Personal case study
Building a A Smart Budget app
Ditto insurance
Overview
In this case study, I set out to transform the financial challenges faced by disadvantaged students and young Gen Z users into opportunities for support and empowerment. My aim was to design targeted, user-centered solutions that alleviate immediate financial pressures while creating a more equitable environment—one where every individual has the chance to thrive.
During my education abroad, managing money was a constant struggle. With my survival dependent on limited savings and part-time jobs, I often wondered how others coped. I turned to budgeting apps recommended by Google, but they required manual input and provided little insight. I even tried using ChatGPT for financial guidance, yet the process of uploading my data felt too cumbersome and insecure.
MY ROLE
Interaction designer
UX researcher
TIME LINE
2024
TOOLS
Figma
Rive
Miro
Play
Problem
Many students, especially those from unsupportive backgrounds, are struggling to pay tuition fees and cover daily expenses. High costs and poor financial awareness leave many students constantly worried about money, making it hard to focus on their education.
In an interview of 6 students, 5 said they struggled with tracking expenses, and 4 admitted social media influenced their spending.
"I check my balance anxiously every week, but I still end up short on funds,’ highlighting a lack of real-time guidance in budgeting." - one user said
I found that this pattern is more common among young people, Given the broader relevance of this issue, what if there were a reliable system that enabled them to make smart decisions by analyzing their spending patterns? I decided to tackle this problem on a broader scale.
How might we help Gen Z students build smarter money habits and manage daily expenses effortlessly?
3/6
Cost Sharing Behavior
3 out of 6 users actively split or distribute costs with friends and family.
22% Vs 42%
Budgeting Tool Adoption
According to a Laurel Road survey, only 22% of Gen Z use personal finance apps versus 42% of Millennials. This low adoption suggests current tools aren’t resonating with young adults.
5/6
Spending Tracking
5 out of 6 users try to track their spending but often struggle to maintain consistency.
95%
Chatbot Engagement
95% of students prefer interacting with chatbots for quick and easy information.
60%
Spending Tracking
Nearly 60% of college students have considered dropping out due to financial stress, and ~73% have experienced financial difficulties in the past year
19%
NO spreadsheets
only 19% of Gen Z rely on spreadsheets for money management (vs 32% of Millennials)
Key Insights from the research
Solution
To tackle this, I designed an AI-driven budgeting assistant that not only analyzes spending habits but also actively helps students stay on track. Unlike traditional budgeting apps, this solution requires no manual effort and provides instant, actionable insights through AI-driven prompts, smart alerts, and a reward-based progress tracking system.
Research
With a clear understanding of the problem, I began by researching financial and budgeting apps for students. I discovered that most focus on basic expense tracking and manual budgeting, lacking the intelligent support students need.
This analysis helped me identify key strengths—like daily expense tracking and budgeting features—as well as notable gaps, such as the absence of personalized insights and a seamless user experience. I also tested various apps to see how they organize information, engage users, and incorporate social cost-sharing features. These insights directly inspired the innovative, intuitive features that shaped Pigbud’s design.
Personas
I interviewed 6 students from various universities to understand how financial challenges impact their daily lives. Drawing on their insights, I crafted a persona that captures their key goals, frustrations, and needs.
Aarav
Aarav is a Masters student who is currently in a University. And he lives in university accommodation. He receives a monthly allowance from his parents, but he struggles with overspending and often finds himself running out of money before the end of the month. He is interested in finding a budgeting solution that can help him track his expenses and avoid overspending.
Goals
To have a budgeting app that automatically tracks his income and expenses
To be able to see where his money is going and identify areas to cut back on spending
Current Behaviour
Uses a notepad and manually enters expenses
Pain point and frustrations
Not having a clear understanding of his income and expenses
Overspending and not knowing where his money goes
Sarah
Background: Sarah is a Gen Z working professional who has recently started her career. She earns a decent salary, but she finds it difficult to manage her expenses and often ends up overspending. She wants to become more financially responsible and start saving money for her future.
Goals
To have a simple and easy-to-use budgeting app that reminds him to not overspend and motivates her to save more money
To feel in control of her finances and be able to achieve her financial goals
Current behaviour
Uses Color Notes and a personal WhatsApp group to manually track expenses, but not consistently
Occasionally uses a budgeting app when spending money on something
Pain point and frustrations
Overspending when there's low money in her account
Lack of motivation to stick to a budget
Personas
I interviewed 6 students from various universities to understand how financial challenges impact their daily lives. Drawing on their insights, I crafted a persona that captures their key goals, frustrations, and needs.
Personas
I interviewed 6 students from various universities to understand how financial challenges impact their daily lives. Drawing on their insights, I crafted a persona that captures their key goals, frustrations, and needs.
User stories
To better understand the diverse needs of our users, I created detailed user stories. These stories illustrate the different scenarios in which students and early professionals interact with financial tools, highlighting their specific goals, challenges, and desired outcomes.
Prioritizing features
By using the MoSCoW method, I’ve structured my feature prioritization to ensure that the most critical needs—such as managing tuition fees, daily expenses, and timely reminders—are addressed first. Secondary features that enhance user experience and provide additional support are planned for subsequent phases, while less essential functionalities are deferred. This structured approach ensures that the solution directly tackles the core problem while allowing room for future enhancements.
Moodboards
Style Guide
I use my style guide as a blueprint for my design work. It outlines my key design principles—like color palettes, typography, iconography, layouts, and interaction patterns—to ensure every project stays consistent. This guide is my single source of truth, helping me work efficiently, iterate quickly, and keep my designs clear and accessible. I also include best practices for accessibility and responsive design so that my work not only looks great but functions well on any device. Ultimately, my style guide is my commitment to quality and consistency in every design decision I make.
Ideation
During the ideation phase for Pigbud, I explored two distinct AI prompting approaches to enhance user interaction. In Solution One, I developed a system where users are presented with a curated set of prompts. They simply select the prompt that best fits their needs, reducing the cognitive load and making it easier for users who might be unfamiliar with constructing effective queries.
In Solution Two, I focused on a more targeted approach by allowing users to select a specific focus area, which then guides them through creating a custom prompt. This method empowers users to generate content that is highly relevant to their immediate context. Both solutions were refined through iterative testing and prototyping, ultimately laying the groundwork for a flexible, user-centered AI prompting system in Pigbud.
Solution 1
Hypothesis 1 - Customized focus areas : Users exposed to customized focus areas will have more effective budgeting conversations with AI compared to those without.
Solution 2
Hypothesis 2 - Predefined prompts : Users utilizing predefined prompts will have more effective budgeting conversations with AI compared to those without.
Usability testing
I calculated the System Usability Scale (SUS) score for Pigbud to quantitatively assess its usability of two solutions. The SUS score offered valuable insights into how users experienced the interface, highlighting both strengths and areas that required further refinement. This data-driven approach not only validated my design decisions but also provided a clear roadmap for iterative improvements. Based on the metrics. Testing showed users struggled to know what to ask an AI, so I provided predefined prompts to guide conversations – this improved engagement and understanding.
Key Screens
Onboarding user flow
The onboarding flow is crafted to quickly immerse new users into the PigBud experience. It kicks off with a straightforward phone number input and verification to ensure a secure and personalized start.
Seamlessly Connecting Bank Account
The first step to financial empowerment starts with securely linking your bank account to Pigbud. This flow ensures a smooth connection process, guiding you through each step with clear instructions.
Once connected, you unlock the full potential of Pigbud's budgeting tools, AI assistance, and real-time financial insights.
Effortless Expense Splitting
I included a group expense ‘settle’ feature because several participants mentioned sharing expenses with roommates. Splitting expenses with friends or family is now hassle-free. This feature allows you to divide costs evenly or customize splits according to individual contributions, ensuring everyone pays their fair share without the awkwardness of manual calculations.
Streamlined Expense Tracking & Rewards
Adding expenses is quick and easy, helping you stay on top of your spending with minimal effort. To make budgeting even more rewarding, Pigbud offers incentives for maintaining good financial habits. The more you save and stick to your budget, the closer you get to earning exciting rewards each month.
Metrics
To validate the effectiveness of my solution, I identified key metrics that measure engagement, financial impact, and motivation levels. Since the goal of the AI-driven budgeting assistant is not just to provide insights but also to influence better financial decisions, these metrics focus on both user interactions and behavioral changes.
The following KPIs will help assess whether the solution is truly solving the core problems of overspending, lack of financial awareness, and budgeting motivation
What did I learn
Working on Pigbud as a solo project pushed me to own every aspect of the design process—from initial ideation and user research to crafting detailed interfaces and iterating based on feedback. Without the support of a team, I learned to balance creativity with project management, quickly making decisions while ensuring the end product remained user-centric.
This project taught me the importance of iteration; early testing of concepts allowed me to refine my approach and improve the user experience continuously. I also discovered new design techniques and tools, deepening my understanding of visual hierarchy, interaction design, and overall product strategy. Ultimately, Pigbud reinforced my commitment to continuous learning and adaptability—key qualities that have since become integral to my approach as a product designer.
Want to learn more? Get in touch with me :)
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