Project Overview:
‘Cashbud’ is a budgeting tool available on mobile devices. The app is designed to help young people with managing a budget.
User research: Summary
In this stage of initial user research the goal was to identify the potential target market and potential users and understand their problems and needs. To do this a number of research methods were used including User Pain Points, User Personas and User Stories
User research: Interviews
To gather user sentiment on managing finances and budgeting I conducted 3 user interviews with 3 participants and each user interview lasted about 5 minutes. Here is a few example questions I asked participants during interviews.
Are you struggling with your current financial situation and education or living situation?
What are some of the financial challenges you face?
What are some of the tools or strategies (if any) you currently use to help you manage your finances?
From the various responses from user interviews I crafted User Pain Points, User Personas and User Stories
User research: Pain Points
Is currently overspending to much and it’s affecting his living
Struggles to keep track of his finances and struggles to budget himself
Persona: Connor
Connor is an 18 year old medical studies student, who needs an efficient and effective budgeting tool to keep track of his finances because he wants to be more responsible with his money and a stop himself from overspending
Persona: Rose
Rose is a 24 year old advertiser, who needs an efficient and effective budgeting tool to keep track of her finances because she needs help with new monetary challenges
User Stories
Two user stories were created describing the two users, why they would need the app and what be benefit they gain from having it.
Digital wireframes
Usability Study: Findings
2 usability studies were conducted, one for the original mockup phase of the project. The second was conducted after the redesign and refining phase.
The following is feedback from an unmoderated usability study hosted on Maze
I used the feedback I received as guidance during the initial design and redesign phases of the project
High-fidelity prototype
When completed, I made a number changes from the initial mockup to the redesign
Including:
Adding a “Dark Mode” style and contrasting shades of light and dark purple to add vibrancy.
Adding specific typography and scales different from the initial wireframes.
Adding more additional screens and content then was originally planned during the wireframing stage.
Adding component states when adding a budgeting goal and adding bank account details.
Takeaways
Overall I achieved my initial goal for creating this app and project. I refined my skills and this is one of my best projects with a good visual style and interactions.
If I was to do this project again there are a few things I would do differently.
Spend more time in the initial UX Research and possibly conduct more usability studies to improve the final product with another round of user testing.
Possibly consider creating a fully fledged screen for social features instead of a small section of the profile screen.
Consider experimenting with a different visual style to add a bit more variety to my body of work.
Next steps
I hope to use some of the skills and lessons I learned from this project and transfer them to future projects.
