Re-engineering a Bond Trading Platform

Accelerated delivery strategy and integration with legacy software:

MTS decided to partner with Adaptive to re-envision and rebuild the UI and web services layer.

The combined team faced two main challenges:

1. The goal was to deliver a new user experience based on the features of the existing front end. We needed to quickly develop a deep understanding of the technical architecture and functionality of the existing UI.

The MVP of the new platform needed to be built in a short timeframe, as MTS planned to take it to market with a focus group of clients.

2. The back end of the existing application contained the matching engine, which was the core system functionality. We needed to partner extensively with MTS to gain insight and understanding, so we could integrate the new user interface. However, updates and improvements to that part of the platform were not within the scope of the project.

Adaptive collaborated closely with the MTS product team during an expedited discovery phase, to identify a master list of critical functionality needs at a high level, called “epics.” Those epics became key points on our delivery roadmap, and, together with the MTS team, we dove deep to establish functional requirements to feed the development pipeline.

Knowing that the requirements would be dynamic and likely to evolve over the course of the engagement, we chose the Agile methodology to foster continuous collaboration, regular deliveries, measurable progress, and ensure ongoing alignment with our project stakeholders.

Lead with design, focus on workflows:

We led the solution with design. This type of approach fosters rapid, measurable results by creating “just enough” of a requirements pipeline to allow software developers to begin software build and accelerate in the right direction. The goal was to keep UX designs at least two sprints ahead of development.

When kicking off, we led frequent workshops and focused primarily on enhancing the user experience in the core workflow, as well as the overall platform ecosystem. Given MTS’ keen focus on this project and deep understanding of what they wanted, we were able to efficiently take note of important pain points, major challenges, and deficiencies of the existing platform. Once we had enough detail specified, developers were able to design the technical architecture and deliver slices of functioning software.

The core function of the existing application was to provide a place for buyers and sellers to transact. When these market participants come together, the application would show the details of the potential deal in ticket windows to participants. Given that these participants could have multiple deals in progress simultaneously, we established during the discovery phase that the ticket windows created undesirable screen clutter.

We sketched out and iterated ideas to streamline a solution in the new system, leveraging user journeys and storyboards to ensure mutual understanding of the issue.

These visual aids were critical to achieving our goal of transparency and mutual understanding. They gave MTS the confidence that Adaptive understood what needed to be built. Our solution to the trade ticket clutter was a stacking concept, with the details of only one ticket showing at a time. Once MTS was comfortable with the new usage pattern, we documented the approach with detailed high fidelity visual designs and functional prototypes. MTS could see, via the artifacts we created, exactly what we planned to build. With our key stakeholders aligned to the solution, the artifacts became the basis of our requirements as the iterative delivery progressed.

Throughout the engagement, Adaptive’s Product Managers and UX designers met 2-3 times per week with the MTS stakeholders to create a pleasing, refreshed new design better suited for MTS’ future business needs. The continuous discussion and refinement fostered transparency, trust, and understanding – a true partnership approach.

We approached each business function using the same blueprint; Identify critical features and pain points, and then frame those problems with sketches, user journeys, and storyboards. Once we collaboratively identified a solution and felt we understood the MTS team’s needs sufficiently, we documented the approach with high fidelity visuals, which created a clear direction for developers.

Our “workflow-driven design” method worked well because it:

• Provided a starting point to be innovative.
• Shortened the product development cycle.
• Aligned cross-functional teams with common business objectives.
• Helped teams to collaborate and focus on clear goals.
• Expedited the turnaround of functional code with reusable assets, such as buttons, color palette, calendar pickers, tooltips, form fields, and iconography.

Once we established a critical mass of requirements, a confirmed roadmap of priorities, and designs, our engineers were able to begin development. Let’s look at our technology approach and process.

It was important for the Adaptive team to make the delivery process as efficient and automated as possible throughout the lifecycle of the solution delivery. Every new feature’s code was peer-reviewed using pull-requests, which were always directly associated with a ticket on a tracking board. At the engagement kick-off, we set up continuous integration (CI) and continuous deployment (CD) pipelines. The benefit was that even before a feature was delivered, numerous automated tests were run to check code quality indicators and prevent regressions.

Once a new feature was ready, it was automatically deployed to several testing environments, following a workflow to ensure it was thoroughly tested before being presented to MTS for final review. We developed batch executable end-to end tests to automate away the repetitive tasks of our Quality Assurance team. This approach allowed us to provide a consistent level of quality while not slowing down software development.

Rigorous two-week sprints and progress demos

With the CI/CD infrastructure in place, we focused our attention on meeting MTS’ functional needs. Given the tight timeframes we faced, an efficient and structured cadence was critical, so we chose two-week sprints. At the start of each cycle, we assigned only well-refined, developer-estimated, and highly prioritized stories that met our “definition of ready.” This approach made the developers confident that the stories could be completed as planned, and made our progress predictable.

At the conclusion of each two-week sprint, we conducted a demo for MTS stakeholders. In preparation, the developers, designers, and BAs would meet to review progress. The team would dry run through the functionality to assess readiness. A demo checklist was prepared, ensuring coverage of all completed work.

Each demo session started off with a brief recap of the work the team did during the sprint. A team member would then demo the application, followed by a Q&A session. At the demo’s conclusion, we would introduce the next sprint’s stories and make adjustments based on MTS’ priorities.

Adaptive brought a team of highly skilled and experienced developers, QAs, product managers, and UX designers to the engagement. Strong performers are of course critical for smooth and predictable delivery, but what really allowed us to accomplish our goals was the way we worked together with MTS. The combination of clear leadership, vision, and continuous communication through formal and informal channels kept us aligned. We utilized the agile methodology heavily and stressed regular team check-ins, requirements review and vetting, planning, demos, retrospective reviews, steering committee meetings, and formal project reporting. Collaboration is key and takes continuous focus and commitment.

The success of this solution was directly attributable to all parties’ commitment to delivering a high-quality product working in a true partnership.

When a requirement wasn’t clear, developers called it out and we swarmed the issue until it was clarified. When a UX design had a usability flaw, we revisited it with our stakeholders. When a technical solution was elusive, we worked with our client counterparts to find a workable and supportable approach.