Project Brief
I saw an increasing number of adults get into investing and personal financing in the past two years during covid. With the increasing number of educational influencers and personal finance content, a huge amount of people (especially young adults like me), have turned towards efficient management and growth of their finances. Owing to this change, I identified the need of a personal finance management platform, that will help users to have an efficient system in order to plan and manage their money.
Market Research
I went ahead with trying to understand the current scenario of how people manage their finances. I decided to conduct a 'Diary study' of people from different backgrounds.
I thought it would be better to actually observe rather than asking about the different ways in which these people manage their finances, which is why I chose this method of research.
DIARY STUDY
Keeping in mind the various kinds of users that may use the platform, I divided the users into namely four user groups.
I interviewed 2-3 users from each of the groups. Here is what I learnt from studying each of their finance management methodologies.
With the above points, I came to a conclusion that there is indeed a need for a platform which is convenient and detailed enough for personal finance management.
Now, my further steps would be to identify the gaps in the market, and how would my platform fill in those gaps.
Secondary Research
I referred to several resources online in order to find how Indians spend and manage their money.
Following are the relevant insights that I gathered from these articles.
User Interviews
Next step involved talking to users and gaining a deep understanding of their perspectives. I interviewed the same set of users as before.
The first step while conducting user interviews is to define what all answers I am looking for from the users i.e. the interview objectives.
I then created a detailed user interview script, keeping in mind the previously defined objectives.
I interviewed 2-3 users from each of the user groups. The interviews lasted for an average of 35-40 minutes.
I created user personas and empathy maps in order to summarise the insights I gained from these interviews.
Competitor analysis
I then formulated an elaborate competitor analysis of around 6 platforms - Wallet, Money Manager, Walnut, Expense Manager, goDutch, Ivy Wallet.
Following are the major frustrations and pleasure points I found in these platforms
Project goals
Having obtained several insights from all the research done so far, it was time to filter out the important insights, and accordingly define the project goals.
Defining the problem statement
To design a personal finance management app which provides tools to help users to identify their spending habits and keep a track of their finances. It will also motivate the users to be disciplined about their finances and will educate them on the same.
How might we?
Next step was to lay out all the problems and determine plausible solutions for the same, using the HMW ('How might we?') format.
Feature list
I created a feature list, containing all the specific features that I would be adding to the app, based on the ideas formulated before. This step was important as it gave me a brief lookout on the app content, before I began with the information architecture.
Information architecture
Next step was to group the content in such a way that I can draw an idea of the app hierarchy. Hence, in order to define the hierarchy, I create a sitemap for the app.
Paper sketches
I then went ahead with creating screen-wise paper sketches in order to define a design structure. I always prefer making paper sketches before building the prototype. Brainstorming on paper sketches is quite convenient as it does not take too much time in making subtle changes every now and then, unlike making changes on a prototype.
Brand Identity
I then hopped on to create the brand identity for the app before moving on with the prototype.
For the colour palette, I wanted to select a colour that gives out a relaxing effect to the users, considering how much of an anxiety can a topic like personal finance management is capable of imparting. I had blue and green as my two options for the same, out of which I went ahead with blue as it was easier to incorporate it with my design unlike green.
Prototype and Testing
I built a prototype on Adobe XD, after which I performed a usability testing on the same. The users were the same as before. I conducted the usability testing via google meet/in-person meetings. I asked each of the users to 'think out loud' - to say out loud all the thoughts they had in their mind while exploring the prototype. This gave me a brief idea of their experience - things that they liked and didn't like. I also asked them to suggest if anything needs to be added or removed from the design.
Following are the major points I drew out from the usability testing:
1. There should be some more personalisation for setting tasks for crossing levels, each user would have a separate set of goals, according to which tasks should be set.
2. Users were getting confused with button selection, it wasn't consistent all throughout. At times it was highlighted in 6% primary colour, while the rest of the times the button selection was highlighted in 100 % primary color. I hence kept the selection colour consistent, which is 6% primary colour.
3. Every time a transaction/payment/budget was added or deleted, the users didn't get a confirmation/verification on the same. They were confused as to whether the action has succeeded or failed. Hence I decided to add a splash screen for 4-5 seconds, showing success/failure.
Here is the link to the final prototype.
Next Steps
1. Community: This section will consist of mentorship sessions, and interaction with other members on the app who are tracking their finance journey. A community feature will help the users to focus more on their goals, and encourage each other in their personal finance journey.
2. Loans and Investments: A feature where users can track all their loans and investments, which will further be added to their overall net worth. This will require integration with the respective loan and investment platforms.
3. Future planning: This will include retirement planning and goal planning, like vacations, education, etc. This feature will provide a step-by-step process to form a detailed plan, and will enable the users to reach their goal by keeping a track of daily progress.
