Elevate takes your finances to the next level! With its easy-to-use tools and seamless design, budgeting and saving have never been more uplifting.
Role | UX/UI Designer and Researcher
Timeline | July 2024 - August 2024
Tools | Figma, Miro
🤔 Problem
Many people struggle with managing their finances effectively, facing challenges with tracking expenses, setting savings goals, and creating realistic budgets. Without an intuitive system, staying on top of financial planning can feel overwhelming and difficult to maintain.
💭 Hypothesis
If users have an intuitive tool for tracking expenses, setting goals, and budgeting, they will manage their finances more effectively.
🏆 Solution
Develop an intuitive financial tool with automated expense tracking, real-time budget adjustments, and personalized insights. The responsive design will ensure accessibility across devices, while clear visuals and guided tutorials make budgeting easy for all users.
Introduction
As part of my design process, I created Elevate, a financial management tool aimed at simplifying budgeting and saving for users. Available as both an app and a responsive website, Elevate provides interactive tools and educational resources to help users better manage their finances. The design prioritizes accessibility with a responsive layout and intuitive interface, ensuring that users can easily track their financial progress across devices, making personal finance management easier and more efficient.
Direct Competitors
Mint is a popular app for tracking spending, budgeting, and monitoring financial health.
📝 Research
I started my project by exploring financial management apps, both from direct competitors like budgeting tools and indirect competitors like expense tracking apps. I analyzed their features to identify what worked well and what could be improved, helping me find ways to make Elevate more intuitive and user-friendly for managing finances.
Likes
Easy-to-use interface with clear, concise financial summaries
Visual graphs that provide an overview of spending habits
Dislikes
Limited customization options for budgets
YNAB (You Need A Budget) is a budgeting app focused on proactive financial habits and goal setting.
Likes
Helpful educational resources and tips for users new to budgeting
Real-time budget tracking for closer financial monitoring.
Dislikes
Monthly subscription fee can be a barrier for some
find the interface cluttered
Indirect Competitors
Acorns is an app that rounds up purchases and invests the spare change automatically.
Likes
Simple, hands-off investing by rounding up purchases
User-friendly design with easy-to-follow instructions
PayPal is a digital wallet for storing funds, making payments, and tracking transactions.
Dislikes
Limited investment options compared to traditional investment platforms
Likes
Easy-to-use interface for sending and receiving money
Allows storing multiple payment methods for convenience
Dislikes
Limited spending control or tracking tools compared to dedicated financial apps
After reviewing competitors, I identified ways to enhance the experience and plan to incorporate these features into Elevate.
I want to:
Simplify financial tracking with clear summaries and intuitive graphs.
Offer helpful resources to guide users in budgeting and investing.
Enable customizable budget goals to fit individual needs.
Keep the interface clean and easy to navigate.
To gain deeper insights, I interviewed six people and asked three survey questions. Here’s a summary of their feedback.
How do you typically track your spending?
“I mostly rely on my budgeting app to keep track of my daily expenses.”
“I love the goal setting feature, like saving for a vacation or emergency fund. It keeps me motivated.”
“I mainly rely on my credit card statements to see where my money goes.”
“I don’t use any app. I track my spending manually on paper.”
What features do you find most helpful in budgeting apps?
“The visual graphs and charts are awesome for quickly understanding my finances.”
“I like having all my bills and expenses listed in one place. It makes managing them easier.”
What do you dislike most about the budgeting apps you’ve used?
“I don’t like that some apps require too many manual entries for tracking, which is time-consuming.”
“I find some of them too complicated and difficult to navigate.”
“I wish there were more ways to customize categories to suit my spending habits.”
👤 User Personas
Based on my research and interviews, I created four personas to represent the main findings and better understand the needs and behaviors of different users.
💡 Ideate
Before prototyping, I created a user journey map to outline key steps in managing finances in Elevate. I then used Crazy 8’s to sketch design concepts, followed by wireframes to structure a user-friendly layout based on the journey map.”
User Journey Map
This helps me map users’ steps in Elevate, identifying pain points and areas to improve the app’s alignment with user needs.
Crazy 8
After the user journey map, I used Crazy 8’s to sketch multiple design ideas, exploring solutions and selecting the best ones for Elevate. The yellow-starred concepts were chosen for the next design steps.
Wireframes
After the Crazy 8s, I created these to refine the app’s layout, prioritize content, and ensure a clear, easy-to-navigate user interface.
Assigned Task
To create a budget
🔍 Round 1 Findings 🔍
Before usability test
➡️
Based on my findings, the prominently centered big button may have caused confusion, leading users to incorrectly navigate to a different page rather than using it for its intended purpose of adding items.
📐 Prototype
After the user journey map, Crazy 8s, and wireframes, I moved on to prototyping. This helped me create interactive mockups to test and refine the user experience.
⬅️
Low - Fidelity Prototypes
I created low-fidelity prototypes to quickly evaluate and enhance the user experience, making adjustments before advancing to the high-fidelity designs.
I tested the app twice with friends and family of different ages, first to find issues, then to confirm improvements for a better user experience.
Objective
To assess whether tasks are straightforward and easy to complete, while also evaluating the app’s navigation simplicity.
❗ Key Takeaways ❗
Improve Navigation Clarity
Clarify Budget Creation Process
Based on feedback, I’ll move the button for easier access, letting users add items without leaving the page.
🔍 Round 2 Findings 🔍
After usability test
After the usability study, repositioning the button away from the main notch gave users the flexibility to add items without confusion, improving the overall user experience and making the app more intuitive.
After round 2 testing, where users found the app easy to navigate, I moved on to focus on high-priority improvements based on their feedback.
Login
High-Fidelity Prototype
Below are examples of the high-fidelity prototype, highlighting the refined design and improved usability informed by user feedback.
PIN
Insights
“Budget” Category
Action Button
Monthly Overview
Users can see various financial summaries, trends, and insights about their spending, savings, and budgeting.
Recent Transactions
Allows users to review their latest financial activity and keep track of their spending.
Customized Financing
users can add and categorize their different expenses and income sources based on their needs. This gives users flexibility.
Outflow
“Spent” Category
Spent Graph
“Remaining” Category
Profile
Inflow
Visually shows where users’ money is going by categorizing expenses, making it easy to track spending trends and manage budgets.
Notifications
Next, I extended Elevate’s functionality by developing a responsive website, ensuring users can manage their finances seamlessly across both desktop and mobile devices.
Low-Fidelity Prototype
High-Fidelity Prototype
Takeaways
Designing the app taught me the importance of meeting diverse user needs to boost satisfaction. I saw how different people interact with the app, showing me that what works for one may not work for another. This made me focus on inclusivity with features like adjustable text sizes and screen reader support.
I also learned that customization enhances the experience. Allowing users to personalize features based on their financial goals made the app more engaging.
Lastly, I realized that clear instructions and responsive support are key to guiding users and resolving issues smoothly, making the app easier to use.
Going Forward ⏩
Next Steps
Moving forward, I want to focus on improving accessibility and testing to ensure an inclusive and seamless experience for all users.
User Testing with Diverse Groups: Conduct user testing with a range of users, including those with accessibility needs, to identify any usability issues and gather feedback for improvements.
Refining Accessibility Features: Based on feedback, refine accessibility features such as text readability, color contrast, and navigation to ensure the app is usable for everyone.
Thorough Testing & Validation: Ensure comprehensive testing of all accessibility features to guarantee they meet user needs and provide a smoother experience.
Continuous Feedback Loop: Incorporate ongoing user feedback to improve and enhance the app, ensuring it stays inclusive and user-friendly.