Redesigning the Brokerage Portfolio Page for Syfe

Client

Syfe

Role

Lead UX Designer

Platforms

Mobile

The Problem

Syfe is a Singapore-based investment platform offering brokerage, managed portfolios, and wealth products. As part of a visual language refresh, the existing Performance page was replaced with a new Portfolio page built on the updated design system. The backlash was immediate, driven by three specific failures.

The graph showed only the period delta, not total portfolio value over time. Users could not tell whether their portfolio was growing. The Realised P&L metric bundled dividend income with proceeds from sold assets, confusing users who had not sold anything. A drastic shift in hierarchy, colour, and structure left long-time users unable to orient themselves on a page they used regularly.

The underlying problem was not aesthetic. It was a trust problem. Users rely on this page to make sense of their investments, and the redesign made that harder.

Key Design Decisions

Use the old Performance page as the structural foundation

The brief could have been interpreted as: fix the new page. Instead, we rolled back the structural approach entirely, restoring the familiar information hierarchy and layering new metrics on top. Trying to salvage the new layout would have meant asking frustrated users to re-learn a page they had already lost confidence in.

Fix the graph to show portfolio value over time

The new graph shows total portfolio value over time with time-frame switching. The period delta was not removed. It was repositioned as a supporting stat below the graph. Users needed both pieces of information, just not conflated into a single visual.

Break out Realised P&L with proper labelling

The metric was separated into distinct figures for gains from sold assets and dividend income, with inline contextual explanation for each. The confusion was not about the data. It was about the absence of context around it.

Propose a navigation change and document it even when deprioritised

The Portfolio page was buried behind the Overview sub-tab, treating the most important page in the module as a secondary destination. I proposed elevating it to a primary tab, benchmarked against leading financial apps where Portfolio-first navigation is standard. The proposal had support from the design lead, head of design, and senior stakeholders, but was deprioritised to protect the existing navigation as a cross-sell surface. It was formally documented for a future phase.