STASH

- Case Study -

A personal finance mobile app to help users stick to a budget and reach financial goals.

Project Overview

✧ Project Dates: December 2022 - April 2023

✧ Client: Stash

✧ Role: UX Researcher, UX/UI Designer, User Testing

✧ Project Problem: People do not have a savings plan to reach their financial goals. 

✧ Deliverables: Create an end-to-end application for users that is engaging and informative to track their saving goals and encourage financial planning.

✧ Tools: Figma, Useberry

✧ Project Background ✧

Many young adults are thrust into post-school life without much knowledge on how to manage personal finances. Just starting off in their careers, each way they spend their money is extremely important. 

Empathize

Competitive Analysis

I started the design process by researching the personal finance market. Studies show continual increases for finance managing apps (120% Y-o-Y) as people are looking to grow their financial security.

1-on-1 Interviews

After gathering questions related to one’s experience with personal finance, I interviewed six people to find common viewpoints on managing money.

Goals

  • Stick to a daily/weekly/monthly budget

  • Increase savings account for long-term and short-term goals

  • Pay off debt

  • Gain financial knowledge, learn about investment and retirement

Motivations

  • Financial security, something to fall back on due to loss of job or unexpected bill

  • Save up for a big purchase; i.e. home, car, vacation

  • Increase awareness in spending to know where their money is going and make better financial decisions

  • Reduce financial stress by creating a clear budget that covers needs

Frustrations

  • Tracking can be time-consuming, especially for those without a streamlined system in place

  • Lack of discipline when it comes to sticking to a budget or not regularly updating their financial information

  • Some tools may not have all the features need (customized goals or having to pay for premium features)

  • No access to their budget while going throughout their daily life

Habits

  • Checks bank account frequently (daily - weekly)

  • Discuss their savings goals with friends and family for encouragement and accountability

  • Attempts to track finances through various tools (excel spreadsheet, banking app)

Define

User Persona

Meet Sara, a 33 year old manager looking for a way to make her financial goals more manageable.

Empathy Map

To further empathize with our users, I created an empathy map for Sarah to better understand her thoughts, feelings, frustrations, and goals.

Feature Roadmap

Based off the persona’s needs for managing and growing their finances, I then compiled a list of features to include in the app ranging in priority.

Ideate

Task Flows

I created a task flow that highlights each main step in order for the user to hit a financial goal.

Site Map

For each high priority step, I outlined where each feature should be located within the app.

Low-Fidelity Wireframes

With a rough idea of how to organize each feature, I created low-fidelity wireframes to start building out the app.

Frames 1-8: Onboarding

Frames 9-14: Onboarding, Fame 15: Profile, Frame 16: Creating a Goal

Frame 17-19: Creating a Goal, Frame 20-21: Adding Money to Goal, Frames 22-24: Monthly Budget

Design

Branding

I decided to keep the logo for Stash simple, designing a pig with wings to symbolize a “piggy bank on-the-go.” The primary brand color is a bright green to represent the financial aspect of the app, along with secondary bright colors to give it a dynamic feel.

UI Kit

When designing the UI for the app, my main goal was to keep inline with the branding and create bright and engaging visuals while maintaining simplicity to avoid an overwhelming feeling.

High-Fidelity Wireframes

Added UI to wireframes and iterated on a some pages based on feedback from weekly design meetings.

Testing

Prototype

A prototype was then created to complete usability testing.

Prototype on Figma ↑

Scenario for Testing

While you’ve been growing your emergency savings fund since college, you’re now additionally looking to save up for a new car. Although you check your finances weekly on your banking app, it is hard to remember to transfer money to your savings or stick to a budget. You heard about a new app called STASH that allows you to create savings goals where you can track and add to each savings goal. You can also set a monthly budget so you can ensure you have left over money to add to your goals.  

Task 1: Create an Account and Link Bank

Task 2: Creating a Stash & Task 3: Assigning a Category to a Transaction

User Testing

The prototype was tested amongst a total of 6 people, two were performed in person with the remaining tested through Useberry. I then compiled a list of the feedback gained during the testing.

Iterations

The results of the usability testing determined what worked and what needed more iterations. View updated prototype

Re-Designing a clearer and simpler component

A simpler and more compact design was given to show a quick overview of all stashes. The icon indicates to the user the ability to view more. The “Create a Stash” button was changed to a primary button to respect hierarchy and an update to the copy creating a cohesive message throughout the app.

Interactions for Linking a Bank Account

Users will now be able to individually link each account. UI was updated to make a clear difference between selected and unselected accounts. The default setting will be all accounts selected until user manually changes it.

Reflection

If given more time the next steps taken in the project would be:

✧ Lower Priority Features

Build out lower priority features, for example, the learning center and customizable alerts.

✧ Gamification

Expand on the gamification aspect of the app by creating savings quests, friend challenges, and more rewards options.

✧ More Testing

Create a prototype with iterated pages as well as new features for a usability testing.

✧ What I Learned ✧

Developing an end-to-end application from inception required rigorous organization and discipline. The biggest challenge I encountered throughout this project was organizing the features and navigation flow. Initially, the breadth of possibilities felt overwhelming, but I learned the value of prioritization and honing in on the highest-priority features. This approach made it much more feasible to structure the app in a manner that would ultimately offer an optimal user experience.