Information seeking and use behaviour for the design of financial products

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to deal with the information seeking and use problem in a professional context. This research focuses on the informational process of the financial market. Linking together the theory of information seeking and use behaviour with financial services, we seek to understand how the design activity can influence practice, by taking a financial product, such as a mutual fund, as an example. We seek to check the relationship between the situational approach of Cheuk and the seeking and use model. To deal with this problem, we have interviewed some financial professionals who have a direct impact on the design and development of the financial product. A questionnaire was used to gather data, and then a formalized and rigorous tool, named ‘Mark-up Language for Financial Products’, which is based on XML. This tool helps us to specify the most important items used in the design of these products. Both methods allow better understanding of how investors find out what they need for their job. And we can clarify their practices of information seeking, which are very particular because of the design activity.