Pro Option Chain
Enrich & elevate option chain on Groww
Groww F&O • Sep’24 & Mar’25
Timeline
Two versions of option chain designed & shipped over a course of 6 months
→ Option chain 2.0 (Sep’24)
→ Pro-option chain (Mar’25)
Team
→ PMs: Ishaan (Pro) & Aayush (2.0)
→ Engg team FE & BE
→ Design: Rakshit (Me)
Impact
→ Option Chain 2.0 is live for 100% users.
→ Option Chain pro is live for 200K pro traders.
Lead to a 13% increase in number of orders in F&O from Option Chain.
What is an Option?
When you work at a company, you might get Employee Stock Options (ESOPs). These let you buy the company’s shares later at a fixed price, called the strike price, no matter what the market price is.
Stock options in the market work the same way, a call option gives you the right to buy a stock at its strike price. For ex, if I buy a Reliance 1600 Call, I can buy Reliance shares at ₹1600 each, regardless of the current market price.
Anatomy
Stack strikes to view option chain
What if your company offered a range of strike prices for your ESOPs? For ex, if the current share price is ₹1400 and you choose the right to buy at ₹1600, then ₹1600 becomes your strike price.
Similarly, in the market you can buy options with strike prices like ₹1200, ₹1250, or ₹1300.
An option chain is simply a table that lets you choose from all the available strike prices.
Chain is used to compare b/w different strikes & find value
Compare prices on both the call and put sides, and see which contracts have the highest circulation (i.e., open interest or OI).
Every option has:
→ Price: Like a stock, an option trades at a value.
→ Open Interest: The number of option contracts currently in circulation.
→ Greeks: Metrics like delta, vega, gamma, and theta that describe an option’s behavior.
Comparing the prices
Comparing open interest
Traders need more data with easier comparison
We broke down the problems to solve across different versions.
In Option Chain 2.0 (Sep ’24):
→ Reduce header size to provide more workspace for trading.
→ Display OI data visually to avoid switching back and forth from the OI tab.
→ Show open positions directly on the chain.
In Option Chain Pro (Mar ’25):
→ Includes all of the above, plus displays option Greeks.
→ Scalable UI to accommodate future data points.
Problems with Option Chain 1.0
OI/Price Toggle 😥
No view of open trades 😵💫
Header takes 23% of view port 😢
C
A
B
A
Users were even requesting an upgrade
OI had visual to help selecting strikes easier.
Users previously had to toggle between the OI and Price tabs.
However, for most traders, simply seeing where OI is high is enough, so we decided to represent it visually.
Using accent colours instead of neutral colours
Every element in the UI should carry meaning. The length of each bar represents the amount of OI, while the direction of the bar indicates the side, put or call.
I chose red for calls & green for puts to create a clear visual distinction.
When OI on the call side is higher, it signals market pressure, so users will see larger red bars, and vice versa for the put side.
At a glance, by simply looking at the bars, users can quickly sense the market’s mood. 😊
Solving for Greeks
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4
3
Greek as a separate mode (A) ❌
Like Price and OI, Greeks can be offered as a separate mode.
Users could toggle to the Greeks mode and choose which Greeks they want to view. The settings bar below was designed to allow quick switching and display additional data.
Why it didn’t work 😢
Price is critical. While in Greeks mode, users couldn’t see the price they need to take a trade.
Pro‑traders often need to view more than two Greeks at once, and switching back and forth made the experience tedious.
“Price is needed along with Greeks in one view”
Greek mode as a paper (B) ❌
Greek mode is an all‑column mode, you have Price, OI, and all other data visible together. Users can switch to this mode if needed.
Why it didn’t work 😢
It’s hard to keep track of the strike, and the constant movement of the spine makes the UI harder to follow.
For a user wanting to compare, say, Vega on the call side versus the put side, the amount of scrolling required becomes excessive.
“Comparison of greek on call side to put side should be easy.”
Expand the current list item & solve using interactions
Base Option chain
Swipe to see Put side
Swipe to see call side
1:1 mapped scroll
Designed to make comparison easier: when the user scrolls on the put side, the call side automatically scrolls to show the corresponding information.
Surface colors were used during scrolling to indicate that content exists behind the chain spine.
The spine’s color transitions from Background Surface to Background Z1, with borders subtly fading in.
Fling to left or right
Comparison can also be between the contracts on the same side. If the trader wants to focus on the put side they can fling the spine.
Adapts to basket mode
When the trader enters the basket mode the spine & the column sizes adjust to accommodate the check boxes.
Reduced size of header by 31% adding one more strike to the view
Option chain 2.0
Option chain 1.0
Option chain Pro
180
130
124
A
B
A
In the Option Chain 2.0 redesign, I added a basket icon to brand the feature. In Option Chain Pro, I simplified this into a toggle, keeping the header clean and minimal.
B
Data showed that traders rarely switch expiries and mostly trade within the current expiry. So, I removed the pills and replaced them with an expiry switcher dropdown for a cleaner experience.
Designed for web
Current UI
Option Chain 2.0
Option chain Pro
Option Chain Pro - Placing an order
Designed to scale
We removed the boundaries to create a true end‑to‑end experience.
Looking ahead, we see this interface evolving into a customizable workspace, where traders can choose the data they want to see. The option chain can eventually expand to include additional metrics such as volume, margin requirements, breakevens, and more.
Option chain scales to our trading terminal
Customise your terminal with Responsive option chain
A
B
A
For new traders, Greeks are confusing & unnecessary, and seeing too much data can be overwhelming. That’s why we added an option to disable Greeks, to the interface simple if needed.
B
Option to change the expiry is now placed in a dropdown, unlike the pill structure used in Option Chain 1.0. Most traders trade within the current expiry, this approach keeps the UI clean.
Option chain 2.0 is live for 100% users on Groww. 🚀
Pro Option Chain is live for users on web & is in testing for mobile.
Fin 🌼
SOCIAL LINKS
LET’S GRAB COFFEE?
rakshit.design@gmail.com
+1 (206)-571-4546
That’s all folks