Google UX design Certificate (Project)

The Product:

The Funds Management App is a mobile and web platform designed to teach users how to effectively budget, save money, and manage their finances. The Project was designed as part of the Google UX design Certificate.

The Problem:

Many individuals struggle with budgeting, saving, and managing their money wisely. Financial literacy rates remain low, leading to poor financial behaviours and outcomes. There is a need for an accessible, engaging platform to promote better financial skills.

The Overview:

The Funds Management App will provide an intuitive, educational experience to help users build positive financial habits. Core features will include budgeting tools, savings trackers, educational content, and personalized insights.

The Goal:

The goal is to empower users to take control of their finances by making budgeting, saving, and smart money management simple and rewarding. The app aims to drive positive shifts in financial behaviours and improve financial well-being through an engaging, user-friendly platform.

Project Approach:

This project will utilize a 5-step UX design process: Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test.

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Phase I: Empathize

To understand user needs and pain points for the Funds Management App, we conducted in-depth interviews with 8 individuals who self-identified as struggling with budgeting and saving money.

Our interview goals were to uncover:

• Their current challenges and frustrations with managing personal finances

• How they currently track spending and budget, if at all

• What has prevented them from budgeting or saving successfully in the past

• What features or functionality would be most helpful to them in a money management app

Key insights we gathered from the interviews included:

• Difficulty sticking to budgets over time due to lack of motivation or discipline

• The desire for simplified budgets, reminders, and visualization tools

• Interest inability to set different savings goals and track progress

• The appeal of rewards or gamification to drive positive behaviours

These qualitative insights directly informed our UX/UI design process, helping us focus on developing features and visual presentations that would motivate and engage users based on their expressed needs.

Aggregated Empathy Map

PainPoints:

• Difficulty sticking to budgets

This seems to be the root cause behind many other issues, and a budgeting app needs to primarily solve this.

• Lack of visibility into expenses

Understanding where money is going is key to budgeting effectively.

• Debt feels overwhelming

Debt is a major stressor and blocker for financial progress.

• Saving feels out of reach

The ability to save is an important goal not easily achieved currently.

• Impulsive spending

This is a common behaviour that derails budget success.

Personas:

Alex and Sarah are motivated to take control of their finances but struggle with budgeting and sticking to spending plans. They need an intuitive, user-friendly money management app that helps them visualize expenses, create realistic budgets, and stay on track with saving goals. Please let me know if I should expand these summaries or modify them in any way. I'm happy to keep refining the concise overviews of our primary personas.

User Story:

For Alex:

• As a young professional with student loan debt, I want to easily track my spending so I can understand where my money is going each month.

• As someone who struggles with impulsive spending, I want to set savings goals and budgets that keep me motivated so I can achieve my financial targets.

• As an app user, I want to visualize my progress in repaying debts so I can stay encouraged and committed.

For Sarah:

• As a busy mom, I want simple budgeting tools so I can painlessly keep my family finances organized.

• As someone intimidated by budgeting, I want clear guidance and recommendations so I can create a realistic spending plan.

• As an educator, I want to access money tips and lessons so I can improve my financial literacy and better teach my students.

Journey Map:

Phase II: Design

Problem Statement:

(Alex's Perspective)

Alex is a tech-savvy marketing assistant with student loan debt and dreams of homeownership. He needs a finance management app that simplifies budgeting, tracks expenses, and provides insights to curb impulsive spending. The problem lies in the overwhelming feeling of financial stress and the challenge of finding an app that resonates with someone like Alex, who is eager to control his finances but struggles to stick to traditional budgeting methods.

Hypothesis Statement:

If Alex can use the finance management app to effortlessly set budgets, receive real-time spending alerts, and visualize progress toward his financial goals, then he will gain confidence, reduce financial stress, and establish consistent saving habits.

Value Proposition:

Our finance management app goes beyond conventional budgeting tools, catering to the tech-savvy needs of users like Alex. With features like intuitive budget creation, personalized spending insights, and a user-friendly interface, the app ensures a seamless experience for users aiming to control their finances, reduce stress, and achieve their financial milestones. It offers a unique blend of simplicity and effectiveness, aligning with the preferences of tech-savvy individuals like Alex.

Phase III: Ideate

After empathizing with users and defining the problem, it’s time to ideate.

Goal Statement:

"The Funds Management App will provide users with easy budgeting tools and personalized financial guidance, allowing anyone to gain control of their spending and achieve their money goals. By tracking expenses, visualizing budgets, and sending actionable insights, the app enables users to develop positive financial habits. We will measure success by users paying down debt, increasing savings, and feeling more empowered and educated about their finances."

Key points:

Who: For any users wanting to improve their finances

What: Budgeting tools, personalized guidance, spending insights

Why: Gain control, develop good financial habits

Success Measures: Reduced debt, increased savings, greater financial empowerment

Competitive Audit: Funds Management Apps:

1. Mint:

Strengths:

• Comprehensive financial overview.

• Automated expense tracking.

• Budgeting and goal-setting features.

• Alerts for bills and unusual spending.

Weaknesses:

• Ad-heavy interface.

• Limited customization options.

• Security concerns.

• Can be overwhelming for some users.

2. Wally:

Strengths:

• Simple and intuitive interface.

• Expense tracking with receipt scanning.

• Goal setting and savings features.

• No ads.

Weaknesses:

• Limited investment tracking.

• Less automation compared to competitors.

• Updates and new features may be infrequent.

3. Zoho Expenses:

Strengths:

• Business-oriented expense management.

• Integration with Zoho's suite of apps.

• Robust reporting and analytics.

• User-level access controls.

Weaknesses:

• May be too complex for personal use.

• Lack of investment tracking.

• Not as feature-rich for personal finance.

How Might We:

• HMW enhance the overall engagement of users in budgeting activities?

• HMW improve the efficiency of family finance management for a diverse user group?

• HMW streamline the process of tracking and controlling impulsive spending for users?

• HMW design a financial management experience that caters to users with varying levels of tech-savviness?

• HMW support users in setting and achieving personalized saving goals, regardless of their background?

• HMW integrate features that prevent impulsive purchases and promote adherence to budget plans for all users?

• HMW leverages technology to make financial tracking and budgeting universally accessible?

• HMW create a flexible and personalized savings plan that suits the diverse financial goals of users?

Phase IV & V: Prototype & Test

Wireframe: (Google UX design Certificate)

Mockup: (Google UX design Certificate)

To know more: reach me at shahbaz63@gmail.com;

THANK YOU