Spending Buddy is a budgeting application crafted to aid college students in refining their spending habits. By meticulously tracking expenses and providing tailored financial guidance, our app empowers users to make informed decisions and cultivate sound financial habits.

User Research

To ensure our app meets the needs of our target users, we implemented a multi-faceted research methodology. This approach included competitive analysis, user surveys, and user testing.

Competitive Analysis

We began by conducting a comprehensive competitive analysis of popular budgeting apps such as Mint and Every Dollar. Our evaluation criteria included:

• User Interface and Experience: Assessing the intuitiveness and usability of the app's design.

• Feature Set: Identifying key functionalities such as budgeting tools, spending analytics, and goal setting.

• User Feedback: Analyzing user reviews and ratings to understand common pain points and appreciated features.

User Surveys

To tailor our solution to the needs of undergraduate college students, we conducted an online survey using Google Forms. The survey involved 38 participants from this demographic and focused on understanding their budgeting habits, challenges, and needs.From survey result, we known that the survey participants:

• have little or no experience with budgeting

• have trouble with unconscious spending and sticking to budgeting goals

• want to keep track of purchases 

We utilized Google Forms' built-in analytics tools to compile and interpret the survey results, allowing us to identify key trends and user needs efficiently.

Analyzing the results, we pinpointed key project goals. Recognizing a shared need among our participants to better track their spending, our app, 'Spending Buddy,' focuses on precisely that. Acknowledging the survey respondents' limited experience with budgeting, we introduced a valuable resource function, providing users with financial advice for a holistic budgeting experience. 

Initial Separate Ideation

We noticed some overlapping ideas in our initial ideation:

• pages with spending/expense charts and graphs

• login/sign in page

Mid Fidelity 

Pages and features

• Home

  1. Personal information + settings

• New user sign-in page

• Insights

  1. Notifications

  2. Reminders to help users reach their goal

• Transaction history

  1. Shows data of expenditures to help users meet their goals

User Testing

We conducted user testing with a smaller subset of participants (5 to 6 users) to validate our initial design concepts and gather qualitative feedback. Participants were asked to complete specific tasks, such as creating a budget, logging expenses, and navigating the app. Through user testing, there are some problems that we found:

High Fidelity