Strategic research | User acquisition | 0 --> 1 launch
Company: IG Group | Role: Lead UXR
Business problem
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IG was expanding from a niche leveraged trading platform into consumer investment products, with crypto as one of its first major bets in Australia and UAE.
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The team was starting from almost zero — there was no existing understanding of who crypto investors were, what they valued in a platform, or where IG's opportunity lay.
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Question ranged from: would launching with ~20 coins be enough? Was staking essential for MVP? Who the different types of crypto investors were, what they cared about in a platform? How to differentiate from competitors, or even which segment we were best placed to target?
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The company needed to go from genuine ambiguity — who to build for, what to build, how to attract them — to a clear target segment, a prioritised feature set, and a credible go-to-market strategy.
Research Goal:
My task was to bring structure to that ambiguity — working with stakeholders to scope a research program that would answer: who are we building for, what do they care about, and where does the opportunity lie?
How Might We identify who IG should build its crypto product for, what they care about in a platform, and where the opportunity lies — to take a 0→1 product from ambiguity to a clear target segment, prioritised feature set, and go-to-market strategy?
Research Approach
Outcomes and Impact
Outcome
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The entire division went from genuinely not knowing where to begin to having a clear target segment, a prioritised MVP feature set, and a roadmap for day-two features.
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Segmentation framework (Passive vs. Active) was adopted by product and marketing to differentiate onboarding, targeting, and messaging.
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Fee transparency was prioritised as a design requirement across the deal ticket, confirmations, and receipts.
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Feature roadmap was re-ordered to fast-track auto-invest, limit orders and advanced tools based on research evidence.
Impact
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Crypto investment product launched live in Australia in Mar'26 - one of IG's first 0→1 mass consumer product launches.
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Research insights informed product strategy across the entire launch lifecycle — from initial concept through to beta iteration and go-to-market readiness.
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The research program became a model for how subsequent product launches (including CFDs and share dealing) were scoped and structured across APAC.