2023
SORT : AI powered expense tracking app
Design for basic life-skill
UX design
Case study
Mobile app
PROJECT CONTEXT
Duration -
Role -
Intent-
1 month (4 weeks)
UX designer
Self-initiated project
ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES
Scope of work
User research, User interviews, Online surveys, Competitive analyses & Heuristic evaluation, Customer journey map, User persona, Information architecture, Wireframing, Prototyping, Design system
BACKGROUND
As a finance management enthusiast, I often engage in informal conversations about expense-tracking practices. These conversations have uncovered a diversity of viewpoints, a general lack of awareness, and numerous common obstacles. Seeing an opportunity for a design intervention to mitigate these problems, I initiated this project to make the expense-tracking process easier for people. The goal is to foster a practice of personal finance management. The project leverages the potential of AI as a tool to make expense tracking more accessible, nurturing expense tracking as a fundamental life skill.
BACKGROUND
As a finance management enthusiast, I often engage in informal conversations about expense tracking practices. These conversations have uncovered a diversity of viewpoints, a general lack of awareness, and numerous common obstacles. Seeing an opportunity for a design intervention to mitigate these problems, I initiated a project focused on making the expense tracking process easier for people. The goal is to foster a practice of personal finance management.
The project leverages potential of AI as a tool to make expense tracking more accessible, nurturing expense tracking as a fundamental life skill.
PROJECT CONTEXT
Duration - 3 months (12 weeks)
Role - UX designer
Intent - Self-initiated project
ROLES & RESPONSIBILITIES
Scope of work - User research, User interviews, Online surveys, Competitive analyses & Heuristic evaluation, Customer journey map, User persona, Information architecture, Wireframing, Prototyping, Design system
SOLUTION
A mobile app designed to
- overcome the challenges of data recording, thus enhancing the finance tracking experience.
- by using AI as an enabling tool to achieve efficient expense recording, tracking and sharing across platforms devices.
PROBLEM
The users found daily expense tracking tedious task due to the following reasons:
1. hectic lifestyle leading to missing out on recording all the expenses.
2. their preference of expense tracking manually in google sheets.
3. challenging user experience while using Google sheets on mobile phones, to record expenses instantly and conveniently.
HOW MIGHT WE...
1.
Facilitate a seamless experience in recording expenses, readily accessible at your fingertips.
2.
Transform expense data into actionable insights to assist users in enhancing their financial management abilities.
3.
Facilitate an effortless experience in saving and sharing data across platforms.
SORT : AI powered expense tracking app
2023
Design for basic life-skill
UX design
Case study
Mobile app
PROBLEM
The users found daily expense tracking tedious task due to the following reasons:
1. hectic lifestyle leading to missing out on recording all the expenses.
2. their preference of expense tracking manually in google sheets.
3. challenging user experience while using Google sheets on mobile phones, to record expenses instantly and conveniently.
HOW MIGHT WE..
SOLUTION
A mobile app designed to
- overcome the challenges of data recording, thus enhancing the finance tracking experience.
- by using AI as an enabling tool to achieve efficient expense recording, tracking and sharing across platforms devices.
Expense recording at your fingertips
Instantly adding and categorizing expenses via an AI-powered chat feature reduces the hassle of manual data entry.
Capture and record your expenses efficiently
Record expenses effortlessly by simply uploading your receipts and allowing AI to handle the rest!
Deep insights and AI
View the recorded expense statistics in an easily understandable visual format, augmented with meaningful AI insights.
Record saving and sharing simplified
Unlock a seamless experience of saving and sharing records across platforms.
DESIGN APPROACH
The project adhered to a 4D methodology, encompassing the 4 iterative stages of Discover, Define, Design, and Deliver.
RESEARCH SUMMARY
The comprehensive primary and secondary research provided essential insights on money management habits & viewpoints of potential user group.
The project started with research to understand the context of the problem through online surveys and initial interviews with people. Moving forward, I conducted contextual inquiry and user interviews, analyzed existing platforms used for expense tracking, and then synthesized all of this data into an affinity map that helped in crafting user personas, journey maps, and potential design directions for this project.
CONTEXTUAL INQUIRY
To observe the participant in his/her natural context on a typical workday and weekend to study the expense tracking patterns
USER INTERVIEWS
To conduct unstructured interviews to obtain detailed insights into individuals' money spending and managing habits
ONLINE SURVEYS
An inquiry about the personal money management (spending, saving, tracking habits) to validate the problem statement
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
To study and analyze the existing apps mentioned by the users that they use for tracking/recording heir expenses
HUERISTICS
To study the usability and overall user experience of the most commonly used platform- Google sheets, but in mobile app
1.
Users favored platforms that offered customization flexibility for recording expense data.
2.
The challenge in expense tracking lay not in the initiative itself, but in finding the right tool or platform to facilitate it.
3.
Users preferred manual data entry on their chosen platforms for tracking expenses, yet they also noted it as a burdensome task to maintain daily.
4.
Concerns over data security and complex onboarding procedures were the primary reasons for discontinuing the use of financial tracking platforms.
5.
Millennials tend to practice expense tracking with more diligence compared to Gen Z.
6.
Challenge with recording expenses instantly and conveniently
KEY INSIGHTS
01
Users favored platforms that offered customization flexibility for recording expense data.
02
The challenge in expense tracking lay not in the initiative itself, but in finding the right tool or platform to facilitate it.
03
Users preferred manual data entry on their chosen platforms for tracking expenses, yet they also noted it as a burdensome task to maintain daily.
04
Concerns over data security and complex onboarding procedures were the primary reasons for discontinuing the use of financial tracking platforms.
05
Millennials tend to practice expense tracking with more diligence compared to Gen Z.
06
Challenge with recording expenses instantly and conveniently
1.
Facilitate a seamless experience in recording expenses, readily accessible at your fingertips.
2.
Transform expense data into actionable insights to assist users in enhancing their financial management abilities.
3.
Facilitate an effortless experience of saving and sharing expenses data across platforms.
CONTEXTUAL INQUIRY
To observe the participant in his/her natural context on a typical workday and weekend to study the expense tracking patterns
USER INTERVIEWS
To conduct unstructured interviews to obtain detailed insights into individuals' money spending and managing habits
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
To study and analyze the existing apps mentioned by the users that they use for tracking/recording heir expenses
ONLINE SURVEYS
An inquiry about the personal money management (spending, saving, tracking habits) to validate the problem statement
HEURISTICS
To study the usability and overall user experience of the most commonly used platform- Google sheets, but in mobile app
USER PERSONA
POTENTIAL PROJECT DIRECTIONS
Based on the compiled research findings, there were 4 potential and divergent design directions identified that tackled the problem space. These directions were thoroughly discussed with the research focus group to get an alignment and validation for the preferred direction.
01
A platform (an app) that integrates all the banking and expense tracking features, like a super app.
02
A Progressive Web App added to existing payment platforms.
03
A game-based learning and self-reflecting tool that educates the user about money management
04
A platform for data recording to solve the pain point of recording expenses.
INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE
WIREFRAMES
FEEDBACK RECEIVED
- The resolution for the key pain point of recording data was appreciated. The various ways of entering data enabled the users to choose as per their convenience/preference.
- The repository of the TRENDING and DISCOVER section of the home feed screen was well-received and was marked to be a helpful click on a need/interest basis.
- AI INSIGHTS on the expense patterns were acknowledged with positive feedback.
- During constructive feedback sessions, the need for linking personal banking data was realised, which can be resolved in the next phase of the app feature.
DESIGNS
TAKEAWAYS
- Efficiently absorbing and managing business requirements and expectations.
- Exhibiting active collaboration and effective communication with cross-functional teams, to achieve project milestones.
- Planning and executing design sprints following agile methodology.
- The pinnacle of this project experience is achieving a balance between user-focused designs and the business's vision.
- Resolving end-to-end user journeys while keeping the flow easy to navigate through.
- Learning about Heuristics as a tool how it can be used in the research process.
- An effort to plan project timelines & execute the project like a real-time project, for the purpose of self-learning.
- Exploring prototyping to make the design flows for user-testing and feedback.
HEURISTICS
USER JOURNEY MAP
COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS
The competitive analysis was done for the most-mentioned platforms during the user interviews and surveys
TAKEAWAYS
- Resolving end-to-end user journeys while keeping the flow easy to navigate through.
- Learning about research methods like Heuristics as a tool how it can be used in the research process.
- An effort to plan project timelines & execute the project like a real-time project, for self-learning.
- Exploring prototyping to make the design flow for user testing and feedback.