BUDGETLY
End-to-end MVP experience for an early stage startup
Overview
Budgetly is an early stage startup that allows users of diverse financial backgrounds to take charge of their finances. This project involved a revitalization of their finance-tracking experience. I led design of end-to-end MVP for Budgetly's finance tracking platform.
Role
Freelance UI/UX Designer
Company
Budgetly
Platform
Desktop and Mobile
Team
UI/UX Designer (me), 2 founders, 1 front end/back-end developer
Problem Space
In an evolving economy with changing consumer spending habits, the challenge was straightforward: create a finance tracking experience that has capabilities and functionalities that are unique across other personal finance-tracking platforms in the U.S. It was important to understand financial awareness and literacy, among all demographics, but particularly in young adults.
Our Approach
Creating an MVP
The key stakeholders we spoke to emphasized developing a product that is competitive and has an edge over other established apps in the market. As a team, we opted to take a design thinking approach grounded in market research, design ideation, prototyping, and launch.
User Journey Mapping
Pain Points
Journey mapping helped target emotions moving through the existing flow, helping us iterate and define the new experience. We uncovered insights that involved accessibility issues and touchpoints that felt too busy.
Competitive Analysis
Finding gaps in the market
I did a competitive analysis research to analyze competing trends, find gaps in the market, and create a product that separates Budgetly from others. Below is a quick graphic showing findings among Mint, NerdWallet, Pocket Guard, and Personal Capital.
SWOT Analysis
Strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities
I also did a SWOT analysis which helped provide a comprehensive insight into Budgetly's positioning within the market, offering a clear understanding of the competitive landscape.
Consumer Insights
What I did
I dug a bit online to gain insight on how users felt moving through the flow of two popular personal finance apps, Mint and Nerd Wallet. I additionally interviewed peers to learn more about how people track their finances. In doing this, I found key insights that would help guide my design process.
Consumer insights
Poor usability score... NerdWallet a had difficult-to-use layout.
Reminder: Make layout easily understandable to someone who has never used a budget app before. 6/7 users claimed this is swayed their continued use of these platforms.
Too many popups... Mint had a lot of popups and promos involving signing up for services or upgrading to a paid account.
Reminder: Reduce the amount of popups if any; popups, constant reminders to upgrade are jarring and can turn people off.
Qualitative Interviews
"I have issues keeping track of my finances in college. I don't fully know how much I am spending until my parents send me my bill..." - College Student, Early 20s
"I'm more financially aware than I have ever been before since I got laid off due to Covid-19. I really try to control my spending, especially through my credit card (trying not to incur debt). I don't have a finance-tracking app at the moment, but I use my bank's personal app." - Young Working Adult, Mid-20s
"As a working adult, I have to say I am not as careful with my spending as I should be. I wish I was more financially responsible. I am also not super tech savvy so I don't have any apps that track my budgeting, usually I just check my bank statement and make sure my spending isn't too excessive." - Working Adult, Mid-40s
Visual Guidelines
What I did
After gathering insights from users on financial awareness, I created a style guide which I felt would encompass my current visual design plan for this interface. I opted for a a teal / turqoise color theme – I wanted to stray from the typical green color scheme that is associated with money & finance.
After conducting research and creating design milestones, I was ready to transport the team's vision into a comprehensive web mobile and experience.
Desktop Experience
Interactive Mobile Experience
Here is an overview of home screen, complete with transaction history, accounts, upcoming bills, and a graphic illustrating a breakdown of expenses.
Mobile Experience
