Pecunia

noun• /peˈku.nja/

A new budgeting app that makes saving and budgeting hassle-free.

Timeline: Nov 2020 - Jan 2021
Platform: iOS, Android
My Role: Research, Design, Prototyping
Tools: Figma, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop

Pecunia is a personalized budget planner that aims to reduce the effort required to save and allocate money towards your goals. The tracking tools available ensure the user can plan months ahead while displays information required to manage expenditure and save towards a particular goal.

RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT

INITIAL THOUGHTS + MOTIVES

As a new working individual who has to save for multiple goals, I found the process of budgeting overwhelming. Especially striking a balance between saving and budgeting was tricky. So I wanted to figure out a strategy that allowed you to make budgeting easy and customizable to different scenarious.

FINDINGS

From user interviews, with my peers and co-workers along with other methods. I found that most budgeting apps allow users to allocate money to different segments but never included the functionality to keep track of multiple saving goals. Multiple people mentioned that they have lost track of other goals when they focus on one. Almost all users agreed that they worry a lot when they don't save enough within a deadline for a goal.

Time Consuming

Worry about saving for the future

Worry about keeping track of expenses

Struggling to analyze expenses

I noticed, that most of the users interviewed agreed that the process from gathering transactions, categorizing them, calculating average expenditure by category, to calculating contribution per saving goal is laborious and time-consuming.

One step goes wrong, you might have to start the process from the beginning.

TAKEAWAY

PROBLEMS

Repetitively have to check the progress.
There are many variables that are hard to keep track of.
The process is intimidating and cumbersome.

How can we make budgeting an easier and less cumbersome process?

I chose a mobile app as the medium to solve this problem as mobile phones are the most accessible and used gadget. Since our finances are integrated into every aspect of our life, being able to access them at any point was essential. You will immediately get notifications when you make a purchase or get your payslip or go over budget.

I conducted a closed card sorting session, to find out the most important functions and the most necessary information that needs to be easily available to the user.

Important features:

One-click access to category wise budget
Immediate notifications when going over budget
All bank accounts linked and auto-synced
Summary page with all necessary information
Easily comprehendible charts and statistics
Adding multiple savings goals with different deadlines
Customizable budget every month

TARGET USERS

PRIMARY
Students and Working Individuals
Young people who would like to budget and save

SECONDARY
People who need to save
People who need to save due to various reasons

The wireframing process helped me determine a logical user flow from logging in, searching and linking accounts, adding savings goals, to tracking progress.

Prototype