Imagine opening an app only to be greeted by a whirlwind of numbers and options—a labyrinth where every tap feels like a misstep. Many users abandon apps at this very point, especially when faced with the stress-inducing world of personal finance. The home screen should be a welcoming doorway, not a wall of anxiety. Recognizing this, I embarked on designing wireframes for the home, friends, wallet, and project detail screens, aiming to make financial management feel less like a chore and more like a rewarding journey.
In my initial design, I focused on presenting the most rewarding and immediate actions on the home screen. However, the first round of usability testing revealed concerns: inconsistent navigation, an overly complex planning mechanism, and underutilized functions. Users felt lost, much like wandering through a maze without a map.
Taking this feedback to heart, I streamlined the navigation by unifying top navigations and ensuring consistent visuals across screens for project folders, plan items, and tasks. I simplified the planning mechanism, integrating it with accomplishment systems into a feature called "Today's Challenge." Section names were refined to be direct and intuitive.
The revamped prototype underwent a second round of testing with three new participants. The results were promising: the conversion rate jumped from 80% to 100%, and task completion times dropped to under a minute. It was as if we had turned a tangled jungle into a well-marked trail.
Yet, another layer of complexity emerged—users struggled to distinguish between routine, temporary, shared, and personal expenses. It became clear that people's financial habits are as unique as their fingerprints, necessitating separate mechanisms for recurring and one-time expenses.
To address this, I strategically adopted visual cues in the design system. Shapes indicated interactivity, distinguishing buttons from static elements. Colors became a silent language: black for money distribution, blue for regular bills, and pink for dream activities needing extra funding. By aligning the app's structure with users' mental models, I flattened nested interactions and reduced navigation efforts, trimming the main screens from four to three without sacrificing essential features.
The home screen now displays:
- Goals: Ongoing projects and items nearing their due dates.
- Today's To-Do: System-generated tasks breaking down larger goals into daily steps.
- Budget Pals: Colorful geometric figures that users can exchange for points earned through accomplishments—a playful nod to keeping financial health engaging.
The budget screen offers:
- Available Funding: Shows free money by subtracting allocated funds from the bank balance.
- Reassign: Quick options for adjusting allocations.
- Add Paid: Easy inputs for recording expenditures.
- Active Projects: An overview of budget projects highlighting funding progress and spending comparisons.
Expandable project folders allow for item-level adjustments, with fixed expenses and planned spending color-coded for clarity.
In the project edit screen, users can collaboratively plan activities and manage spending with group members. A default summary assists in quickly calculating money splits based on the planned budget, split rules, and payments made. Communication is fostered through comments, likes, votes, and notes. Users aren't pressured to plan every detail upfront; they can create variations and make decisions as they go—a flexibility that accommodates the unpredictability of life.
Lastly, the friends screen enables users to view project updates and recent activities, reacting with encouragements or progress reminders—a social touch that turns financial management into a communal experience.
Designing this app was a journey through the intricate pathways of user experience, where every decision had to balance functionality with simplicity. By listening to users and iteratively refining the design, I transformed an overwhelming interface into an inviting tool that empowers users to take control of their finances. After all, managing money shouldn't feel like wrestling an octopus; it should feel like steering a ship toward your dreams.