
Helping investors discover opportunities independently
Investors wanted the flexibility to explore opportunities before taking action. The discovery experience enabled them to browse opportunities, compare companies, and evaluate investments independently, reducing reliance on the operations team.
Explore opportunities
The explore page surfaces available opportunities, trending companies, and key market information in a single place, helping investors quickly understand what's available without contacting the team.
Key decision: Verification was delayed until users showed transaction intent instead of requiring KYC upfront. This allowed investors to evaluate opportunities before committing to a lengthy onboarding process.
Trade-off: Reduced onboarding friction but increased the likelihood of unverified users exploring the platform. The team prioritized engagement during discovery over early verification completion.
Compare opportunities
As the number of opportunities grows, investors need a faster way to narrow down options. The screener enables investors to compare companies, filter by investment criteria, and evaluate opportunities side-by-side before making a decision.
Evaluate & Trade opportunities
Investors relied on the operations team to understand pricing, availability, company information, and transaction costs before making a decision. I consolidated the information needed to evaluate an opportunity and place an order into a single experience, reducing friction between research and action.
Key decision: Research and trading actions were kept within the same experience. Investors could move from evaluation to execution without navigating across multiple pages.
Trade-off: Increased information density but reduced context switching. While the page required more careful information hierarchy, it allowed investors to make decisions without repeatedly moving between research and transaction flows.
Making transaction progress visible
Once an investor completed a transaction, visibility into the process largely disappeared. Investors relied on calls, WhatsApp, and email for updates, creating uncertainty throughout the transaction lifecycle. I designed a dedicated tracking experience that surfaced status, timelines, documents, and next steps for both buyers and sellers.
Buy order tracking
Buyers can track every stage of the transaction, from order placement to share transfer, with clear visibility into progress, documents, and expected timelines.
Sell order tracking
Sellers see a different workflow tailored to their role, including document verification, buyer matching, and settlement updates, ensuring visibility throughout the selling process.
Managing investments in one place
Investors had no centralized place to track their holdings, transaction history, and portfolio performance. I designed a portfolio experience that brought investments, returns, and transaction activity into a single view, reducing reliance on spreadsheets, emails, and support requests.
In summary, I transformed a manual trading process into a self-serve platform by
Enabling independent discovery
Investors can browse, evaluate, and compare opportunities on their own without relying on upfront forms, phone calls, or sales teams.
Designing for T+1 settlement
The system is built to compress the traditional 3-5 day transaction timeline down to just T+1 days by automating data collection and instant verification loops.
Streamlining operations
By automating KYC for PAN, Aadhaar, and bank drops, the backend reduces manual review to just one checkpoint allowing the team to handle only exceptions.