Analogous Domains
Many analogous professions to trading require timely decision-making in high-stakes situations. After researching six analogous domains, we conceptualized their best practices into design guidelines. Then, we translated these guidelines into design ideas and prototypes relevant to the trading problem space.
Air Traffic Control
Context
Ensuring safe, orderly flow of air traffic at airports

Air traffic controllers are stationed in airport control towers and direct aircraft in an orderly manner by tracking aircraft visually on monitors, communicating with pilots, and making plans in the ever-changing environment.

Similarity with Trading
Maintaining awareness of the situation with technology

Air traffic controllers and traders both deal with a great amount of stress. They both need to concentrate when many things are happening around them. In such a situation, air traffic control dashboards require a design that is situation-aware. The system must be prepared to evaluate and deliver key information to help with decision making.

Difference with Trading
Information is transparent in air traffic control

In air traffic control, all stakeholders are must share any and all information and work together to ensure the safety of air transportation. In trading, preventing information leakage is a top priority for each trading team, and traders need to make decisions with limited information.

Life Monitoring
Context
Providing care for life-threatening medical conditions

Intensive care unit doctors and critical care nurses specialize in taking care of critically ill or unstable patients by constantly assessing and reassessing their status, maintaining life support systems, and providing therapy.

Similarity with Trading
Noticing emergencies and guiding timely decision-making

Life monitoring system supervises four major vital signs of patients - heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen level, and respiration. As patients may deteriorate rapidly, nurses need take note of the status of the monitor and the patient when any changes occur. They then must make the decision to act or not to act, and decide what intervention is necessary if any. Similarly, traders work in the ever-changing market and need to assess when and how to take action to prevent severe losses.

Difference with Trading
Clinicians monitor a few patients while traders have hundreds of orders

Hospitals ensure unstable patients are well-taken care of by having a low staff-to-patient ratio. In intensive care units, a nurse is only responsible for a few patients at a time, while traders may be handling hundreds of orders at the same time. Because of this, traders may require more assistance and automation from technologies than nurses do.

Incremental Games
Context
Playing with simple interactions over a long period

Idle games are games that a player can progress through without much interaction. With little active playing time, idle games run mostly in the background. These games are flexible enough to be played in a number of different ways, and reward the players for waiting and coming back after inactivity.

Similarity with Trading
Gentle but constant engagement with the market

Traders need to engage with the market nine hours a day, five days a week. The commitment is not intense as they only need to take action once in a while, but they are always “playing the game.” This type of interaction is where incremental gaming techniques can be used.

Difference with Trading
Rules of games are predefined, but the market is unpredictable

Game design often evolves providing virtual rewards when rules are followed or building expectations of what will come next. As the behavior of the market is usually unpredictable, we need to be careful when adapting incremental gaming techniques to non-standardized behaviors.

Digital Marketing
Context
Use digital channels to build trust and brand awareness

Idle games are games that a player can progress in without much interaction. With a little active playing time, idle games run mostly in the background. The games are flexible enough to be played in any way, and reward the players for waiting and coming back.

Similarity with Trading
Trust with the customer is necessary to be perceived as signal, not noise

Traders need to engage with the market 9 hours a day, 5 days a week. The engagement is not intense as they only need to take action once in awhile, but they are constantly “playing the game”. This type of interaction is where incremental gaming techniques can be used.

Difference with Trading
Rules of games are predefined but the market is unpredictable

Game design often evolves providing virtual rewards when rules are followed or building expectations of what will come next. As the behavior of the market is usually unpredictable, we need to be careful when adapting incremental gaming techniques.

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Guidelines
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Prototypes