Stockgrok aims to help people with visual impairments make better investment decisions. Stockgrok is the final product of my team’s 9 month capstone project with client Bloomberg LP.
Client: | Bloomberg LP |
Role: | Prototyping and Development Lead |
Duration: | 9 months |
Demo |
Stockgrok is a web application that sonifies the relationship between the price and a study or analysis over time. For the sake of our prototype, Stockgrok specifically sonifies the relationship of the price to the 50 Day Simple Moving Average over time. To sonify this data, we map the value of difference between the study and price to a pitch, or how high or low the note is. To identify which line is on top we use different timbres, or the quality of tone. When the price is above the simple moving average, the tone is brassy whereas when it is below the simple moving average it sounds more like it is under water. Different stocks can be accessed by inputting the corresponding ticker name. By turning off the simple moving average, users can also hear the price alone over time.
Users navigate Stockgrok using a screen reader and a series of hot keys. We tested Stockgrok with many users to make it as accessible as possibleIn an ideal future, these shortcuts would be completely customizable.
g | Traverse left |
H | Traverse right |
Comma | Jump to beginning |
Period | Jump to end |
L | Skip to previous intersection point |
Semicolon | Skip to next intersection point |
O | Jump to previous month |
P | Jump to next month |
Dash | Decrease screen reader speed |
Equals | Increase screen reader speed |
Space | Get details |
We built Stockgrok as a web-based product so that it could be easily accessible on any operating system, and eventually across platforms (desktop, phone, tablet. etc.). We user-tested our final product with both people with visual impairment and sighted finance experts, and found that both were able to pick up on nonvisual cues about the changing trends in a security’s price history. We believe that this product will allow our users to make more meaningful financial decisions.