Finfare | Portfolio

Finfare App

Project Overview:

Finfare is a mobile banking app that includes four main products: Core Banking, Invest, Rewards, and Connect, which simplify personal finance by providing users with clear insights into spending, savings, and transactions. I led the UX process from research to the MVP launch, ensuring a user-centric, accessible, intuitive, and secure experience.
My responsibilities included: competitive and persona research, identifying key features, creating site maps, user flows, wireframes, and interactive prototypes, as well as gathering usability testing insights to meet user needs.

Throughout, I emphasized Finfare’s unique value proposition such as simplicity, personalization, and security.

Challenge:

Finfare needed to stand out in a crowded market of banking apps like Bank of America, Chase, Revolut, and Chime, which offered many features, but lacked simplicity and personalization in key areas, including financial insights and budgeting tools.

Key challenges included:

Complex navigation: Users felt overwhelmed by the number of features and confusing navigation structures.
Lack of personalized insights: While competitors provided basic transaction history, they fell short in offering actionable insights based on spending behavior.
Trust and security concerns: Financial apps need to inspire trust through intuitive security measures and transparent communication.
Accessibility barriers: Many users faced challenges navigating due to lack of accessibility features.
Outdated financial tools: Users sought more modern tools like virtual cards, bill splitting, and multi-currency support.

Research and Discovery:

To address these challenges, I conducted thorough competitive research, analyzing major players in the mobile banking sector. This research focused on account management, transaction history, budgeting tools, and security features. The insights helped identify gaps and areas where Finfare could differentiate itself.

I conducted comprehensive competitive research, analyzing leading banking apps such as Bank of America, Chase, Revolut, and Chime. The goal was to identify strengths and weaknesses in areas like account management, transaction histories, budgeting tools, and security features. Key findings revealed opportunities to simplify user flows, enhance budgeting capabilities, and offer detailed spending insights, areas where competitors were lacking. The outcome of this research provided clear direction for Finfare to differentiate itself by delivering a user-friendly, personalized, and secure banking experience.

Comprehensive Comparative Analysis of Leading US Banks.jpg

Audience Targeting and Persona Development

For Audience Targeting and Persona Development, we conducted research across diverse demographics, including young adults (18+), millennials, seniors, and business owners. The goal was to understand the unique financial behaviors and pain points of each group in order to design a solution tailored to their needs. Young adults and millennials prioritized intuitive budgeting tools and real-time expense tracking, while seniors sought simplicity and robust security features. Business owners required advanced tools to manage irregular income and separate personal from business finances. The outcome of this research was the creation of key personas, ensuring that Finfare’s design addressed the specific needs of these diverse user groups, driving a more personalized and effective user experience.

Problem Definition and Key Design Goals

Based on the research and persona development, I identified the following problems to address in the app:

Navigation complexity: Users needed a simpler, more intuitive flow.
Lack of personalized insights: There was a need to provide users with actionable insights into their spending and saving habits.
Security concerns: Users needed to feel assured about the app’s security measures.
Accessibility barriers: The app needed to be more accessible to a wider range of users, including those with visual impairments.
Outdated financial tools: The app needed to offer modern features such as virtual cards, bill splitting, and multi-currency support.

Ideation and Wireframing

With a clear understanding of user needs, I began the ideation phase by designing a comprehensive site map that visualized the app’s structure and user flows. This helped align user journeys with business goals while ensuring a logical hierarchy of information.

Then I created low-fidelity wireframes in Figma, focusing on simplicity and usability. The wireframes emphasized:

Clear and intuitive navigation: Ensuring users could easily find and use key features without feeling overwhelmed.
Key features: Such as account management, spending insights, and budgeting tools, all designed to provide users with a seamless financial management experience.
Accessibility features: Like larger fonts and intuitive buttons, ensuring that the app was accessible to a diverse user base, including those with visual impairments.
"More" menu: Added additional features, such as Find ATM, Currency Converter, Send Gift Card, Foreign Exchange, Insurance, App Chat, and more, providing users with easy access to a range of useful tools in a single, organized location.

Wireframing

I designed low-fidelity wireframes in Figma to map out the main screens, prioritizing clarity and usability. The focus was on streamlining user flows, creating intuitive navigation, and highlighting key features for a seamless experience.

High-Fidelity Design and Visual Implementation

In the visual implementation phase, I translated the wireframes into pixel-perfect designs. I focused on ensuring the interface was not only visually appealing but also intuitive and accessible.

Key elements included

Modern aesthetic: A clean and cohesive color palette, typography, and UI elements to reflect Finfare's brand values of trust and simplicity.
Interactive elements: Buttons, charts, and transitions were designed to be engaging, with smooth micro-interactions that provided immediate feedback.
Accessibility: I incorporated features such as dynamic text resizing and screen reader support to ensure the app was usable by people with disabilities.

Usability Testing and Iteration

Before usability testing, a major challenge was ensuring that the app’s navigation, features, and overall experience were intuitive and easily accessible to all user groups. While the design appeared visually cohesive, we needed to confirm that the app's flow was straightforward and user-friendly across the various personas we had identified. There was also a concern about how users would engage with the "More" menu and whether they would be able to discover and navigate the additional tools like Find ATM, Currency Converter, and Send Gift Card seamlessly.

Usability Testing Process

I conducted unmoderated usability testing with a diverse group of users. Participants were asked to complete a series of tasks, such as checking their account balance, setting a budget, and using the "More" menu. Unmoderated testing allowed for capturing user behavior in a natural environment, providing valuable insights into how users interacted with the app without the influence of a facilitator. This approach also helped uncover any usability issues that might have been overlooked during earlier stages.

Challenge After Testing

The initial tests revealed several insights:

Navigation issues: Some users found it difficult to access certain features, especially the tools under the "More" menu. The layout was too hidden for some, making it unclear where to find tools like the Foreign Exchange or Insurance options.
Overcomplicated flows: A few users struggled with setting budgets and managing their expenses due to a lack of clear instructions or guidance in the budgeting section.
Accessibility gaps: While dynamic text resizing worked well for most users, some felt that the app could benefit from additional visual cues for improved accessibility.

Iteration and Refinement

Based on the unmoderated usability feedback, I made several iterative improvements to the design:

Revised the "More" menu: I reorganized the menu to ensure that key features were easily discoverable by adding visual icons and clearer labels, along with an option for users to customize the menu based on their preferences.
Simplified user flows: I made the budgeting and expense tracking sections more intuitive by adding tooltips and on-screen prompts to guide users through the process.
Improved accessibility: Additional high-contrast color options and better visual cues were introduced to enhance usability for users with low vision.

Results After Iteration

After refining the design based on user feedback, subsequent testing revealed a much smoother and more intuitive experience. Users were able to complete tasks faster and more accurately, and the accessibility improvements led to a more inclusive app for users with varying needs. The "More" menu became a central point of engagement, with users appreciating the quick access to useful tools.

Results

The MVP of Finfare was delivered two weeks ahead of schedule, a testament to the efficiency of our collaborative design and development processes. The project achieved several key outcomes:

Increased project efficiency by 15% through parallel work on the design system and documentation.
Reduced design iteration time by 23% thanks to the use of reusable components in the design system.
Improved accessibility by 18% by incorporating the grayscale method, making the app more usable for diverse users.

The app was well-received by users, with positive feedback on its intuitive navigation and personalized financial insights.

Key Takeaways

User-Centered Design: By aligning the app’s features with the unique needs of our diverse target audiences, Finfare was able to offer a personalized experience that solved real pain points.
Collaboration and Documentation: The efficient collaboration across teams, combined with the robust design system, ensured consistency and speed in the design and development processes.
Focus on Accessibility: Ensuring the app was accessible to all users was not just a technical requirement but a core value that helped make Finfare a more inclusive product.

This project was a rewarding journey in creating an intuitive, secure, and user-friendly banking experience that addressed the real challenges users face in managing their finances.

Thank you for your attention!