This is the 2nd and last part of a two-part series on UX Research . Here’s a link to the first part in case you missed it.
“Knowing where you are going is the first step to getting there.” ~ Ken Blanchard
It is important to figure out how the people we are designing for will make the best use of this product. What’s the easiest way for users to reach their intended goals and tasks? That’s what User flows are for. We can do so by using User Flows because they are easy to do and also easy to explain. It doesn’t have the complexities of visual design and it’s easy to iterate on paper so it takes less effort.
A User flow is a series of actions the user takes to achieve a goal.
User flows are also very important in communicating design to product managers, stakeholders, and developers. User flows provide a bird’s-eye view of the product. When working in teams, it’s easy to get lost in features, technical jargon or personal opinions and leave the user out of the product. So flows are important to make sure we don’t lose sight of the “why”. It’s like an app GPS. User flows as the name implies helps us deduce what the user is trying to achieve with that feature and how.
In designing a user flow you’d want to consider:
- Who is the user of this product?
- What is their goal?
- What are the steps the user needs to take to achieve their goal?
In fast-paced environments where time is a luxury, and we need to communicate quickly but also clearly to stakeholders, good ol’ paper and pen might not really be a great option. I use whimsical a lot for doing flows. It’s also neater and can be documented as a UX artifact. Also, people will see that you’re not doing invisible work. It takes care of handoffs, especially between designers. Plus, you can make modifications or comments if you’re like me and don’t want people moving stuff around.
User flows help in breaking the product into sections and provides an idea of what the interface will look like.
Picking up from where I left off
After talking to people and getting a better understanding of the users and their pain points, I decided to design solutions that solve these problems, taking into account user suggestions. I started off by categorizing pain points, then prioritizing them using how frequently users complained about them.
1 — Inputting expenses Manually
Thankfully, we have ATMs and bank transfers and they are easier to use and accepted in most places, they are frequently used for transactions. So if the app connects to SMS (or to bank accounts for iOS devices), it can easily read transaction data and categorize them into different kinds of expenses e.g shopping, transportation, gifts, etc. Therefore, reducing the number of manual entries to be done.
2 — Forgetting to track expenses
While the solution proffered above can also take care of this, we cannot ignore cash transactions. So with reminders at preferred times, the app will prompt you to input daily expense/income.
3— Asking for too many details
Requesting for only necessary details at the very instances they are needed. Also, by providing reasons why their personal information is required and how it’ll be used would make people more comfortable because they are aware of the why.
4— Forecast expenses
Reminders to cut down expenses ahead of major periodic expense such as school fees, car maintenance, house rent etc.
Proposed Solution
The first thing to do is to define the user and what their goal is.
- Who is the user? An employed youth
- What is the youth’s goal? To track, budget and analyze expenses/income.
Next step is to map out the series of steps the user takes to achieve the goal.
Recommendations
I checked out other expense tracking apps like trackIt by piggyvest, spendee, spender. Spendee actually has a premium plan which covers bank account sync but it currently doesn’t have access to Nigerian banks.
The existing apps can be improved upon with these updates. Also, Banks are in the best position to help with expense tracking and budgeting because they are in charge of your finances already. They just need to add more information and visuals to the monthly financial statements.
More resources
- https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2012/01/stop-designing-pages-start-designing-flows/
- https://uxdesign.cc/the-biggest-wtf-in-design-right-now-87139f367d66
If you have other questions or feedback on this, Shoot me a DM.
