After consulting with the FXCM team to grade the usability of their marketing site, and a follow-up project to design a new information architecture and user experience, I was presented with an opportunity to design an infographic that would live in the education center as one-stop sell for both new and on-the-fence Forex traders.

The design challenge made readily apparent was that the existing vertical format from their previous website couldn’t be altered to be more web-friendly—such as a click-through presentation featuring one point at a time. It was simply a time and money issue. That said, the challenge to clearly communicate the difference between trading vehicles was interesting enough in itself for me to work within those parameters.

The intrinsic challenge were the details, details and more details. If you’ve ever worked within the financial industry, trading processes and transaction results can be a complex element when trying to present a overarching narrative. Similar to the complexities surrounding statistical narratives, trading results can present a different meaning depending on how they’re presented. We wanted to make sure that all data and results presented would stand the highest degree of scrutiny.

Enter compliance.

If you don’t have experience in the financial industry, compliance is the internal division that ensures all claims made by the firm can be legally substantiated. They’re steeped in the process of producing all outward facing media, from the marketing site to trading interfaces to, yes, infographics. That can sound annoying to a creative process, but their work is invaluable. I tend to think of them less as lawyers, and more akin to editors.

The research we performed was intense—all the information presented visually can be found on the web—so while there was pushback at times in the compliance process, and it took multiple iterations to complete, it also went rather smoothly.