Overview
Background
Problem
Solution
The goal of this project was to create a budgeting app for visual thinkers—simplifying money management through visual grouping.
Overview
Background
Problem
Solution
The goal of this project was to create a budgeting app for visual thinkers—simplifying money management through visual grouping.
Overview
Background
Problem
Solution
The goal of this project was to create a budgeting app for visual thinkers—simplifying money management through visual grouping.
Overview
Background
Problem
Solution
The goal of this project was to create a budgeting app for visual thinkers—simplifying money management through visual grouping.
01 Research
The
User
Comes
First
Resarch
Objectives
I want to find out why people struggle to stay on budget with the tools they use currently.
Understand what tools work for budgeting and which dont.
Discover how people group their bills.
Understand common budgeting habits.
Discover frustration of online budgeting.
Get feedback on coaching moments and use of gamification while budgeting.
Understand what tools work for budgeting and which dont.
Discover how people group their bills.
Understand common budgeting habits.
Discover frustration of online budgeting.
Get feedback on coaching moments and use of gamification while budgeting.
Understand what tools work for budgeting and which dont.
Discover how people group their bills.
Understand common budgeting habits.
Discover frustration of online budgeting.
Get feedback on coaching moments and use of gamification while budgeting.
Competitors See full analysis
One key feature offered by all competitors is automatic account syncing.
Products with less analytical tools are easier to navigate.
Secondary research
Users all have unique financial situations and spending habits that require different tools to help their situation, other budgeting apps succeed when they offer adaptability and not one solution to all.
All successful budgeting apps include:
User-friendly interface – Simple design for easy navigation.
Expense tracking – Automatically tracks and categorizes spending.
Customizable categories – Adjust categories to fit personal spending habits.
Goal setting – Set and track financial goals.
Reminders – Alerts for bills, budget limits, and savings milestones.
User interviews & affnity mapping
User interviews & affinity mapping
User interviews & affinity mapping
Interview takeaways See full summary
Users want a simple, visual dashboard to easily track finances without jumping between pages.
Budgeting isn’t one-size-fits-all. Users need the ability to easily customize how they group expenses, so their budgets reflect their unique priorities and methods.
Users can easily forget payments with multiple to remember. "I'm always forgetting to pay my bills on time, I mean i put them in my budget but then i totally forget about it"- Gina Greenly
Affinity mapping themes
Visual communication
Goal Setting
Bill grouping
Bill reminders
Customization
Calendar
Credit tracking
Automation
01 Research
The
User
Comes
First
Resarch
Objectives
I want to find out why people struggle to stay on budget with the tools they use currently.
Understand what tools work for budgeting and which dont.
Discover how people group their bills.
Understand common budgeting habits.
Discover frustration of online budgeting.
Get feedback on coaching moments and use of gamification while budgeting.
Competitors See full analysis
One key feature offered by all competitors is automatic account syncing.
Products with less analytical tools are easier to navigate.achieve meaningful goals.
Secondary research
All successful budgeting apps include:
User-friendly interface – Simple design for easy navigation.
Expense tracking – Automatically tracks and categorizes spending.
Customizable categories – Adjust categories to fit personal spending habits.
Goal setting – Set and track financial goals.
Reminders – Alerts for bills, budget limits, and savings milestones.
Users all have unique financial situations and spending habits that require different tools to help their situation, other budgeting apps succeed when they offer adaptability and not one solution to all.
User interview and affinity mapping
Mentee takeaways See full summary
Mentees are unsure how to utilize their mentor, and 50% are worried about bothering mentors.
They need to be shown how! Structure and resources are key.
They need first-hand experience.
“Having a mentor that's in tune with your growth needs has been instrumental in helping me overcome confidence issues, motivation, and is helping me define a vision for where I'd like to end up.”— Landon Silvek.
Affinity mapping themes
Visual communication
Goal Setting
Bill grouping
Bill reminders
Customization
Calendar
Credit tracking
Automation
02 Define
Who
They
Really
Are
Meet Ally Lorza
Ally is a 28-year-old sales rep actively trying to take hold of her finances without the mess of charts and graphs.
She wants one solution
Ally wants a single solution for her finances, where she can see all her money in one spot and figure out what's left after bills.
She needs to take controll
Ally is tired of the random bills she forgets about, or for the last second birthday gift she can’t afford. She NEEDS a clear visual way to see her finances.
Meet Ally Lorza
Ally is a 28-year-old sales rep actively trying to take hold of her finances without the mess of charts and graphs.
She wants one solution
Ally wants a single solution for her finances, where she can see all her money in one spot and figure out what's left after bills.
She needs to take controll
Ally is tired of the random bills she forgets about, or for the last second birthday gift she can’t afford. She NEEDS a clear visual way to see her finances.
Jobs to be done
When
I get surprised by unexpected bills
I want to
Quickly adjust my budget to show what my account will look like at the end of the month
So that
I can finally start saving for my wedding
When
Fall behind on bills or forget aboout payments coming up
I want to
Figure out what I missed and set a reminders
So that
I can afford having fun with my friends
So What's
The Real
Problem?
Staying on top of budgeting can be tough for many people. From forgetting about bills to setting achievable goals, people often find themselves struggling with the tools they currently have.
These users crave a clear financial snapshot that reveals exactly where their money flows, all within a single glance. They need timely alerts before funds leave their accounts, eliminating those "I forgot about that subscription" moments that derail even the most careful budgets.
03 Design
Mid-Fidelity
Design &
Iteration
Goals
Gather general feedback on UI layout and functionality.
Discover opportunities for coaching moments.
Feedback on budgeting tools offered.
Task Flows Designed & Tested
Onboarding.
Creating new "bar" reminder.
Signing up for save the change.
Accessing "up next bar" bills.
Key Screens | See Mid-Fidelity Prototype
Account detection
Peni gathers all your financial information ensuring you don't miss any bills or accounts.
Users reported wanting a way to delete accounts or bills for old accounts or bills that are still open.
Budget home
I wanted to keep everything important together, making it easy to see total amounts, upcoming bills, and monthly expenses.
Users were able to navigate their home page with minimal directions.
Save the change
Accessed by drop down users can opt to "save the change" and set goal amounts to work towards. Creating a coachable moment,
Users able to navigate UI with minimal directions, also noting positively on pop up explanations.
Bill grouping
Peni groups bills allowing users to quickly view all their details or keep closed and know a total amount for the grouping.
Users noted positively on having the full grouping amount on budget page with the ability to open details and edit.
Account detection
Peni gathers all your financial information ensuring you don't miss any bills or accounts.
Users reported wanting a way to delete accounts or bills for old accounts or bills that are still open.
Budget home
I wanted to keep everything important together, making it easy to see total amounts, upcoming bills, and monthly expenses.
Users were able to navigate their home page with minimal directions.
Save the change
Accessed by drop down users can opt to "save the change" and set goal amounts to work towards. Creating a coachable moment,
Users able to navigate UI with minimal directions, also noting positively on pop up explanations.
Bill reminders
On your budget page your upcoming bills are displayed with a drop down, letting the user know all their details in one spot.
Contents
-Date
Amount
Auto pay Y | N
Last bill amount
Bill grouping
Peni groups bills allowing users to quickly view all their details or keep closed and know a total amount for the grouping.
Users noted positively on having the full grouping amount on budget page with the ability to open details and edit.Last bill amount
Account detection
Peni gathers all your financial information ensuring you don't miss any bills or accounts.
Users reported wanting a way to delete accounts or bills for old accounts or bills that are still open.
Budget home
I wanted to keep everything important together, making it easy to see total amounts, upcoming bills, and monthly expenses.
Users were able to navigate their home page with minimal directions.
Save the change
Accessed by drop down users can opt to "save the change" and set goal amounts to work towards. Creating a coachable moment,
Users able to navigate UI with minimal directions, also noting positively on pop up explanations.
Bill reminders
On your budget page your upcoming bills are displayed with a drop down, letting the user know all their details in one spot.
Amount
Due Dates
Auto pay Y | N
Last bill amount
Bill grouping
Peni groups bills allowing users to quickly view all their details or keep closed and know a total amount for the grouping.
Users noted positively on having the full grouping amount on budget page with the ability to open details and edit.
Branding &
UI Kit
Account detection
Peni gathers all your financial information ensuring you don't miss any bills or accounts.
Users reported wanting a way to delete accounts or bills for old accounts or bills that are still open.
Save the change
Accessed by drop down users can opt to "save the change" and set goal amounts to work towards. Creating a coachable moment,
Users able to navigate UI with minimal directions, also noting positively on pop up explanations.
Budget home
I wanted to keep everything important together, making it easy to see total amounts, upcoming bills, and monthly expenses.
Users were able to navigate their home page with minimal directions.
Bill reminders
On your budget page your upcoming bills are displayed with a drop down, letting the user know all their details in one spot.
Contents
-Date
Amount
Auto pay Y | N
Last bill amount
Bill grouping
Peni groups bills allowing users to quickly view all their details or keep closed and know a total amount for the grouping.
Users noted positively on having the full grouping amount on budget page with the ability to open details and edit.
Logo
I wanted to keep the logo minimalistic but playful by connecting the N and I to create a coin.
Palette
Peni utilizes a dark background with bright memorable accent colors.
Goals
I wanted to know with minimal support, would my users successfully be able to onboard and create their first mentor session.
Task Flows Designed & Tested
Onboarding.
Search for mentors.
Scheduling a mentor session.
Saving helpful resources.
Mentorship goal setting.
04 Testing
Measured
Twice Cut
Once
Usability Testing See Maze Testing Results
After making adjustments based on user feedback and celebrating wins from earlier testing, I wanted to see if users could navigate the experience without instructions and clearly understand the tools available to them.
Onboarding
Onboarding is quick and easy with Peni finding your accounts, allowing you to remove anything unwanted. Followed by a user tutorial.
100% of user are able to complete onboarding.
Onboarding
Users can swap out bill groups for their banner and quickly open groups to see billing details.
This flow encounter a high mis-click percentage leading way to enlarging touch point for the final prototype.
Navigating your tools
Upcoming bills and setting new reminders or tools to your budget page.
Users report slight problem understanding " adding a tool" but navigated well once found.
Onboarding
Onboarding is quick and easy with Peni finding your accounts, allowing you to remove anything unwanted. Followed by a user tutorial.
100% of user are able to complete onboarding.
Onboarding
Users can swap out bill groups for their banner and quickly open groups to see billing details.
This flow encounter a high mis-click percentage leading way to enlarging touch point for the final prototype.
Navigating your tools
Upcoming bills and setting new reminders or tools to your budget page.
Users report slight problem understanding " adding a tool" but navigated well once found.
Onboarding
Onboarding is quick and easy with Peni finding your accounts, allowing you to remove anything unwanted. Followed by a user tutorial.
100% of user are able to complete onboarding.
Onboarding
Users can swap out bill groups for their banner and quickly open groups to see billing details.
This flow encounter a high mis-click percentage leading way to enlarging touch point for the final prototype.
Navigating your tools
Upcoming bills and setting new reminders or tools to your budget page.
Users report slight problem understanding " adding a tool" but navigated well once found.
Onboarding
Onboarding is quick and easy with Peni finding your accounts, allowing you to remove anything unwanted. Followed by a user tutorial.
100% of user are able to complete onboarding.
Navigating your tools
Upcoming bills and setting new reminders or tools to your budget page.
Users report slight problem understanding " adding a tool" but navigated well once found.
Onboarding
Users can swap out bill groups for their banner and quickly open groups to see billing details.
This flow encounter a high mis-click percentage leading way to enlarging touch point for the final prototype.
05 MVP
Peni
Budgeting App
MVP
Key Features See MVP prototype
Automatic account discovery
Custom bill grouping
Bill reminders
After bill debit amounts
Save the change and goal setting tools
Key Features See MVP prototype
Automatic account discovery
Custom bill grouping
Bill reminders
After bill debit amounts
Save the change and goal setting tools
06 Reflection
Reflection
& What's
Next
Moving forward with Peni, I would like to fully follow through on its theme of customization — allowing users to personalize colors and descriptions, truly giving them the chance to "make it their own."
Peni really shined in its moments of coaching and encouragement, and I see this as a key factor in the product’s success.
Introducing gamification into the budgeting process would also be a strong opportunity to help keep users on track as the product evolves.
Have a nice , I look forward to connecting with you! All Rights Reserved © Bryan Brunot
06 Reflection
Reflection
& What's
Next
Moving forward with Peni, I would like to fully follow through on its theme of customization — allowing users to personalize colors and descriptions, truly giving them the chance to "make it their own."
Peni really shined in its moments of coaching and encouragement, and I see this as a key factor in the product’s success.
Introducing gamification into the budgeting process would also be a strong opportunity to help keep users on track as the product evolves.