A UX Bootcamp Capstone Project
GROW, an all in one expense
tracking app
My Role
Sole UX Designer
Project Timeframe
2 weeks
Tools Used
Figma, Miro
My Impact
In a short span of 2 weeks, an end-to-end UX process was performed - from uncovering problem statements to prototyping and usability testing.
Today's challenge...
Personal finances wield significant influence over our lives, necessitating prudent planning and budgeting to ensure a stable reserve for both daily necessities and unexpected contingencies. This prudence, particularly when instilled early in life, holds paramount importance. Unfortunately, the notion of budgeting remains elusive for many university students, who grapple with making ends meet through meagre earnings from part-time or sporadic employment, often coupled with an inclination toward uncontrolled spending.
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Upon conducting thorough market research and insightful user interviews to comprehend prevailing pain points, a salient problem statement emerged: "How can we engage individuals across age demographics, especially university students with limited exposure to personal budgeting, to initiate diligent expense tracking and sustain this practice?"
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In this context, GROW strives to transcend the conventions of a standard personal budgeting application, aspiring to offer more than a mundane financial tool. Furthermore, GROW is designed to seamlessly integrate into users' lives, eradicating any notion of expense tracking as an arduous chore. This integration of convenience is poised not only to cultivate an enduring financial journey but also to deter premature disengagement.
The process in a nutshell.
User Interviews
User interviews were conducted with 7 individuals aged 21-40 to obtain further insights regarding the topic of personal budgeting. These questions (not including follow-up questions) were asked:
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Do you currently utilize an app to track your expenses? If yes, could you share which app you are currently using and what is your experience with the app? If no, could you explain why you do not require an app?
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What is the underlying motivation or goal for you to track your expenses? Has your goal been met thus far?
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What will keep you motivated to track your expenses?
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What do you think of the current methods available to look for deals and discounts for things such as food and shopping?
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In addition, a survey was sent out consisting of the same questions as well. A total of 20 responses were received.
With the responses obtained, affinity mapping was conducted to make sense of the information and categorize similar responses into the different categories. 2 user personas were also created to represent the target audiences.
Meet our user personas!
John, an undergraduate studying at SMU is the primary target audience. He often struggles to manage his expenses and is on the lookout for the best deals out there to save money.
Jeanette, a young working adult is the secondary target audience. She knows the importance of planning and is thus using an expense tracking app. However, she finds it inconvenient.
Information Architetcure
MOSCOW PRIORITISATION
User stories were created based on required features and functionalities learnt from user interviews and research. MosCoW prioritisation was subsequently performed to group user stories into must haves, should haves, could haves. This helped in prioritsing features that I should work on, because of the limited amount of time.
SITE MAP
A site map was done up to illustrate what pages are required and how information would flow from one page to another.
Low and Mid Fidelity Prototype
The Crazy 8 method served as a rapid-fire brainstorming tool to generate a multitude of ideas. Subsequently, the most promising concepts underwent translation into mid-fidelity prototypes. These prototypes, in turn, were employed for user testing, facilitating the collection of valuable feedback and insights from users.
Usability Testing
With the mid fidelity prototype, usability testing was conducted with 3 participants in real life. The participants included 2 University students, and 1 young adult. These are the tasks participants were asked to perform during the testing:
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Add an expense manually
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Add an expense using the Scan feature
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Look for deals under Din Tai Fung
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Claim a reward
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Redeem a voucher
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Add a new category
Users recommendations were compiled into a table and data plotting was conducted to determine feedback that should be addressed.
As indicated in the table provided, all three participants emphasized the necessity of highlighting the selected month to address transaction tracking concerns. Likewise, in the context of the deals feature, users expressed the need for efficient deal filtering options. These crucial pieces of feedback were marked for immediate implementation.
High Fidelity Prototype was created, taking into account users' feedback and recommendations
Initial screens created when I first worked on the project in 2021. Not going to lie, these look pretty dull when I look back 2 years later :(
Looking back at my UI design in 2023, there are definitely ways I can improve on them as I enhanced my skillsets along the way. Thus, I made improvements to the UI screens including a stronger use of colour, clearer hierarchy and spacing and other visual elements to make it look more appealing. Here are the screens created 2 years later!
What makes GROW different from other personal budgeting applications?
Effortless Transaction Entry
With the swift scanning feature, users can effortlessly record a transaction within mere seconds. This feature serves as a catalyst, promoting consistent and meticulous transaction tracking. By seamlessly integrating this process into users' routines, the perception of inconvenience is minimized.
Incentivizing Rewards Framework
The app introduces a dynamic rewards system wherein users accrue points through transaction entries and achieving milestones. These earned points unlock a spectrum of appealing deals, including enticing food vouchers. This innovative mechanism serves to galvanize users, fostering a sustained commitment to expense tracking through ongoing engagement with the app.
📖 Read detailed case study here​