Budgeting app
Overview:
The purpose of this study was to understand how people budget their money. This study was in 3 phases consisting of a Focus Group, a Survey, and a Diary Study.
The hypothesis stands that people can take control of their money by tracking how, when and what they spend it on.
Roles:
Moderator: Focus Group
Researcher: Focus Group, Survey, Diary Study
Designer: Wire frames/High-Fidelity
Timeline
January
April
Problem
People have trouble reaching their saving goals.
Hypothesis
People can take control of their money by tracking how, when and what they spend it on.
METHODS
1. Focus Group
Goal
Understand people's patterns and attitudes towards spending habits.
Role as Moderator
Led a 30 minute discussion with 4 participants.
Kept track of time.
Encourage participation.
Activity
Participants were asked 3 questions. For each question they would write their answer(s) on a sticky notes.
Participants were wrote down long-term and/or short-term goals and placed them on the white board along the first row.
Participants wrote down challenges for spending and saving and placed them on the middle row on the white board.
Participants wrote down solutions for spending and saving and placed them on the last row on the white board.
Findings
People have a variety of different Goals they want to save for.
People felt guilty about spending.
People need help to budget, reduce spending and increase savings.
2. survey
Role as Researcher
Create 12 question survey on Google Forms.
Recruit and screen participants.
Analyze survey results.
Goal
The goal was to learn about the frequency and the ways people spend and budget their money.
ACtivity
Q4. How often do you feel guilty about your spending habits?
Q6. Select the type of banking you use the most.
Q9. Rate which features are most important to you in a banking app.
Findings
Most people feel guilty about their spending.
(From Q4)The primary focus for this product should be a mobile app.
(From Q6)Spending limits and saving goals should be main features to focus on.
(From Q9)
3. Diary Study
Goal
Learn how people actually spend and budget their money everyday, for a 10 day period.
Role as Researcher
Create Diary activity.
Remind participants to complete diary entry.
Interview participants at end
Analyze diary results.
Activity
Participants for this Diary study were told to track and record their spending over 10 Days.
On Day 1 participants were asked to report on how they planned to budget.
On Day 10 participants reflected on how they budgeted.
Findings
Participants are still using excel sheets, pen and paper, or bank statements to track expenses.
Participants realized how much they were actually spending when they started tracking.
Most participants have financial Goals they want to achieve.
Participants mentioned budgeting for categories like entertainment, food, clothes.
solutions
Make it easier for users to track their expenses in one place.
The home page shows the daily budget, daily savings and expenses.
Set a custom spending limit and alert that notifies the user when their close to their spending limit.
They can name and budget for categories
(food, entertainment, activities, clothes).
People have short term and long term saving goals.
A feature for users to add goals and track their progress.
Users can instantly see how much they saved.
They can see an overview of their spending habits from previous days and months.
Users can automatically track their expenses by scanning their receipt.