FinMate
Your Financial Friend for a Brighter Tomorrow
Product Overview:
FinMate is a personal finance management app designed to help users streamline their financial activities, such as budgeting, expense tracking, and goal setting. It aims to provide a user-friendly interface that simplifies financial management, making it accessible even to those without extensive financial knowledge. The app integrates visual reports, customizable budgeting tools, and real-time expense tracking, ensuring that users have a clear overview of their financial health at all times.
Duration: 12th July - 30th August (6 weeks)
Problem Statement:
"How might we design a financial management app that simplifies the budgeting process, making it accessible and engaging for users with varying levels of financial literacy?"
Goals:
"To create an intuitive and engaging personal finance app that empowers users to take control of their finances, helping them budget effectively, track expenses, and achieve their financial goals."
Target Audience:
Individuals aged 20-50 who are looking to manage their personal finances more effectively, from budgeting beginners to experienced savers.
Style Guide:
Design Process:
Empathize
Conducted user research to understand the pain points and goals of potential users. This phase involved surveys, interviews, and competitive analysis to gather insights into what users need and expect from a personal finance app.
Define
Based on the research, created user personas, empathy maps, and defined the key user journeys and task flows. This stage helped in clarifying the app's core features and the challenges it needs to address.
Ideate
Brainstormed and sketched initial ideas for the app's layout and features. The focus was on making the app intuitive and user-friendly. Card sorting and information architecture sessions were conducted to organize the app's content logically.
Design
Developed low-fidelity wireframes to map out the app’s structure. These wireframes evolved into mid and high-fidelity prototypes, incorporating user feedback at each stage. The final design was polished with consistent typography, color schemes, and interactive elements.
Test
Conducted usability testing to validate the design with real users. Gathered feedback on the app's functionality and ease of use, leading to iterative refinements. The final product was tested for usability and accessibility.
User Personas:
Responsibility:
UX Research
Wireframing
Prototyping
Usability Testing
Visual Design
Tools:
Figma
Illustrator
LucidChart
User Research:
User research involved interviews and surveys with individuals across different age groups and financial backgrounds. Insights revealed that users struggle with complex financial tools and desire a simpler, more intuitive way to manage their finances.
Competitive Analysis:
Analyzed competing apps like Mint, YNAB (You Need A Budget), and PocketGuard. While these apps offer comprehensive financial tools, they often overwhelm users with complex features. FinMate focuses on simplicity and user-friendliness, with clear visuals and straightforward navigation.
Empathy Map:
User Flow:
Goal: Create a reliable budgeting system that helps her save for future goals like buying a house and traveling.
Start:
Emily becomes aware of FinMate through a friend's recommendation, feeling curious and hopeful.
Consideration:
Reads user reviews and customizes budgeting categories to match her spending habits.
Onboarding:
Chooses her primary goal (e.g., buying a house) and feels engaged and optimistic.
First-Time Use:
Sets up her budget and notifications, feeling empowered.
Engagement:
Uses intuitive features like insights and savings goals to manage her budget.
Achievement:
Receives a notification that she has successfully saved $300 towards her house fund, feeling accomplished and motivated.
End:
Emily's financial achievement and continued journey with FinMate
Information Architecture:
Sketches/ Low Fidelity Wireframes:
Sketch to Hi-Fi Screen:
High Fidelity Wireframes :
What This Product Taught Me:
Working on FinMate emphasized the need for simplicity in design, especially in finance-related apps. It reinforced the importance of continuous user feedback and iteration, ensuring that the final product is not only functional but also enjoyable to use.