Creating a budgeting app with visual planning tools

I designed a budgeting app for Gen Z freelancers who prefer graphics instead of numbers

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Project Overview
Concept design for a budgeting app

Tools & Methods

  • User Research

  • Competitive Audit

  • Wireframes

  • UI Design

Research & Insights
Concept design for a budgeting app

1:1 Interviews

I conducted 5 one-on-one interviews, asking five different questions about the interviewee's experience with budgeting apps.

Concept design for a budgeting app

Empathy Maps

I used the insights I received from the interviews to create empathy maps. I outlined what the participants said, thought, do, and feel when it comes to tracking their spending.

Concept design for a budgeting app

Persona

Once the empathy maps were complete, I was able to create a persona based on the insights.

Competitive Audit

I chose three financial apps to conduct a competitive audit: Mint, Qapital, and Copilot.

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Mint

It looks very clinical, like something a traditional bank would look like. It makes me feel like my dad is doing his budget, and not me.

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Qapital

Qapital is simply a savings app and not for budgeting or tracking spending

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Copilot

The design is modern and slick, but it also looks like I’m on wall street and that could be intimidating

The Designs
Concept design for a budgeting app

Wireframes

Time to start designing

Using Figma, I translated my first sketches into low-fidelity wireframes. Then, I improved them by adding a few relevant stock images and copies. At this stage, the wireframes were defined enough for some user testing. Based on 4 tests, I’ve made a few alternations and moved on to creating high-fidelity prototypes.

Concept design for a budgeting app

UI Design

Designing for modern budgeting

Once the usability issues were resolved, I designed the final screens in Figma. My goal was to create a visual identity that was not intimidating for users. Something slick and simple. Also, I checked the competition and took a deep dive into my catalog of references for inspiration.

Project Summary

I conducted 1:1 interviews and created empathy maps and a user persona. I performed a competitive audit and used all of those insights to brainstorm ideas for the app’s UI design. For me, this was a fun experiment in working on a financial product and I enjoyed the process and look forward to digger deeper and creating more

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