CASE STUDY

Balance is a modern, simplified take on the personal budgeting app. Developed in accordance with the latest research in FinTech, Balance delivers a streamlined budgeting experience that actually helps people save money in the long term - unlike most budgeting apps out there.
ROLE - Product Designer   |   TOOLS - Figma  |  TIMELINE - 2021 to Present

Project OVerview

‍Balance is simplified personal budgeting app that allows users to set budgets that easily track spending. Balance also lets users set budget ranges - a unique feature that most budgeting apps don't have. I designed Balance as a personal capstone project in order to demonstrate my product design and UX research skills. This project was done solo and was not part of any course or bootcamp.

CLICK TO JUMP TO SOLUTION

My Role

01   DISCOVERY

02   IDEATION

03   USER-TESTING

04   REFINEMENT

05   THE SOLUTION

Click to navigate to the section
01 / 05

DISCOVERY

THE IDEA

The concept for Balance first came from a conversation I had with my mom - a Certified Financial Planner. We were discussing tech and how it relates to her practice when she mentioned how many of her clients struggled with budgeting, despite using multiple budgeting apps. I found this very interesting as I personally, have been an on-and-off user of budgeting apps and have had similar frustrations.

It got me thinking - why were her clients struggling with these apps and how could I fix it?

THE INITIAL  PROBLEM SPACE

Through further conversations with my mom, I was able to identify a few specific issues that caused her clients difficulties while using budgeting apps.

Budgeting is hard in general

Many people find it difficult to track spending. To solve this, we use budgets. However, traditional budgeting requires lots of detailed tracking and discipline - something most people struggle with. This is usually where apps come in.

Budgeting apps are complicated and difficult to use

During our discussions, my mom mentioned that her clients failed to use budgeting apps because of how complicated they were. Many of them are older and not very tech-saavy and were intimidated by having to manually set-up budgets on the apps. They also complained about how much information was required to set up an account.

PRIMARY RESEARCH

User Interviews - How are budgeting app users feeling?

The conversations I had with my mom were helpful and pointed me in the right direction. However, I wanted to hear directly from the source. So, I decided to conduct short interviews with a few of my mom's clients (+ one of my friends) who had experience with using budgeting apps. Here are their responses:
“I often spend more than I should, so I see a need for budgeting. I thought using these apps would be easy, but I always find them complicated and difficult to use. I rarely go more than a month using one before giving up.”

- Financial Analyst, 55
“I really like the idea of budgeting apps but I get frustrated with them. I’ve tried Mint and Goodbudget but they require so much work to set up and rarely ever end up reducing my spending. I usually just end up forgetting about them.”

- Software Developer, 27
“Last year I got layed off and our family needed to start budgeting as we were tighter on cash. I tried using budgeting apps but I found them annoying and intimidating to set up. I’m not great with technology so maybe that’s why it was hard.”

- Insurance Broker, 44

Competitive Analysis

Next, I wanted to take a look at some of the popular budgeting apps that my mom's clients mentioned. The goal of this analysis was to see what each app did well and what the positive/negative commonalities were between all of them.
- MINT ANALYSIS -
PRODUCT: Mint by Intuit
PLATFORM: iOS/Android App

FEATURES:  Budget tracking, Cash flow analysis, Credit score, Bill payments

PROS: 
- Credit card/Bank account connection
- Wide array of features
- Clean user interface

CONS: 
- Many features can cause an overall confusing user experience
- Complicated onboarding process
- Free for most features

HOW IS IT FOR BUDGETING?
Mint is a fantastic tool for those looking for a large # of personal finance tools. Things like credit scores, bills payments and loan trackers are their comp advantage. However, for just budgeting, it can be a bit confusing as most of their pages display other financial metrics that aren’t budgeting-related.
- YNAB ANALYSIS -
PRODUCT: You Need A Budget (YNAB)
PLATFORM: iOS/Android App, Web App

FEATURES:  Budget tracking, Cash flow analysis, Reporting, Multi-platform

PROS: 
- Credit card/Bank account connection
- Deep focus on budget tracking
- Highly customizable

CONS: 
- So many custom options make set-up/onboarding extremely lengthy and complicated
- Very expensive for full service

HOW IS IT FOR BUDGETING?
As a primary budgeting app, YNAB does a good job for those looking to just budget. However, their app is geared toward those who are looking to meticulously track everything in very specific ways. Their UX doesn’t encourage simple budgeting (lower # of categories)
- GOODBUDGET ANALYSIS -
PRODUCT: Goodbudget
PLATFORM: iOS/Android App, Web App

FEATURES:  Budget tracking, Provides reports, Multi-platform
‍
PROS: 
- Focus on budget tracking
- Intuitive and easy to use
- Balance between simplicity/customizability

CONS: 
- No automated budget updates
- Dated user interface w/ poor visual design
- Only allows 1 connected account on free plan.

HOW IS IT FOR BUDGETING?
Goodbudget is a lot simpler and easy to use than Mint or YNAB. However, its greatest weakness is its lack of automation. Both Mint and YNAB automatically read expenses from the connected accounts and update the budgets without the user doing anything. This makes Goodbudget a hassle to use over a long period of time.
POSITIVE COMMONALITIES
  • Ability to connect credit cards and bank accounts.
  • Automated budget updates.
  • App's general intuitiveness and ease of use.
NEGATIVE COMMONALITIES
  • A large number of features and/or customizable options can take away from overall budgeting experience.
  • Complicated onboarding processes can be frustrating for users and cause them to abandon the app early on.

Primary research insights

Speaking to my mom's clients and analyzing the three most used budgeting apps gave me important insights into what users are looking for. Each app had a unique value proposition and offer different ways of setting/interacting with budgets.

Below are these insights:

Secondary research

The next step was to find external research to compare with my interview findings. However, I quickly learned that there aren't many studies on budgeting apps. Then, I came across a study by the Think Forward Initiative that changed my entire course of thinking.

The study that changed everything

In 2020, Anastasiya Ghosh and Liang Huang of the Think Forward Initiative, set out to examine the effectiveness of budgeting apps. To do this, they conducted a study, consisting of three field studies and two lab experiments where they examined budgeting app users' spending/saving behaviour over set periods of time.
The study's methodology breakdown
Ghosh & Huang observed over 1000 participants and compared the spending of those who used budgeting apps and those who did not. They wanted to see if budgeting app users saved more money than their counterparts, like most FinTech companies claim. The findings had massive implications:
Rather than helping users save, budgeting apps actually lead to an INCREASE in overall spending (Ghosh & Huang, 2020).
This was groundbreaking information. The fact that budgeting app users actually SPENT MORE money than their counterparts shows that, in most cases, these apps fail in their primary objective - helping people save. Read more about the study here:
-  MORE ABOUT THE STUDY -

STUDY'S INTERVENTIONS 
AND FINDINGS

In their study, Ghosh and Huang tested six interventions that were given to users while they used budgeting apps over set periods of time.

This chart illustrates the interventions, results, and hypothesized reasons for the findings.
Source: Ghosh & Huang, 2020

Post-study recommendations

At the end of the study, Ghosh & Huang included recommendations directed specifically at FinTech companies that develop budgeting apps. These were related to the study's interventions that actually reduced consumer spending rather than increasing it. Their three main recommendations were:
‍
- Using budget ranges instead of singular spending targets  -->  Led to a decrease in spending
- Reducing the overall number of budgets used  -->  Led to a decrease in spending
- Reducing the amount of budget-related information on the apps  -->  Led to a decrease in spending

‍
I took these recommendations and synthesized them into actionable insights. Below they are outlined:

THE NEW  PROBLEM

Budgeting apps don’t help users save and actually cause them to spend more.

The Ghosh & Huang illustrated this definitively - with over 1000 participants in the study. This had major design implications going forward and I strongly considered their recommendations.

Putting it all together

Hypothesis

Create a budgeting app that actually helps people save money. This will be designed using the insights gained during both research stages. It will also directly incorporate the interventions given by Ghosh and Huang. Below is how this would be all be applied:‍
02 / 05

IDEATION

Start of the design process

The goal was now to take all these insights and synthesize them into one cohesive design. I considered all six insights when sketching out the UI and envisioning the UX. My early focus was on the dashboard and budget pages. I made sure to keep them simple and highly visual.‍

Low fidelity wireframes

After I sketched out my ideas, I moved on to creating low-fidelity wireframes. Once completed, these were put together and linked into a functioning prototype in Figma. It was during this stage when I was able to focus on the onboarding experience.

Application of research insights into the design

As demonstrated by these wireframes, I addressed all six research insights in the overall design and user experience. ‍
- INSIGHT APPLICATIONS -
Simplicity
->  The app has one function: budgeting. Does not offer other finance metrics to keep things simple.

Automation  
->  Once an account is connected, the app automatically pulls expenses and updates each budget.

Onboarding  
->  Onboarding is streamlined, and done in the least # of steps possible.


Budget Ranges  
->  Ranges are highly integrated and a core part of the budgeting UX.

Limited Budgets  
->  The total number of # is soft-limited to 6 (users can add more but UI discourages this).

Less Information  
->  Budget cards display less info than other apps. Doesn't display how much $ is left in the budget.‍

User Flow

03 / 05

USER TESTING

After the low-fidelity wireframes and first prototype was finished, it was time to put my designs to the test. If I wanted to move forward, I would need validation from users. I reached out to some peers and completed two rounds of user testing over three days. Each took 20 minutes and were conducted in person/via zoom.

Two specific scenarios were tested - Onboarding and Budget Management. For each scenario, participants were given 5 task-objectives to complete.‍

Onboarding:

Three participants user tested onboarding. In the first round, 2/3 people failed to complete all task-objections. Iterations were then made and led to all users completing the 5 task-objectives successfully during the second round of testing. Expand below for more details.‍
- MORE ON ONBOARDING USER TESTS -
The response to the first round of onboarding user-tests were mostly positive. Users found the process of linking their bank account and credit card very easy, reporting a better overall experience than other budgeting apps they had used. 

They did have some negative feedback in regards to what each budget category exactly represented. The same people also struggled to set the budget ranges. Because of these issues, two people failed to complete the task. These issues would be iterated on and were solved during the next round of testing.‍
Low-Fi Onboarding Prototype

Budget Management

Three additional participants user tested budget management. Similar to onboarding, 2/3 people failed to complete all the task-objections. During the second round of tests, all users were able to complete the 5 task-objectives successfully. Expand below for details on the specific issues found.
- MORE ON BUDGET MANAGEMENT USER TESTS -
Similar to onboarding, the feedback for budgeting management was mostly positive. Users found navigating the dashboard "quite pleasing" and liked how visual it was. Many expressed they were able to gain a strong indication of their spending from a quick glance at the dashboard. A few users raised issues with the budget categories and mentioned that setting a range wasn't clear (similar to onboarding). 

Two people failed to complete the "set budget category" task-objective, identifying an issue that needed fixing. Other general feedback was given which was also considered (this feedback is addressed in the ITERATIONS section). This issue was iterated on and was solved during the next round of testing.‍
Low-Fi Budget Management Prototype
04 / 05

refinement

ITERATIONS

Major change #1 - "Set your budgets" Page (Onboarding)

User testers felt that setting a budget during onboarding wasn't clear and two people failed to complete it. To make this clearer, icons/colours were added to the categories. Text weight was also changed. A text box was added at the bottom explaining how budgets auto-read expenses from connected accounts. Finally, examples of expenses that fall into each respective category.

Major change #2 - Budget Category Page (Onboarding)

The primary issue during onboarding was the budget range graph. In the first round of tests, users felt that the bar graph was confusing and were not sure what it represented.

In the second round, the bars were removed and replaced with a grey background that represented the budget range. This made setting a budget range much easier. Lastly, "HIGH" and "LOW" were added in place of the dollar amounts to reduce redundancy and make messaging clearer.

Major change #3 - Dashboard

Post-user testing saw major revisions to the dashboard. The biggest changes happened after the second round of testing this time and mainly involved two specific instances - the colour palette of the budget categories and the inclusion of budget cards on the dashboard.‍
- COLOUR PALETTE -
The colour palette initially used different shades of turquoise to differentiate budget categories. These colours would also be tied into the product's branding. However, in practice, users felt that shades of one colour were confusing and made it visually difficult to differentiate the budget categories. It was clear that a greater contrast of colours was needed.
- DASHBOARD BUDGET CARDS -
During testing, users felt there was no reason to navigate to the budgets tab if all the budget categories were displayed on the dashboard. To solve this, the budget cards were replaced with "recent transactions" and an interaction was created where users tap the slices of the pie graph and are able to view that specific budget card (and transactions). ITERATION 3 illustrates this interaction.

Major change #4 - Budgets Page

After the first round of testing, users felt that this page's main function wasn't clear and what the sliders were supposed to represent. To solve this, the budget range numbers were moved to the top of the page and "HIGH" and "LOW" were added under them (and on the sliders as well). A line graph was also added to give stronger emphasis on historical spending within the category.
05 / 05

The solution

View Live Prototype
INTRODUCING...

BALANCE: Budgeting. SIMPLIFIED.

After the branding and visual identity was finished, everything was put together into a high fidelity prototype. Below are the final designs of the app, with an explanation for each main section. To test out the final prototype for yourself, click here.

Onboarding

Balance's onboarding process is streamlined and easy to follow. It requires minimal app-interaction and has options to add multiple credit cards and/or bank accounts. Setting budget ranges is made simple by either inputting directly using the keyboard or by dragging the intuitive sliders to the desired range.
Onboarding Prototype

Dashboard

Balance's dashboard is where the app really shines. It's highly visual and displays only the necessary information for budget tracking. Users are able to get a general sense of spending at a quick glance. Navigating to specific budget categories is also easy, as it requires just a quick tap of the pie-graph slice to bring up the status of the selected budget.
Dashboard Prototype

Budgets

Unlike most apps, Balance uses budget ranges - a research-backed budgeting method that actually helps users spend less. Balance's budget page displays only essential information and gives users a general sense of spending at a quick glance. On the budget category page, users can easily adjust the budget ranges and see their historical spending.
Budgets Prototype

Accounts

Balance lets users easily connect their bank accounts and credit cards. The app can read the expenses of the connected accounts and automatically update the budgets. For stronger budgeting accuracy, users can select which budget categories they want each account to contribute to - a unique feature that most other budgeting apps do not have.
Budgets Prototype

branding & Visual identity

The branding, logo, and visual identity were designed to reflect the concept of simplicity. It was important that messaging was clear in order to not create the expectation of a feature-heavy finance app. Users need to understand that the product is an easy-to-use, simple budgeting app (and that it has been intentionally designed this way).

NEXT STEPS

At its current state, Balance is at the MVP stage and is ready for further user testing for continued refinement. The business objectives will need to be re-evaluated and different monetization options will be brainstormed. The product will then be ready for full-scale development and I plan to reach out to my network of software developers to see who may be interested in partnering. Finally, I plan on fully designing a companion app for the Apple Watch.

WHAT I LEARNED

Balance was my first large-scale, personal project and was truly the culmination of everything I have learned so far in UX and Product Design. Additionally, I learned a ton while working on it over the past year.

How the designer feels   =/=   How the user feels

This project made me realize that my pre-existing feelings/expectations are not always consistent with how users feel - particularly when they come from different demographics. While I shared a few similar thoughts to the users that I spoke with, the insights gained from the interviews and user tests far eclipsed my initial feelings and expectations. This led to many more changes and iterations than I thought it would.

Don't under-utilize secondary research

Going into the secondary research phase, I expected to find a few articles that would help support my primary research findings. However, once I found the Ghosh & Huang study, it changed my entire perspective and had major implications towards the rest of the design process. This made me realize that external secondary research can be very powerful and shouldn't be overlooked (as it often is by junior designers).

Thanks for reading!

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