Client
London Stock Exchange Group
Year
2021 - 2022
My Role
Lead UX/UI Designer
Issuer Services - ESG Portal
The London Stock Exchange group is a global financial markets infrastructure and data provider.
Their Environmental Social Governance Portal aimed to create a platform for accessing and analysing ESG data. It offers LSEG Data & Analytics ESG scores for over 10,000 companies across 76 countries, covering 85% of global market cap.
The Problem
Investors struggled to navigate the complex landscape of ESG data for companies listed on the London Stock Exchange.
With over 300 data points per company across various ESG factors, there was a critical need for a user-friendly interface that simplifies data exploration, enables effective risk assessment, and supports informed, sustainable investment decisions.
Interpreting ESG Scores
A significant challenge emerged when evaluating companies across diverse industries. A standardised scoring system proved inadequate as it failed to account for industry-specific priorities.
The project developed a fair, adaptable ESG assessment methodology, enabling cross-industry comparisons while respecting sector-specific nuances.
ESG Controversies
The final step involves applying a Controversies score, based on 23 measures of negative media stories and controversies, to the ESG score.
This results in the ESG Combined (ESGC) score, providing a comprehensive evaluation of a company's sustainability impact and conduct. A lower Controversies score leads to a greater discount on the ESG score, resulting in a lower ESGC score.
Ideation
I took a hands-on approach to tackling the tabular search functionality. I began by sketching out numerous ideas, and exploring various concepts to enhance the user experience.
These sketches served as a foundation for mapping detailed user flows, allowing me to understand and refine the search process.
Simplify the System
Scores are percentile ranks within a company's TRBC industry group (out of 62 groups). A 50% score indicates the company outperforms half it’s industry peers in that ESG aspect. Thus, scores reflect relative ESG performance.
Collaborative Success
Our lean, cross-functional product team exemplified agile collaboration amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Through daily virtual stand-ups and shared digital workspaces, we maintained seamless communication and rapid adaptation.
Understanding How Scores are Calculated
Over 600 measures, presented as numbers or Yes/No values, form the foundation of the company assessment. These are grouped into 10 categories (e.g., Resource Use, Human Rights), each yielding a category score.
Green is good…
For Yes/No data points, green indicates positive while red indicates negative.
For example, 'Yes' for "Targets Energy Efficiency" is green (positive), while 'Yes' for "Environmental Controversies" is red (negative).
Red is bad…
For numerical data points, the pop-out box indicates whether higher or lower values are preferable.
For instance, higher "Total Renewable Energy" is preferred, while lower "Waste Total" is optimal.
Outcome
The release of the ESG portal to customers and businesses played a crucial role in boosting Issuer Services revenue by 28% compared to the previous fiscal year.
These accomplishments strengthened LSEG's digital offerings and set a model for cross-team collaboration in challenging market conditions, reinforcing the project's success and impact.
