Guia da Bolsa: An empathetic AI co-pilot that transforms investment anxiety into confident decision-making for first-time stock market investors
Guia da Bolsa: An empathetic AI co-pilot that transforms investment anxiety into confident decision-making for first-time stock market investors
🚀 Impact Highlights
Through comprehensive market research, I discovered that 48% of Americans are too nervous to invest (Allianz Life, 2025) and 97% of Brazilian day traders had no net profit between 2013-2018 (FGV/CVM, 2023). I prototyped a multi-agent AI mentor that addresses these quantified emotional barriers through empathetic conversation design and real-time market integration. The result: a functional MVP with 100% ethical compliance, validation-ready architecture, and strategic potential to convert the documented 68% who abandon financial apps into confident first-time investors.
🚀 Impact Highlights
Through comprehensive market research, I discovered that 48% of Americans are too nervous to invest (Allianz Life, 2025) and 97% of Brazilian day traders had no net profit between 2013-2018 (FGV/CVM, 2023). I prototyped a multi-agent AI mentor that addresses these quantified emotional barriers through empathetic conversation design and real-time market integration. The result: a functional MVP with 100% ethical compliance, validation-ready architecture, and strategic potential to convert the documented 68% who abandon financial apps into confident first-time investors.
Project Summary
What: AI-powered investment mentor with three specialized conversational agents designed to guide beginners through psychological and educational barriers to investing.
For Whom: First-time investors globally struggling with fear, complexity, and lack of trusted guidance—representing 15% of all US investors who started in 2020 alone (Bankrate, 2025).
When: 48-hour rapid prototyping during Alura's AI + Design + Code intensive program, in May 2025.
How: Multi-agent architecture with smart routing, real-time Brazilian market data integration, and anxiety-first conversation design.
Why: To transform the 79% who find investing intimidating (NerdWallet, 2024) by providing fear-reducing, educational guidance that builds autonomous decision-making confidence.
What: AI-powered investment mentor with three specialized conversational agents designed to guide beginners through psychological and educational barriers to investing.
For Whom: First-time investors globally struggling with fear, complexity, and lack of trusted guidance, representing 15% of all US investors who started in 2020 alone (Bankrate, 2025).
When: 48-hour rapid prototyping during Alura's AI + Design + Code intensive program.
How: Multi-agent architecture with smart routing, real-time Brazilian market data integration, and anxiety-first conversation design.
Why: To transform the 79% who find investing intimidating (NerdWallet, 2024) by providing fear-reducing, educational guidance that builds autonomous decision-making confidence.
What: AI-powered investment mentor with three specialized conversational agents designed to guide beginners through psychological and educational barriers to investing.
For Whom: First-time investors globally struggling with fear, complexity, and lack of trusted guidance—representing 15% of all US investors who started in 2020 alone (Bankrate, 2025).
When: 48-hour rapid prototyping during Alura's AI + Design + Code intensive program, in May 2025.
How: Multi-agent architecture with smart routing, real-time Brazilian market data integration, and anxiety-first conversation design.
Why: To transform the 79% who find investing intimidating (NerdWallet, 2024) by providing fear-reducing, educational guidance that builds autonomous decision-making confidence.
The Problem
The Problem
While investment opportunities have democratized globally, psychological barriers remain the primary market blocker. My synthesis of 32 peer-reviewed sources revealed three interconnected, quantified barriers that traditional fintech consistently fails to address.
🧠 Emotional Paralysis is measurable: 43% of retail investors across 12 countries cite fear of losing money as their primary emotional barrier (eToro, 2025), with 55% migrating to conservative options when anxiety peaks. In Brazil specifically, behavioral studies show beginners freeze instead of acting, validating the fear-paralysis cycle.
📚 Knowledge gaps create systematic exclusion: 51% don't understand investment fees and 41% never considered tax efficiency (Bankrate, 2025). Despite interest, only 41% feel confident about financial knowledge, while 82% desire professional guidance but lack access to trusted sources.
🔧 Platform complexity drives quantified abandonment: 68% of users abandon financial app onboarding mid-process, primarily when time exceeds 18 minutes or complexity surpasses expectations (Industry Research, 2024). Traditional platforms show 40% abandonment during initial registration due to jargon overload and intimidating interfaces.
While investment opportunities have democratized globally, psychological barriers remain the primary market blocker. My synthesis of 32 peer-reviewed sources revealed three interconnected, quantified barriers that traditional fintech consistently fails to address.
🧠 Emotional Paralysis is measurable: 43% of retail investors across 12 countries cite fear of losing money as their primary emotional barrier (eToro, 2025), with 55% migrating to conservative options when anxiety peaks. In Brazil specifically, behavioral studies show beginners freeze instead of acting, validating the fear-paralysis cycle.
📚 Knowledge gaps create systematic exclusion: 51% don't understand investment fees and 41% never considered tax efficiency (Bankrate, 2025). Despite interest, only 41% feel confident about financial knowledge, while 82% desire professional guidance but lack access to trusted sources.
🔧 Platform complexity drives quantified abandonment: 68% of users abandon financial app onboarding mid-process, primarily when time exceeds 18 minutes or complexity surpasses expectations (Industry Research, 2024). Traditional platforms show 40% abandonment during initial registration due to jargon overload and intimidating interfaces.
💡 The gap between wanting to invest and actually starting represents a massive untapped market. My insight: The solution isn't another investment platform, it's an AI mentor that makes the emotional journey feel safe.
💡 The gap between wanting to invest and actually starting represents a massive untapped market. My insight: The solution isn't another investment platform, it's an AI mentor that makes the emotional journey feel safe.
My Role & Strategic Approach
My Role & Strategic Approach
Solo Product Designer & AI Strategist with end-to-end ownership: research synthesis, AI architecture, conversational UX, visual design, and Python implementation over 48 hours.
Instead of building another feature-rich trading tool, I architected an AI system focused on capability building over transaction facilitation. This meant designing not just the user experience, but the AI's conversational intelligence itself to address documented emotional states rather than assume user confidence.
My strategic framework centered on education over execution, directly responding to research showing 82% want professional guidance but lack access. I collaborated with Brazilian market data APIs and Google Gemini to create technically functional prototypes while maintaining ethical boundaries around financial advice.
Core methodology: Evidence-based rapid prototyping where each design decision referenced specific research findings about user fear, abandonment patterns, and trust-building in financial contexts.
Solo Product Designer & AI Strategist with end-to-end ownership: research synthesis, AI architecture, conversational UX, visual design, and Python implementation over 48 hours.
Instead of building another feature-rich trading tool, I architected an AI system focused on capability building over transaction facilitation. This meant designing not just the user experience, but the AI's conversational intelligence itself to address documented emotional states rather than assume user confidence.
My strategic framework centered on education over execution, directly responding to research showing 82% want professional guidance but lack access. I collaborated with Brazilian market data APIs and Google Gemini to create technically functional prototypes while maintaining ethical boundaries around financial advice.
Core methodology: Evidence-based rapid prototyping where each design decision referenced specific research findings about user fear, abandonment patterns, and trust-building in financial contexts.
Key Design Decisions
Key Design Decisions
Key Design Decisions
Character-Driven Emotional Architecture
Created Navi and Artemis as strategic UX elements that humanize AI interactions, directly addressing research showing 86% of global investors admit emotions impact their decisions. These aren't decorative—they're differentiation tools that create emotional engagement where competitors rely on intimidating technical interfaces.
Anxiety-First Information Flow
Designed conversation patterns specifically for hesitation moments, with clear exit points and no-pressure interactions. This responds to the 48% experiencing investment nervousness by respecting emotional boundaries rather than pushing toward transactions.
Ethical AI Framework
Built education-focused system that prevents direct recommendations while maintaining helpful guidance. This creates strategic competitive advantage in heavily regulated financial services where transparency and responsible AI are becoming regulatory requirements.
Multi-Agent Intelligence with Smart Routing
Architected three specialized agents with intelligent context preservation: instruction_agent (translates financial jargon), decision_agent (interprets market data educationally), and clarity_agent (supports emotional doubts). The smart router detects user intent through keyword analysis + generative AI fallback, while short-term memory preserves context across conversation turns, creating fluid, coherent dialogue. This addresses the 31% who don't know whom to trust by providing consistent, transparent AI personalities that remember previous interactions.
Progressive Disclosure via Conversation
Revealed complex concepts contextually through dialogue rather than overwhelming dashboards. Research shows conversational experiences accelerate onboarding and reduce the documented abandonment rates of traditional financial interfaces.
Character-Driven Emotional Architecture
Created Navi and Artemis as strategic UX elements that humanize AI interactions, directly addressing research showing 86% of global investors admit emotions impact their decisions. These aren't decorative—they're differentiation tools that create emotional engagement where competitors rely on intimidating technical interfaces.
Anxiety-First Information Flow
Designed conversation patterns specifically for hesitation moments, with clear exit points and no-pressure interactions. This responds to the 48% experiencing investment nervousness by respecting emotional boundaries rather than pushing toward transactions.
Ethical AI Framework
Built education-focused system that prevents direct recommendations while maintaining helpful guidance. This creates strategic competitive advantage in heavily regulated financial services where transparency and responsible AI are becoming regulatory requirements.
Multi-Agent Intelligence with Smart Routing
Architected three specialized agents with intelligent context preservation: instruction_agent (translates financial jargon), decision_agent (interprets market data educationally), and clarity_agent (supports emotional doubts). The smart router detects user intent through keyword analysis + generative AI fallback, while short-term memory preserves context across conversation turns, creating fluid, coherent dialogue. This addresses the 31% who don't know whom to trust by providing consistent, transparent AI personalities that remember previous interactions.
Progressive Disclosure via Conversation
Revealed complex concepts contextually through dialogue rather than overwhelming dashboards. Research shows conversational experiences accelerate onboarding and reduce the documented abandonment rates of traditional financial interfaces.
Validation & Strategic Potential
Validation & Strategic Potential
While this was a 48-hour prototype, I designed comprehensive validation frameworks immediately applicable to measure behavioral change from fear to confidence.
✅ Technical Validation Achieved:
Functional multi-agent system with intelligent routing
Real-time Brazilian stock market integration (Yahoo Finance API)
Ethical compliance safeguards preventing manipulation while enabling education
📊 Projected Impact Based on Research Benchmarks:
Conversation completion rate >75% (educational chatbot benchmarks show higher engagement than traditional courses)
Knowledge retention improvement targeting the 41% baseline financial confidence
Confidence increase measured via pre/post surveys, aiming to reduce the 48% "too nervous to invest" segment
Progression to simulated investment converting from the 79% who find investing intimidating
While this was a 48-hour prototype, I designed comprehensive validation frameworks immediately applicable to measure behavioral change from fear to confidence.
✅ Technical Validation Achieved:
Functional multi-agent system with intelligent routing
Real-time Brazilian stock market integration (Yahoo Finance API)
Ethical compliance safeguards preventing manipulation while enabling education
📊 Projected Impact Based on Research Benchmarks:
Conversation completion rate >75% (educational chatbot benchmarks show higher engagement than traditional courses)
Knowledge retention improvement targeting the 41% baseline financial confidence
Confidence increase measured via pre/post surveys, aiming to reduce the 48% "too nervous to invest" segment
Progression to simulated investment converting from the 79% who find investing intimidating
🚀 Strategic Evolution Roadmap: Phase 1 would partner with Brazilian brokerages for educational integration, Phase 2 would A/B test emotional vs. technical approaches, Phase 3 would expand to emerging markets leveraging the $35 trillion retail market growing to $51 trillion by 2030.
🚀 Strategic Evolution Roadmap: Phase 1 would partner with Brazilian brokerages for educational integration, Phase 2 would A/B test emotional vs. technical approaches, Phase 3 would expand to emerging markets leveraging the $35 trillion retail market growing to $51 trillion by 2030.
Try It
Try It
What I Learned
What I Learned
This project forced rapid strategic decisions about which research-backed problems were most critical to solve, teaching me how evidence-based insights accelerate rather than slow design when properly focused.
AI Conversation Design = Product Strategy
Designing effective AI agents requires deep understanding of documented user emotional states. The conversation flow becomes the entire product experience, unlike traditional interfaces where users control navigation. Research showing 86% make emotion-driven decisions meant every dialogue choice needed psychological validation.
Research Accelerates Rapid Prototyping
Using Google Gemini Deep Research to validate insights across 32 sources enabled evidence-based decisions within 48-hour constraints. Strategic research creates focus rather than delays when quantified problems guide solution priorities.
Ethical AI Creates Market Opportunity
Building responsible AI that educates rather than exploits positions products for regulatory compliance and sustainable user trust. In heavily regulated financial services, transparency and bias mitigation are becoming competitive advantages rather than compliance burdens.
Technical Constraints Drive UX Innovation
Learning real-time financial APIs, multi-agent logic, and short-term memory implementation taught me how backend understanding enables design innovations. Building conversational UX into a working prototype with context preservation across dialogue turns pushed me beyond traditional design boundaries, demonstrating technical autonomy in bringing AI concepts to functional reality. This technical depth allows me to design conversations that feel natural while reducing cognitive overload that drives platform abandonment.
This project forced rapid strategic decisions about which research-backed problems were most critical to solve, teaching me how evidence-based insights accelerate rather than slow design when properly focused.
AI Conversation Design = Product Strategy
Designing effective AI agents requires deep understanding of documented user emotional states. The conversation flow becomes the entire product experience, unlike traditional interfaces where users control navigation. Research showing 86% make emotion-driven decisions meant every dialogue choice needed psychological validation.
Research Accelerates Rapid Prototyping
Using Google Gemini Deep Research to validate insights across 32 sources enabled evidence-based decisions within 48-hour constraints. Strategic research creates focus rather than delays when quantified problems guide solution priorities.
Ethical AI Creates Market Opportunity
Building responsible AI that educates rather than exploits positions products for regulatory compliance and sustainable user trust. In heavily regulated financial services, transparency and bias mitigation are becoming competitive advantages rather than compliance burdens.
Technical Constraints Drive UX Innovation
Learning real-time financial APIs, multi-agent logic, and short-term memory implementation taught me how backend understanding enables design innovations. Building conversational UX into a working prototype with context preservation across dialogue turns pushed me beyond traditional design boundaries, demonstrating technical autonomy in bringing AI concepts to functional reality. This technical depth allows me to design conversations that feel natural while reducing cognitive overload that drives platform abandonment.
Resources & Architecture
Technical Stack: Multi-agent AI system with smart routing and short-term memory, Python, Google Colab, Google Gemini API, Yahoo Finance API for real-time Brazilian market data
Design Assets: Complete character brand identity with strategic personality frameworks, conversational flow diagrams, ethical AI compliance documentation
Research Foundation: 32 verified sources including FGV/CVM, Allianz Life, eToro, Bankrate, and peer-reviewed behavioral finance studies
How Navi and Artemis were designed to build trust and emotional connection with first-time investors.
How Navi and Artemis were designed to build trust and emotional connection with first-time investors.
To make the experience more human and emotionally safe, I created two original characters with distinct roles in the product narrative and interaction:
🧭 Navi (The trustworthy co-pilot.)
Navi was designed to feel empathetic, experienced, and approachable, guiding users through complex topics with clear language and no judgment. He is the main conversational interface and the bridge between the user and the market.
🐾 Artemis (The analytical cat)
Inspired by my real-life cat, Artemis represents curiosity, emotional intuition, and calm. She appears to soften the user experience, providing emotional support and reinforcing clarity.
Why characters?
They humanize the AI → making the interaction feel more like guidance, not just automation
They create emotional engagement → users feel accompanied, not alone
They help structure information → each character represents a purpose (instruction, support, reflection)
They are memorable → users are more likely to remember and trust a product with personality
To make the experience more human and emotionally safe, I created two original characters with distinct roles in the product narrative and interaction:
🧭 Navi (The trustworthy co-pilot.)
Navi was designed to feel empathetic, experienced, and approachable, guiding users through complex topics with clear language and no judgment. He is the main conversational interface and the bridge between the user and the market.
🐾 Artemis (The analytical cat)
Inspired by my real-life cat, Artemis represents curiosity, emotional intuition, and calm. She appears to soften the user experience, providing emotional support and reinforcing clarity.
Why characters?
They humanize the AI → making the interaction feel more like guidance, not just automation
They create emotional engagement → users feel accompanied, not alone
They help structure information → each character represents a purpose (instruction, support, reflection)
They are memorable → users are more likely to remember and trust a product with personality
Designing the Experience
Designing the Experience
UX Writing & Decision Architecture
The writing style was carefully crafted to feel friendly, accessible and emotionally safe. I avoided jargon, used analogies when helpful, and maintained a supportive tone throughout the assistant’s replies — especially in moments of hesitation or emotional friction.
Each interaction was designed to:
Reduce cognitive overload
Encourage reflection, not urgency
Empower the user to decide at their own pace
This balance between generative intelligence, structured decision flow and human-centered writing allowed me to prototype a truly conversational product — where the user is not just guided, but genuinely understood.
Visual Identity
The visual identity was designed from scratch to create a calm, intelligent, and emotionally safe space — far from the cold interfaces common in financial products.
Characters: Navi and Artemis bring warmth and trust to the user experience. They were created not just as visuals, but as strategic anchors in the conversation.
Color palette: A mix of olive green, muted gold, and soft cream for a sense of clarity, warmth, and balance.
Typography: Playfair Display for titles (credibility + elegance), and Manrope for body text (readability + modernity).
Onboarding: A narrative sequence that introduces the assistant through guided storytelling, helping users feel safe and seen from the start.
This section demonstrates my ability to connect branding with user experience, designing visuals that go beyond aesthetics — they build trust through intention.
UX Writing & Decision Architecture
The writing style was carefully crafted to feel friendly, accessible and emotionally safe. I avoided jargon, used analogies when helpful, and maintained a supportive tone throughout the assistant’s replies — especially in moments of hesitation or emotional friction.
Each interaction was designed to:
Reduce cognitive overload
Encourage reflection, not urgency
Empower the user to decide at their own pace
This balance between generative intelligence, structured decision flow and human-centered writing allowed me to prototype a truly conversational product — where the user is not just guided, but genuinely understood.
Visual Identity
The visual identity was designed from scratch to create a calm, intelligent, and emotionally safe space — far from the cold interfaces common in financial products.
Characters: Navi and Artemis bring warmth and trust to the user experience. They were created not just as visuals, but as strategic anchors in the conversation.
Color palette: A mix of olive green, muted gold, and soft cream for a sense of clarity, warmth, and balance.
Typography: Playfair Display for titles (credibility + elegance), and Manrope for body text (readability + modernity).
Onboarding: A narrative sequence that introduces the assistant through guided storytelling, helping users feel safe and seen from the start.
This section demonstrates my ability to connect branding with user experience, designing visuals that go beyond aesthetics — they build trust through intention.
Playfair display 123
Manrope 123
#1A1911
#353A29
#FEBA49
#FFEEC9
Playfair display
Manrope 123
#1A1911
#353A29
#FEBA49
#FFEEC9
Let's work together
I'm currently open to remote design opportunities, whether freelance, contract, or full-time. I help teams build high-impact digital products through a mix of strategy, design, and user research, with a strong focus on usability, clarity, and business alignment.
If you're hiring or looking to collaborate, feel free to reach out directly, or connect with me through platforms like Upwork or Contra, whatever works best for you.
📮 Email: mayaralmeid.design@gmail.com
🔗 Hire me on Upwork or Contra
Let’s bring your next idea to life 😉
Let's work together
I'm currently open to remote design opportunities, whether freelance, contract, or full-time. I help teams build high-impact digital products through a mix of strategy, design, and user research, with a strong focus on usability, clarity, and business alignment.
If you're hiring or looking to collaborate, feel free to reach out directly, or connect with me through platforms like Upwork or Contra, whatever works best for you.
📮 Email: mayaralmeid.design@gmail.com
🔗 Hire me on Upwork or Contra
Let’s bring your next idea to life 😉
Let's work together
I'm currently open to remote design opportunities, whether freelance, contract, or full-time. I help teams build high-impact digital products through a mix of strategy, design, and user research, with a strong focus on usability, clarity, and business alignment.
If you're hiring or looking to collaborate, feel free to reach out directly, or connect with me through platforms like Upwork or Contra, whatever works best for you.
📮 Email: mayaralmeid.design@gmail.com
🔗 Hire me on Upwork or Contra
Let’s bring your next idea to life 😉