If you've used the Robinhood app for investing, you've likely seen the confetti that bursts on-screen when you make your first trade. If you have seen it before, you'd best treasure that memory; Robinhood is now removing the digital celebration amidst growing fears that it "gamifies" the investment process.

Why Robinhood Is Sweeping Up the Confetti

News of this development broke on the Wall Street Journal. Previously, every time a user made their first investment with the app, it would shower the user with virtual confetti to celebrate the occasion.

Critics lashed out at the practice, saying that the confetti softened the serious nature of investment and "gamified" the system. This criticism rings especially true when you consider that Robinhood's userbase is mostly made up of people new to buying stocks.

Related: The Best Investment Apps for First-Time Beginners

Robinhood has defended the choice in the past but has now backed down. Madhu Muthukumar, Robinhood's senior director of product management, said the following:

The confetti is getting really misconstrued, and I think it’s actually doing the opposite of what we want. [It] seems to have distracted from the goal of the app, which is to make regular people, everyday folks who have been kept out of the market, feel like they can participate and feel like they are being positively reinforced for taking steps in their financial life.

Mr. Muthukumar went on to say that if the public is more focused on a confetti animation over the possibilities that Robinhood can provide, the company has "done something that’s just off base."

Rich Bessel, Robinhood's head of design, will now focus on making the animations informative rather than just a pretty picture. Mr. Bessel says that confetti can "take away from the text and what’s literally on the screen" and will instead opt for a design that informs first-time investors about what they've done and what it might mean for them in the future.

No More Confetti for Robinhood

While Robinhood is heralded as a great way to get started with investing, don't expect a celebration when you make your first step. The investment service is now removing the positive reinforcement to make the process less of a game.

This isn't the first time that Robinhood has come under fire in recent weeks. The company was in hot water after it began blocking people from investing in GameStop "meme stocks."

Image Credits: Sergey Panychev / Shutterstock.com and Sudowoodo / Shutterstock.com