August - September 2023 (9 weeks)
Solo student project to learn app design
Problem
College students have a hard time handling their finances
As a college student, I've noticed that many of my peers struggle to take their finances seriously, with many not even attempting to create a budget for their spending. This got me thinking—why is budgeting so challenging at this stage of our lives, and how can I help solve this problem?
The Solution
Beginner friendly budgeting app
Aid my peers in their financial goals and simplifying the money saving process for those who have a hard time staying on track by creating an app that'll fit their needs.
White Paper Research
Money habits are formed as early as the age of seven…
I began looking into research papers that discussed financial independence with young adults and the statistics between them compared to those that don't budget, when I came across this statistic from Pew Research Center:
"45% of young adults say they are completely financially independent from their parents… compared with 44% of those ages 25 to 29 and 16% of those ages 18 to 24."
These statistics reveal a significant gap in financial knowledge among my peers—college students. For instance, there is a 29% difference in financial independence between young adults aged 18 to 24 and those aged 25 to 29. So, what factors contribute to this substantial disparity across age groups?
Competitive Analysis
The competition had no beginner friendly features.
I analyzed several apps to identify key features and differentiate them from competitors. By examining App Store reviews, I gained insights into user preferences and areas for improvement. While well-designed, these apps primarily catered to users with full-time careers, overlooking the financial struggles faced by my peers.
User Interviews
My interviewees found budgeting apps to be intimidating and would quickly uninstall them after a short period of using it.
I've conducted interviews with 7 students who have had trouble keeping up with their finances and saving money. I asked them these questions below to further understand what the root cause of their financial issues as well as what they've done to improve them.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS:
Have you used a budgeting app before?
Have you recently struggled with your finances?
How do you save money?
What is your process for budgeting?
Do you often use a credit card?
How did you learn to budget?
Main Insight
Based on the feedback I received, I noticed the inconsistency that my interviewees had with using budgeting apps and just overall lack of proficiency in saving money. However, I was able to gather answers to my previous question from the White Paper Research stage.
Major Insights
Theme 1: Foundation
Parents are not putting enough emphasis on financial literacy which leads to young adults having a hard time saving money and even not knowing how to make use of the money they do have correctly. A lot of my peers struggle with even maintaining their finances and deal with credit debt, so it is paramount that parents teach their children how to successfully save and budget as well as the pros and cons of credit cards.
Theme 2: Knowledge
A lot of the time people have a very basic level of how to budget and do it in such a way where it is not efficient in the long run. There needs to be a better understanding of budgeting within your circumstances since we all know that budgeting methods is not a one size fits all model.
Theme 3: Inconsistency
My peers are also very inconsistent when it comes to using budgeting apps and saving money the traditional way. They start off strong and motivated when they first start budgeting but then find themselves slowly losing motivation. There can be many reasons for this with some being losing a job, unexpected expenses, etc. After these situations arise, they feel like they've "failed." After this, it's hard to get back on track.
The Persona
Design
Setback + learning curves for app designing
I spent my first week creating a lot of mockups and playing around with layouts to test which ones made sense. At first I had wanted to make an intro survey that gauged the users knowledge and what they wanted to use the app for, based on that input the app would then have specific features that catered to the users needs. However, I decided on not doing it as it would take even longer to implement and I wanted something feasible as my intro into app design.
Testing + Improvements
3 major improvements in my design
Based on various feedback (peers+mentors) on my first iteration, I spent time continuously revising my design and was able to make 3 major improvements for the final design.
