Project
Overview
Role: UX Designer (Solo Project)
Duration: 6 Weeks
Tools: Figma, Notion, Google Forms
Platform: Mobile Application (iOS & Android)
Objective
Design a user-centric budgeting app that facilitates collaborative savings among friends and family, addressing the challenges of joint financial goal management.
Problem statement
Managing personal finances is challenging for many, and the complexity increases when coordinating savings for shared goals, such as vacations or group purchases. Existing tools often lack features that support collaborative budgeting, leading to confusion, miscommunication, and unmet financial objectives.
Solution
To address the challenges of collaborative budgeting by allowing users to create shared financial goals, transparently track individual contributions, and assign accountability partners to maintain commitment within the group. By combining progress visibility, role-based responsibility, and flexible goal-setting, the app transforms joint saving from a disorganized effort into a structured, motivating, and socially engaging experience—ensuring that everyone stays aligned and empowered throughout their financial journey.
Research
Secondary research
To understand the landscape of personal and collaborative finance, I conducted extensive secondary research, uncovering key insights:
Savings Behavior: In developing countries, 52% of adults did not save any money over the past year, highlighting a significant gap in financial preparedness.
Budgeting Challenges: 44% of individuals fail to adhere to their budgeting goals, often due to a lack of financial literacy and discipline.
Collaborative Savings: Programs that encourage group savings foster a sense of community and shared responsibility, increasing the likelihood of achieving financial goals.
Primary research
I conducted surveys and interviews with individuals aged 18–35 to gather firsthand insights:
Pain Points Identified:
Difficulty in tracking individual contributions toward group savings.
Lack of transparency and accountability among group members.
Challenges in setting and maintaining shared financial goals.
Empathizing
Understanding the user's needs was paramount. I created user personas representing typical users:
The Planner: Organized individuals who often take the lead in group financial activities.
The Contributor: Participants who prefer clear guidelines and reminders for their financial commitments.
Insight
Based on research, I defined the core problems:
Lack of tools for transparent and accountable group savings.
Need for a platform that simplifies collaborative financial planning.
Design goals
Based on the insights from research, I established three key goals:
Simplify Collaborative Saving
Encourage Accountability
Support Flexible & Transparent Budgeting
Ideation
During the ideation phase, I focused on designing solutions that not only solved core user pain points but also introduced features that would make budgeting more engaging, collaborative, and flexible.
Key features conceptualized included:
Collaborative Goal Setting to allow multiple users to save together for shared objectives like vacations or group purchases.
An Accountability Partner System that encourages personal follow-through with gentle reminders and support.
Flexible Contribution Methods such as automated round-ups and scheduled deposits to make saving effortless and consistent.
A Virtual Envelope Budgeting System for categorizing and visualizing spending across essential areas.
Community Engagement Tools like polls and updates to motivate group participation and create a shared sense of purpose.
Emergency Opt-Outs and participation controls to account for real-life financial unpredictability.
Real-Time Progress Tracking to clearly show individual and group advancement toward financial goals.
Goal Management Flexibility, including the ability to adjust timelines, roles, and group settings as needed.
Goal-Specific Envelopes that keep savings separate from general expenses, ensuring transparency and discipline.
Lo-Fi design
I started with rough wireframes to map out key flows: creating goals, inviting members, assigning accountability partners, and tracking progress. This helped test layout logic, screen hierarchy, and navigation structure before committing to visual details.
Hi-Fi design
Once the flows felt solid, I shifted to high-fidelity mockups using a clean, calming interface style to reduce financial stress. I used soft colors, rounded cards, and generous spacing to make the app approachable and friendly.
Iterative process
The final solution for BuzzGet was shaped through three key iterations, each informed by user feedback, usability testing, and design evaluation. With every round, I refined the interface, improved clarity, and prioritized features that aligned with real user behavior.
This iterative approach ensured the product not only addressed the right problems but did so in a way that felt intuitive, purposeful, and genuinely helpful.
By the third iteration, BuzzGet had evolved into a collaborative, role-driven savings platform—with seamless flows, transparent goal tracking, and built-in accountability—all validated through continuous user input.
