Reuters

Reuters Eikon is a professional platform for market analysis and trading software, specializing in market intelligence, collaboration and trading.

Our project was to deliver a powerful mix of news, analytics and financial content to an end user’s desktop or mobile, filtered to the user’s precise needs. The product needed to be intuitive to use and have collaboration tools built-in. Reuters Eikon wanted to allow their clients direct contact with more venues and liquidity pools than any other provider. For stock trading, fixed income trades and other financial transactions, Reuters wanted an application that would allow clients to access deals quickly and intuitively.

In working with a very large part project such as this we first had to gather a vast array of information.  To do so we decided to connect directly with each of the departments— the traders, analysts, news correspondents and other industry leaders — at Reuters in London. We first studied how each department worked, what current software was used, and discovered what gaps that they initially wanted to fill. This lead to us quickly creating paper prototypes and rough concept sketches to give an over-arching framework for the final product.

We looked at how we could best display as much or as little information while going from one piece of content to another. Another element that we identified very early on was that the product would have to work on both a single screen and across multiples screens.  A mobile aspect of the application was required as well.

We started by defining each section of the application and then choosing select groups of features we wanted to highlight. We tested our prototype with a standard case that would be very common for users. This helped validate our framework and identify any pitfalls well before development.

We then created high fidelity wireframe that encapsulated the story. This resulted in a 35 page document that showed each interaction and gave the senior management team a clear idea of what was being proposed. In doing so it allowed Reuters the opportunity to make any adjustments early on and to get a better sense of the time investment from the development team.

The scope of this project entailed several years of development and resulted in a robust and effective product. Many of the conceived features continue to be released as new add on or features, allowing for ever-increasing growth and functionality.

The interactive map is the most direct visual way to see into the supply chain and the factors that affect pricing. It also allows users to track real-time refinery, weather, and storm alerts. With the ability to view storm paths users can analyze the data and better predict the outcome.

Tracking real vessel movements is another feature made available giving departure and arrival times as well as port data. The interactive charts get users straight to the data, giving the ability to spot trends early via technical analysis. Above is a short video giving a brief overview of how you can expect to see Eikon working for you.

For more information please contact us at info@ianmcfadyen.com