Sync

Empowering couples to achieve shared financial goals

OVERVIEW

Couples often face financial strain, struggling with transparency and shared goals. Sync provides a personalized experience for couples, fostering a sense of shared responsibility, and accountability. By addressing the unique financial management needs of couples, the Sync improves communication, and support better financial decision-making for both partners.

MY ROLE

UX/UI Designer

PROJECT

Mobile App

TIMEFRAME

June 2023

CONTEXT —

The intersection of finance and relationships play a critical role in the dynamics of couples

Managing shared expenses, setting financial goals, and tracking spending can be challenging, particularly if couples have different spending habits and financial priorities. Initial white paper research confirmed the trend…

In recent years, many friends, family and even coworkers have expressed their struggles to align on financial matters with their significant other, leading to a tumultuous relationship.

THE PROBLEM —

The strain in relationships often stems from a disconnect in couples’ financial perspectives and objectives, underscoring the need for better financial communication and planning.

THE SOLUTION —

Improve couples' financial decisions through tailored experiences, fostering shared responsibility and accountability.

USER RESEARCH —

Lack of transparency leads to excess spending and frustrations

I started off with a broad problem, but as I conducted user research with seven participants, I discovered that, couples do have initial conversations in planning financial goals, however -

… shared financial goals were rarely met or often delayed.

USER INSIGHTS —

There were three major key themes:

COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS —

The market lacks a solution that thoroughly involves both parties

The finance sector is already highly saturated - I specifically looked for apps that focused on goal setting, tracking and communication within the app. As an avid user of personal finance apps such as Mint, I evaluated its features objectively to understand its strengths and weaknesses.

Takeaways:

  1. Most apps are catered for the individual user instead of couples, lacking the ability to collaborate

  2. Limited collaboration on savings goals

  3. Lack of financial advice for couples who are planning a goal.

  4. No ability to set spending preferences

THE USERS —

Who are we designing for?

Through research, I found that the main users included couples who are moving into significant life stages together, such as marriage, home buying, or starting a family. Users need to manage their finances collaboratively, understanding their goal as a unit, and updating their financial status as a couple rather than individually.

OUR DESIGN GOALS —

Design goals derived and prioritized from research findings

After understanding the key needs of Dan and Emily, I derived these design goals - categorizing them into this into three key stages.

IDEATION —

How do we provide the ideal solution for our users?

I went through many rounds of ideas ranging from virtual finance advisors to interactive compromising tools. But ultimately I took influence in certain features from my earlier competitor research which did well current users on the market.

PRIORITY MATRIX —

Prioritizing the most important features

With the design goals and key insights in mind, I devised a priority matrix. With so many potential solutions in mind, this helped me narrow down and focus on whats critical for the user. I wanted to focus on a few imperative things including: understanding shared goals and the ability for partner notifications/approvals.

INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE —

Financial opinions and standings can vary greatly from couple to couple

I focused on a user flow that catered towards flexibility — providing users with a flexible platform with adaptable preferences, settings, and track from different bank accounts within the app.

I created a user flow that depicts three key task streams: 1. Setting up a joint goal, 2. Change budget/goal 3. Approve/review changes. (View user flow below, or view here)

DESIGN IDEATIONS —

Designing through iterations

Focusing on our priority features and user flow above, it was imperative to have both partners involved in every step of the goal setting process. Select sketches and mid-fi screens:

Design Goal 01 | Help couples set realistic savings goals

Collaborative goal setting wizard. Utilizing AI help couples set goals based on market, their financial health and personal preferences.

Design Goal 02 | Facilitate mutual agreement in key financial decisions

Setting preferences and approving changes

Design Goal 03 | Help couples simplify tracking spending vs savings

Tracking and trending through unified dashboards

DESIGN SYSTEM —

UI Design to evoke trust and ambition

I chose the shades of blue to evoke the sense of trust and security. In a financial app where users are dealing with sensitive information, such as personal finances and shared expenses, instilling a sense of familiarity and trust is crucial. Managing finances can sometimes be stressful, particularly in a couple's dynamic where money matters can lead to disagreements. The presence of blue can help reduce anxiety and create a more pleasant user experience.

VALIDATING IDEAS —

Communication styles vary drastically between couples

Two rounds of usability testing across two fidelities - first round used mid fidelity screens and tested the coherence of the overall flow and gather feedback effectively. I tested the mid-fidelity prototype with five participants who are in long term relationships and/or married and are working together with their partner to manage their finances.

CHAT / APPROVALS

4/5 users wouldn’t use the chat function

Solution:
Removed chat. Incorporated approval function within notification tab to ensure convenient access and seamless integration.

PARTNER APPROVAL

3/5 users questioned if changes could be made to an updated budget.

Solution:
Incorporating visible action with an ‘Edit’ button.

USABILITY TESTING WITH HIFIs

Improving flexibility through more usability testing with HiFi prototype

The second round of usability testing consisted of seven participants with the same criteria and using a HiFi prototype. This version user flow and flexibility was improved. This updated version also includes minor changes such as alignment and design consistency.

BUDGET BREAKDOWN

5/7 users were unsure what the ‘+’ icon indicated

Solution:
Added clarification and moved feature below the list - this introduced a more appropriate hierarchy

RECOGNITION VS RECALL

4/7 users asked who’s accounts were assigned

Solution:
Visually segregate assigned accounts through section headers as well as icons to delineate between users.

Final MVP Design —

Introducing Sync, the mobile app that empowers couples to efficiently plan, collaborate, and achieve their shared goals seamlessly and transparently.

Transparency with a unified dashboard

Providing a clear overview of the entire financial situation for both partners. This transparency helps build trust and ensures that both individuals are on the same page regarding their financial goals and responsibilities

Intelligent goal recommendations

Leveraging AI algorithms to provide personalized insights and recommendations to couples.

Sync analyzes spending and saving behavior to offer tailored suggestions on optimizing savings, and staying on track towards their goals.

Flexible goal allocation

Enable couples to allocate goals and savings across different accounts based on their preferences and priorities.

Simple and intuitive interface for couples to distribute funds to specific goals within each account, promoting personalized and flexible goal tracking.

Coordination and approvals

Customizable request and approval functionalities that empower couples to personalize their level of transparency and communication with each other.

Addendum

WHAT I LEARNED

Complex User Dynamics. Couples have unique dynamics and varying financial situations. I had to consider how to accommodate different levels of involvement, decision-making dynamics, and communication preferences within the app.

Focus on tradeoffs. Ideas never go as planned, there will be so many iterations that may change during the course of the entire project. What was intended in the beginning may be far from the outcome in the end. I went through so many versions of lofi, midfi and final prototypes. It’s important to realize that with each iteration, there is a tradeoff for something that works better for the end user.

WHAT’S NEXT?

While this design cycle has come to an end, I'm looking forward to planning for how the design might be improved for the next iteration. These are my next steps for when the initial build is completed:
- Conduct another round of usability testing. I want to validate whether the design iterations effectively addressed the usability issues that were identified in the first test.
- Dedicate a design cycle to developing more robust budgeting features in addition to the goals.

NEXT UP ↗

Pivot