Grafa: Redefining Finance with Beautiful Design

Revolutionizing the Way We Approach Finance

Grafa's design is centered around the belief that finance should be entertaining to achieve mass adoption. The app features a dark navy background with light blue highlights, creating a visually appealing interface that boosts alertness, reaction times, and moods. The attention to detail and seamless user experience give the impression that no expense has been spared in creating this stunning app.

What sets Grafa apart is its ability to provide users with access to large volumes of financial information quickly and in an engaging manner. The platform integrates AI-curated video news from leading sources like Bloomberg, Reuters, and Cheddar TV, along with news generated by Grafa's team of data analysts and business journalists. Users can track trends and stay ahead of the curve with multi-asset data sets, including Australian stocks, global currencies, and cryptocurrencies.

The UX design of Grafa was developed using Adobe's XD product, while the front-end of the app was originally built in React Native and later re-built in HTML. The app is built on the AWS cloud infrastructure, allowing for rapid and global scalability. Available on both the App Store and Google Play, Grafa's adaptability to different resolutions and screen types ensures a seamless experience across various devices.

Grafa's interaction design incorporates advanced search functionality and AI-curation to organize and curate enormous volumes of data, news, video, and analysis within milliseconds. The app also incorporates the habit-forming infinite scrolling functionality seen in social media platforms, keeping users engaged for longer periods. This design choice was inspired by the mechanics of slot machines, which have proven to be highly addictive.

Since its inception in Australia in 2019, Grafa has undergone continuous improvement based on user feedback. The first release of the app in November 2020 garnered a small user base, but feedback indicated the need for improved load speed. In response, the front-end of the app was redesigned and rebuilt, resulting in a product that exceeded user expectations. With the potential for global scale, Grafa is poised to revolutionize the way we approach finance.

Grafa's design was influenced by extensive research on direct competitors such as Bloomberg, Yahoo Finance, Reuters, and TradingView, as well as software-as-a-service companies like Canva, Reddit, and Netflix. Drawing inspiration from Apple's commitment to good design, Grafa aimed to make finance beautiful and appealing to a wider audience. The darker background colors of the app were chosen to give users the sensation of watching television, further enhancing the entertainment factor.

Overcoming the challenge of balancing design and speed was a significant hurdle for the Grafa team. They discovered a direct trade-off between the level of design detail and app load times. To achieve the desired level of sophistication without sacrificing speed, the front-end was rebuilt in a simpler format. The result is a beautiful product that loads quickly and provides a seamless user experience.

Grafa's commitment to design excellence has been recognized with the Bronze A' Design Award in the Mobile Technologies, Applications, and Software Design category in 2021. This prestigious award acknowledges Grafa's outstanding creativity, technical skills, and contribution to improving the quality of life through innovative design.

With its innovative approach to finance and its stunning design, Grafa is leading the way in making financial information accessible, engaging, and beautiful. As the app continues to evolve and expand its user base, it is set to redefine the way we interact with finance in the digital age.