WiseWallet is a budgeting tool that helps younger people with tight budgets track their spending and become financially responsible. I recruited a team to build this project and led its development. While we all designed, Raksha leaned into UI, Anna focused on data visualization and documentation, and I designed the core budgeting feature, iterating on everyone's flows to make them intuitive and consistent.
Despite the wide availability of digital budgeting tools, over 80% of Americans continue to overspend their monthly budgets (Marder, 2023). This consistent pattern of overspending can lead to a range of negative financial outcomes, from increased debt and financial stress to diminished savings and hindered long-term financial goals.
Millions of Americans still rely on spreadsheets to manually manage their budgets (Mehta, 2024). A gap in the market exists– there isn’t a solution that provides users with the same level of control over their budgeting as spreadsheets, while also offering the convenience and ease of a mobile app.
To create a budgeting solution that combines ease of use with maximum value, specifically designed to help lower income individuals not only stay within tight budgets but also build lasting financial habits.
54 survey respondents and 16 interviewees revealing financial goals, problems with current solutions, and a need for easier budgeting methods
From our research, we identified 3 key design requirements based on key themes, which informed four key features.
Based on key requirements and features outlined in the define phase, we created lo-fi wireframes that we ran quick concept testing on to identify usability issues early.
What happened: We assumed four tabs was the standard, but users couldn’t understand the difference between dashboard and plan.
Con: Repetitive information
What happened: We wanted to include many graphics that aided understanding, but users found it unecessary and confusing
Pro:
Visual focus
Con:
Too complex
Information overload
What happened: Users wanted to know how these numbers were determined, and disliked not being able to edit.
Pro:
Quick and automated
Con:
No user freedom
Untrustworthy
With some more iteration and refining, we arrived at these final designs!
Part 1: Auto-generated budget
Part 2: Option to customize