Thread by @lissijean

Thread about product ethics.

I agree with Nate that we need WAY better education around finance and investing.

But I disagree that we can't blame Robinhood for investment mistakes, especially due to it's #UX. This is why /1

https://twitter.com/JonesOnTheNBA/status/1281360682001170432

When things are broken, it gives companies an opportunity to solve the problem and exploit it for value. That's what Robinhood's doing. It's SMART. You find a problem, you solve it. Good business.

But we have to be careful not to exploit our customers as well. /2

When you specifically target unsavvy customers in a complex industry, the burden of education falls on you.

The risk to keep your customers safe falls on you.

This is where Robinhood went wrong. /3

I built trading applications for years on Wall Street. The lingo, the concepts, are complex. The traders who used my products in banks went through months to years of training in the domain. They knew what a stock option was, what a limit was. /3

Robinhood is targeting customers who have not gone through this training on purpose. That's the problem they are solving. They are saying hey, let's get new investors who might not have the means to invest normally. But with that comes the risk that they don't know how. /4

Now the burden of the education and the explanations fall on you through your #UX. This is where Robinhood failed.

The premise of their product is fine, the execution is flawed, and they should be held accountable for that because they are the ones profiting. /5

You are responsible for what you create in this world.

As #prodmgmt and #UX folks, we are responsible for the outcomes of our products.

We can't just say "this is a bigger problem" and not do all we can to fix what's within our control. Your product is within your control. /6