Squad Save
More Life. Less Strife

Mobile app that focuses on equity to help groups of friends or family save for a common goal

TIMELINE
Oct 2024
to
Dec 2024

PLATFORM
Mobile
Site/
App

ROLES
UI UX Product Designer
Brand Designer
Interactive Website Designer

Objective

Design an intuitive and engaging app that encourages both individual and group savings toward shared financial goals, overcoming common barriers such as motivation, coordination, and budget transparency.

Problem

In group saving, staying motivated, communicating effectively, maintaining transparency, and ensuring accountability are all critical, but the most overlooked and crucial factor is the perception of fairness and unfairness. Planning shared financial goals—whether for a family vacation, a home project, or household expenses—is often complicated by differing financial capacities within the group, which can lead to frustration and tension. Squad Save tackles these challenges with a platform designed to simplify group saving, enhance collaboration, and introduce motivational elements. Its standout feature, Clutch Mode, allows financially able members to contribute more, easing the burden on others without judgment or pressure, fostering a sense of fairness that keeps the group aligned toward their common goal.

Project Goals

Promote Fairness in Group Savings
 Develop and implement features that address perceptions of fairness and inequity, such as Clutch Mode, to ensure all participants feel valued and supported, regardless of their financial capacity.

Enhance Transparency & Collaboration
 Create a platform that simplifies group saving by improving communication, accountability, and real-time progress tracking, reducing misunderstandings and keeping the group aligned toward shared goals.

Boost Engagement and Motivation
 Integrate motivational tools and gamified elements that encourage users to stay committed to their savings goals, fostering a positive and productive group saving experience.

The Squad Save app will foster fairness and inclusivity by addressing disparities in financial capacity, while enhancing transparency, accountability, and motivation through intuitive features like Clutch Mode and engaging collaboration tools.

Understanding
the User

Primary Research

Interviewed 8 close friends and family members
Blasted a survey to my contact list and social media followers (about 640 people, only 17 responded)
Investigated the r/finance r/budget and r/investing Subreddits, as well as FB groups

Key Takeaways

Communication is a central challenge, requiring a focused tool.
Fairness in contribution distribution is crucial to avoid tension.
Accessibility features need improvement for users with disabilities.
Gamified elements and positive reinforcement enhance motivation.
Privacy concerns and data security fears impact user willingness to engage fully.
Flexibility in accommodating diverse spending patterns is essential.

Personas

"Balancing a busy career and family life is challenging, but I believe in planning and teamwork to achieve our goals."
Age: 34
Occupation: Marketing Manager
Location: Los Angeles, California
Family: Married, two children
Sara Marie
Profile
Sarah is a busy marketing manager working at a mid-sized tech company. She and her husband, Mike, both have demanding jobs and often find it challenging to manage their household finances efficiently. They are planning a family vacation to Europe next summer and want to save up for it without compromising their monthly budget.
Goals
Save $5,000 for a family vacation to Europe.
Reduce unnecessary household expenses.
Ensure all family members are aware of and contribute to the savings goal.
Frustrations
Difficulty tracking and categorizing household expenses.
Lack of coordination with her husband on financial decisions.
Often forgets to set aside money for savings due to busy schedules.
Needs
A centralized platform to track all expenses and income.
Tools to set and monitor savings goals.
Automated reminders and notifications for bill payments and savings contributions.
Technological Comfort Level
Proficient with smartphones and basic financial apps.
Comfortable using budgeting and planning tools.
Persona Insights
Sarah values efficiency, wants an app that simplifies management.
She prefers visual representations of data, such as charts and graphs, to understand spending patterns.
Family collaboration is crucial; she wants an app that includes features for communication and shared goal tracking.

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"Living with friends is great, but managing our shared finances shouldn't feel like a constant hassle. We need a fair and simple way to keep track."
Age: 28
Occupation: Software Developer
Location: Austin, Texas
Family: Lives with three friends in a shared apartment
Alex Johnson
Profile
Alex is a tech-savvy software developer who shares an apartment with three friends. They often struggle with managing shared expenses, such as rent, utilities, and groceries. The group is also planning to save up for a group trip to a music festival next year.
Goals
Save $2,000 for a group trip to a music festival.
Ensure fair and transparent splitting of shared expenses.
Avoid conflicts over money and contributions among housemates.
Frustrations
Inconsistent tracking of shared expenses and contributions.
Frequent misunderstandings and conflicts over who owes what.
Lack of an organized system for saving towards common goals.
Needs
A reliable way to split and track shared expenses.
Transparency in financial transactions and contributions.
Features to set and monitor group savings goals.
Technological Comfort Level
Highly proficient with technology and financial management tools.
Enjoys using apps and software that offer automation and advanced features.
Persona Insights
Alex values transparency and fairness in financial management.
Prefers an app with robust features for expense tracking and goal setting.
Appreciates gamification elements that make saving money more engaging and fun.

Aggregated Empathy Map

Says
Communication breakdowns, difficulty in balancing individual and group expenses, and the need for better accessibility features in budgeting apps are recurring themes.
Thinks
Participants consistently believe in the importance of clear communication, fair distribution of financial responsibilities, and inclusive design in financial tools.
Does
Participants commonly try to manage individual needs within shared budgets, engage in group discussions, & express the desire for streamlined processes in decisions
Feels
Frustration is a shared emotion, whether due to communication challenges, difficulty in balancing finances, or facing usability issues with existing tools.

Key Takeways

Clear communication, fair distribution, and inclusive design are critical.
Usability issues impact emotional well-being.
Streamlined processes and accessible features are desired universally.

User Journey Map

Understanding Competitors

Splitwise

Description: Splitwise helps users split expenses with friends and family, keeping track of shared bills and IOUs. It is popular among friends, roommates, families, and travelers for its simplicity and fairness.

Type: Expense splitting and tracking app.

Quality: High-quality, user-friendly interface focused on fairness and transparency. Limited in comprehensive budgeting features.

Market Positioning: Positioned as the go-to app for simple and fair expense splitting among friends, roommates, and travelers.

Messaging: Emphasizes fairness, simplicity, and transparency in managing shared expenses.

Strengths:
Easy to use
Fairness and transparency
Good integration with payment platforms
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Weaknesses:
Limited budgeting and saving goal features
Primarily focuses on expense splitting

YNAB (You Need A Budget)

Description: YNAB is a personal budgeting software that encourages proactive budgeting and financial management, targeting individuals and families who seek detailed and comprehensive budgeting tools.
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Type: Personal budgeting software.

Quality: High-quality, detailed budgeting tools with a strong focus on financial education and user support. Steeper learning curve.

Market Positioning: Positioned as the comprehensive budgeting solution for individuals and families, focusing on financial education and proactive budgeting.

Messaging: Focuses on helping users gain control over their finances through proactive budgeting and financial education.

Strengths:
Comprehensive budgeting tools
Strong focus on financial education
Robust community and support
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Weaknesses:
Steeper learning curve
Subscription-based pricing model

Honeydue

Description: Honeydue is a financial app for couples, offering joint expense tracking, budgeting tools, and bill reminders, aimed at enhancing financial collaboration between partners.
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Type: Joint financial management app for couples.

Quality: High-quality, user-friendly interface with real-time updates and syncing. Limited to couples and less advanced in budgeting features.

Market Positioning: Positioned as the ideal app for couples to manage their finances together, emphasizing collaboration and communication.

Messaging: Highlights the importance of collaboration and communication between partners in managing finances.

Strengths:
Focus on collaboration between partners
User-friendly interface
Real-time updates and syncing
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Weaknesses:
Limited to couples, not optimized for larger groups or families
Somewhat limited in advanced budgeting features

Gaps

Lack of comprehensive solutions combining expense splitting and budgeting tools.
Limited collaboration features for families and larger groups in existing apps.
User interfaces that are either too basic or outdated.
Limited gamification and engaging elements in current financial management apps.

Opportunities

Comprehensive Solution: Combine the strengths of expense splitting (like Splitwise) and detailed budgeting (like YNAB) in one app.
Collaboration Features: Enhance collaboration tools, making it ideal for families and shared living groups.
User-Friendly Interface: Ensure the app is intuitive and visually appealing to attract a broader audience.
Gamification: Introduce gamification elements to make saving and budgeting more engaging.

Design

Initial Ideas and Sketches

Having an intuitive and functional dashboard was the primary focus in the beginning. Users would need to be able to imitate the most common tasks like depositing money or withdrawing money from the very start. They would also want to see vital information at a glance, like individual progress, group progress, whether or not they're on a savings streak, etc.

Inspiration came from other finance and savings style apps, but also from other industries like health and fitness apps, organization apps, as well as checklist style apps. Drawing from apps that focused on building momentum, gamification of smaller tasks that leads to visualizing progress being made on the overall group goal was important to keeping users engaged and making progress.

UI Elements

A vibrant modern visual identity, with bright, uplifting colors (blue, magenta, and yellow) set on a dark background to encourage optimism about saving.
‍Progress visualizations: Circular progress bars that show how close you are to hitting your goals. Group progress is prominently displayed, reinforcing teamwork.
‍Motivational elements: Badges and streaks for consistent saving, "Squad Achievements" for groups that meet milestones.

Gamification

Weekly challenges to encourage saving consistency."
Goal milestones" with celebratory animations when a new goal is reached, incentivizing continued participation.

Mobile App Key Features

Goal Creation: Allows users to create both individual and group saving goals.
‍Contribution Tracker: Shows each group member’s progress in real-time, with alerts when someone is lagging behind or when a milestone is achieved.
‍Smart Notifications: Push notifications for progress updates, and reminders for upcoming contribution deadlines.
‍Social Encouragement: Built-in chat feature for group discussions, encouraging messages, and accountability.

Clutch Mode

UI Elements:

In the Navigation section, members who enable Clutch Mode see a custom slider that lets them adjust their contribution above the default "equal share." Other members see a general progress bar for the group goal, but without specific contribution amounts

Key Interaction:

Users in Clutch Mode are prompted with messages like, "Would you like to contribute more to help your group reach the goal faster?
"If a member is behind on their contributions, the Clutch Mode member can receive a notification asking, "Would you like to cover the shortfall?"

Key Features:

Clutch Mode Activation: An option in the goal creation or contribution screen for users to activate their ability to contribute more.
‍Contribution Flexibility: Clutch Mode participants can contribute extra at any point in the savings timeline, either automatically or on a case-by-case basis.

Logo

Logomark

Logotype

Imagery

All photography had to have the same distinct color grade. High contrast, dark shadows, bright highlights, clearly showing the car, while being highlighted by a unique environment. We took hundreds of photos in Downtown LA, in snowy Mammoth Lakes, on our trip the Grand Canyon and White Sands National Park, as well as at a more local park in Joshua Tree. All Back to the Future props and accessories were also photographed and graded to match the overall photography aesthetic.
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Color Palette

The decision to opt for a darker color palette was deliberate. Darker tones exude sophistication, evoke a sense of reliability, and align with the idea of exploring adventures during both day and night. It also provided a visually appealing contrast with the white lettering, enhancing readability. To pay homage to the Back To The Future movie, we used bold orange as our primary accent color.
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#be35cc
Primary Brand Color
Buttons, Borders, CTAs

#009bdd
Secondary Brand Color
Buttons, Borders, CTAs

#ffd600
Tertiary Brand Color
Buttons, Borders, CTAs

#FFFFFFF
Logo Color
Headers, Body, Logo

Typography

Typography Choices prioritized simplicity and readability. The typography choices were driven by the brand's minimalistic ethos. Sans-serif font Family MANROPE was preferred for their clean and modern aesthetic, ensuring readability and conveying a straightforward brand message.
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Name/Preview

Specs

Use

Poppins H1
Bold 40pt
Headings
Poppins H2
Medium 32pt
Sub Headings
Poppins H3
Bold 16pt
Button Text
Nunito H4
Black 24pt
Card Headers
Nunito H5
Medium 16pt
Card Sub Header Info
Nunito Body
Light 16pt
Nunito Body

Iconography

Consistency with Line Art Design: Visual elements, including icons, maintained consistency with the minimalist line art design prevalent in contemporary logos. This ensured a cohesive and modern visual language across all brand touchpoints.

Summary

The MFNTI brand identity was meticulously crafted to align with the foundational concepts of Endless Adventure, Infinite Possibilities, and Minimalistic. From the conceptualization of the brand strategy to the development of the logo, visual elements, color palette, and typography, each element was carefully chosen to resonate with the brand's core values and communicate a unified and compelling narrative.

Usability Study Findings

Clarity of Budget Categories

Success: Users appreciated the predefined budget categories, which made initial setup easier.
Opportunity: Some users found it hard to bucket some particular spend into the predefined categories and wanted something that could capture this.

Goal Tracking Visibility

Success: Users were motivated by the progress bar feature, which visually represented how close they were to reaching their savings goal.
Opportunity: Several participants mentioned they would prefer multiple visual indicators for short-term and long-term goals.

Transparent and Discretion

Success: While transparency was valued, many participants expressed a strong preference for the option to make contributions in Clutch Mode anonymously.
Opportunity: Users wanted the flexibility to contribute without disclosing individual amounts to avoid social pressure or comparison.

Accessibility and Editability

Success: The clean layout and large buttons made navigation intuitive for most users.
Opportunity: A few participants noted wanting an “Edit Goal” option, expressing the need to be able to modify or change things sometimes.

Key Recommendations:

Create an “Other” category during the onboarding process that could capture abnormal spend.
Introduce multiple visual indicators for goal progress (e.g., graphs, charts or milestone markers).
Break the onboarding into smaller, more digestible steps.
Add an “Edit Goal” option, where the group can “accept changes” individually.

Refining the Design

Key Benefits (Updated):

Financial Flexibility: Members can contribute more when able, helping groups reach savings goals faster.
Reduced Pressure: Clutch Mode removes the burden from lower-income participants while maintaining group harmony.
Privacy & Transparency: Contributions can be made anonymously to prevent discomfort around financial inequality, maintaining the spirit of teamwork.

Accessibility and Editability

Success: The clean layout and large buttons made navigation intuitive for most users.
Opportunity: A few participants noted wanting an “Edit Goal” option, expressing the need to be able to modify or change things sometimes.

Key Recommendations:

Create an “Other” category during the onboarding process that could capture abnormal spend.
Introduce multiple visual indicators for goal progress (e.g., graphs, charts or milestone markers).
Break the onboarding into smaller, more digestible steps.
Add an “Edit Goal” option, where the group can “accept changes” individually.

Interact with the Prototype below!

Conclusion

During the usability study, we identified several features that were highly requested but not yet implemented, including achievement badges, weekly challenges, and competitions. These features were seen as valuable for increasing user engagement, motivation, and long-term retention. However, due to time constraints, they were deprioritized in the current version of the product.

Revisiting Gamification Elements: Explore the phased introduction of achievement badges and challenges, starting with simpler implementations like milestone badges for group savings progress.
‍User Feedback on Competitions: Conduct follow-up research to better understand how users would engage with friendly competitions and what reward structures would be most motivating.
‍Prioritization for Future Sprints: Reassess the feasibility of incorporating these features in upcoming design and development cycles based on user demand and resource availability.

By gradually rolling out these features and gathering feedback, we can continue enhancing user engagement while maintaining the product’s core value of collaborative financial transparency.

Back to Work