Citi Bank
Citi Bank, like many other banking apps, is a secure platform for users to manage their finances from their private devices. People are busy nowadays, between work, running a home, trying to keep on top of all the day to day chores and in some case being parents, budgeting often gets pushed aside. While Citi Bank’s app provides many great services, it doesn’t have a budgeting feature.
Add a budgeting feature to Citi Bank banking app. How might we incorporate a budgeting feature to the Citi Bank app, to ensure people can stay on top of their finances?
Project overview
My role as the UX/UI designer was to design a budgeting feature, that would work seamlessly within the Citi Bank app.
Brief
Duration: 80 hours
Role: End- to end UX/UI Designer
Team: Self directed, with help of mentor and peers
Tools: Figma
How might we incorporate a budgeting feature to the Citi Bank app, to ensure people can stay on top of their finances?
Problem statement
The process
The first step is always research, it’s the best way to understand if there is a problem, what it is , and confirm that it is actually a problem that needs solving. To begin my research, I interviewed five young individuals all between the ages of 25-30. All of which currently use a budgeting app. They were asked questions about their overall perspective on budgeting, their biggest struggles and what they think would help them overcome those struggles. The findings will be discussed later on.
User Research
I carried out a competitive analysis, I looked at four financial management apps. Each of them serves a slightly different purpose. But overall is was a good insight into what currently works for budgeter and what isn’t working so well. The apps that offer a hands off experience, while taking stress off of the users, are not necessarily encouraging them to be on top of their expenses - simply because they don’t think about it too much. The apps that require forward planning as tricky for unexpected expenses, and the apps that require manual tracking are great for those who remember to keep track but not useful for those who don’t.
Secondary Research
Desk research
To get a better understanding of todays’ current budgeting trends, I did some research.
Findings
Personas
Problem
Keeping a budgeting app up to date requires dedication and discipline. Many people don’t remember to add in each expense, so many expenses aren’t documented, thus defeating the purpose. Secondly, the idea of syncing the budgeting app with a credit card makes some users uneasy.
Solution
Instead of syncing the budgeting app to a credit card, it would be a safer choice to add a budgeting feature into the banking app. Every expense will be documented and categorized automatically. Every swipe of a banks card would automatically add the expense into the app, categorize it and thus alleviating all the hassle of tracking expenses. Although this feature is mostly hands off, I plan to make it interactive enough that people are still aware of their daily expenses, and will have the opportunity to make sure that each expense is categorized correctly.
Goals
Business goals:
Encourage users to use the current banking app, rather than pay an external budgeting app company
Keep all budgeting in house – giving Citi a clear picture to the users financial habits and tendencies, which could lead to a chance In offering different services such as financial advisors investing etc.
Technical goals:
Create a budgeting feature
Have the feature divided into a few different sections throughout the app
Make sure the feature is accessible to all users
Make sure it works well within the already existing app, without disrupting any other features.
User goals:
Encourage users to use the current banking app, rather than pay an external budgeting app company
Keep all budgeting in house – giving Citi a clear picture to the users financial habits and tendencies, which could lead to a chance In offering different services such as financial advisors investing etc.
Flows
Design & Ideate
My goal was to keep the design as close to the app that already exists so it looks as though it’s apart of it and make sure completing tasks was easy and intuitive.
High Fidelity wireframes
Task 1: Find the “Manage your budget section”, and update your salary amount, add a new income and save.
Task 2: Find your budget summary and view the groceries category
Task 3: Go to recent expenses, change the category of the Trader Joes expense from Groceries to eating out, save
I interviewed 4 participants one of which has learning disabilities and I was particularly interested to see how they would find the feature. Each participant was given a few tasks to complete:
User tests
Findings
Iteration
Before & After
Before & After
Before & After
Before & After
Closing thoughts
Overall, I was really happy with how this feature turned out. It is really simple to use and fits perfectly with the rest of the Citi Bank app.
Challenges
When I began this project, I originally wanted to add a feature within a budgeting app that would sync with the users bank card. However, after the user interviews it became clear that they were uncomfortable with their budgeting app having access to their bank card information. So, I had to pivot and create a budgeting app withing the bank app. Honestly, I see now how it worked out better.
Next steps
If I were to continue this project, I am sure there are many ways I could expand this feature. If I were to continue this project, I am sure there are many ways I could expand this feature.