Spare

Managing finances while living paycheck to paycheck can be challenging, especially when unexpected expenses lead to overdraft fees. Spare explores a user-centered solution to help customers better track their finances, anticipate upcoming payments, and avoid excessive fees. Through research, persona development, wireframing, and user testing, I designed Spare Score—a real-time financial health snapshot that integrates predictive transaction tracking and proactive alerts. By leveraging native app functionality and automation, the solution empowers users to stay ahead of their expenses, reducing financial stress and improving overall banking experiences.

My Objectives

• Conduct user research to understand financial pain points.
• Build personas based on banking behaviors and demographics.
• Design low-fidelity wireframes to visualize potential solutions.
• Test wireframes and iterate based on user feedback.
• Develop high-fidelity mockups for a polished, intuitive experience.

Living paycheck to paycheck comes with its challenges—tracking expenses, ensuring bills are paid on time, and avoiding overdraft fees. Unfortunately, when unexpected expenses arise, overdraft fees can quickly spiral out of control, making it feel impossible to recover financially.

The goal of this project was to design and present a product feature, solution, or campaign that helps customers avoid overdraft fees, manage their accounts more effectively, and regain financial control. The approach involved leveraging UX artifacts such as user flows, wireframes, affinity diagrams, and high-fidelity mockups to craft an intuitive solution. Throughout the process, I documented assumptions, user insights, and design decisions to ensure a thoughtful and user-centric approach.

To better understand customer pain points and banking behaviors, I conducted a Google Forms survey, distributing it through various group chats to gather real-world insights. The survey captured responses from individuals aged 20 to 45, offering a diverse range of perspectives on banking habits, overdraft experiences, and financial management challenges.

Some key research questions included:

How often do you check your bank account?

Have you ever overdrafted, and if so, how often?

What features do you wish your bank provided to help with budgeting?

These responses provided valuable insights into the patterns, frustrations, and expectations users had regarding their finances.

From the research, I identified three key personas, each representing distinct financial behaviors and challenges. By analyzing user responses, I was able to pinpoint common trends in:

How different age groups manage their banking apps.

What features they value most.

The primary pain points they experience, particularly around overdraft fees.

These personas became the foundation for designing a solution that directly addressed users' needs.

To help users better manage their finances and avoid overdraft fees, I introduced a new feature called "Spare Score"—a financial health snapshot that gives users a quick overview of their available funds, upcoming expenses, and potential overdraft risks.

Key design considerations included:

Home Screen Integration: Spare Score was designed to be a prominent, at-a-glance feature on the home page while also supporting widget functionality for easy access on users' device home screens.

Transaction Prediction: Beyond simple transaction tracking, Spare predicted upcoming payments—from energy bills to streaming services—helping users stay proactive about their expenses.

Native App Functionality: Leveraging private APIs, the system provided real-time notifications and a smoother, more responsive banking experience.

After creating the initial wireframes, I conducted several rounds of user testing with family members and peers, gathering valuable feedback that led to key design improvements.

The insights gained from testing helped refine:

The Spare Score display placement for better visibility.

The clarity of transaction predictions and notifications.

The overall flow of accessing financial insights quickly and efficiently.

Based on the feedback and iteration process, I finalized high-fidelity designs, ensuring that the Spare Score and predictive transaction features were both visually appealing and functionally intuitive. The final assets reflected a user-friendly and proactive financial management system, empowering customers to stay ahead of their expenses and avoid unnecessary fees.

By focusing on research, iteration, and user needs, this project demonstrated how a well-designed financial tool could help customers break the cycle of overdraft fees and improve their financial stability. The Spare Score concept, coupled with real-time insights and predictive tracking, offered a practical, user-centric solution that banks could implement to better serve their customers.