Dal is a digital wallet app for users striving to be more financially responsible. They’re provided a secure and helpful way to track, save, and budget their money as they work towards their personal goals.
Overview
Goal
The goal of this project was to create a seamless, easy to use app that is helpful in users daily lives. Users will be able to use DAL’s own banking system and sync their other banks/cards to be able to track all their finances in one place.
Research
Competitive analysis and user interviews were conducted to gain insight into the strengths and weaknesses of digital wallets already in the market and understand potential user needs.
Competetive Analysis
SWOT profiles were made after analyzing GooglePay and the Wally app. Based on that, I came to the following conclusions about the opportunities DAL has to set itself apart from the competition.
Opportunities
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No transaction fees
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Focus on features for financial insights (i.e Budgeting tips/tools, charts, quizzes)
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Emphasis on security but does not require user to give highly sensitive information like their social security #
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An app that allows users to create multiple profiles under one account
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An app that has more personalized UI
User Interviews
Four participants in total were interviewed. One interview was conducted via zoom. Three interviews were held in person. The average duration of the interviews was about thirty minutes.
Pain Points
Tracking Finances
Users have difficulty saving money and keeping track of when they’re overspending.
Integration
Users want to have the ability to view and track all their finances in one place.
Financial Goals
Users have financial goals they want to achieve and need access to resources that can help them reach their goals.
Education
Users want to have access to financial education that isn’t hard to understand or keep up with.
Solutions
Budgeting Features
Adding budgeting features and notifications so users can feel more aware.
Syncing banks or cards
The ability to sync all of the users banks or cards in one place seamlessly.
Variety of Features
Features that help users reach every type of financial goal in each stage of their lives.
Easy Learning
Providing users with tips and blogs that are easy to access and understand.
Age: 34
Work: X-Ray Technologist
Family: Married, No kids
Location: El Paso, Texas
"Buying a house and planning for a baby are exciting but financially stressful goals. I want an app that takes some of that weight off our shoulders and helps us easily plan and organize our expenses.”
User Persona
A user persona was created based on the information gathered from the competitive analysis and user interviews. It represents target users and allows a better understanding of the target audience.
Akiva
Bio
Akiva works full time at the hospital as an x-ray technologist. She loves her job and her husband of five years. They're both excited about their decision to move from their apartment and into a house so they can start a family. Akiva wants to make sure they are stable enough to do so and needs an effective way to manage and monitor all their expenses.
Goals
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Plan estimates for future expenses
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Set realistic budgets
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Effectively save money
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Have all her cards and transactions synced in one place
Frustrations
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Apps that are too basic-lacking useful features
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Cluttered app interfaces
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Transaction fees
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Losing bank cards
Motivation
Future ventures
Growing family
Stability
Current Apps Used
User Journey Map
A user journey map was created to visually illustrate and gain insight into the user flow through the app
Phases
Tasks
Thoughts
Feelings
Opportunities
Akiva
Age: 34
Work: X-Ray Technologist
Family: Married, No kids
Location: El Paso, Texas
Scenario
Akiva wants to cut back on unnecessary spending so her and her husband can save up enough to buy the house they’ve been eyeing
Goals
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Set and follow realistic budget
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Plan for future expenses
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Manage and organize expenses efficiently
Check expense tracker
Filter monthly recurring phases
Cancel unused subscriptions
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Click onto app
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Go to Insights tab
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View charts of last five months of expenses
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Find the filter button on top right of chart
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Select recurring payments
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View filtered results
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Auto calculate how much is saved yearly without certain subscriptions
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Send results to husband and discuss
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Cancel subscriptions used less than twice a month
Being able to swipe to switch tabs would be more satisfying
I want more filter options so I can get more specific results
The charts are so easy to view and understand
The auto-calculate function saves me so much time!
Add option to swipe through tabs
Include more filter option to increase specificity
Being able to compare estimations would save users time and make decision making a bit easier
Design
Low and Mid-Fidelity Wireframes & Prototypes of DAL’s core pages and features were made. Focus was put into making the app organized and easy to use, not cluttered or confusing.
Low-Fidelity Wireframes
Mid-Fidelity Wireframes
Checking Accessibility Standards
Focusing on accessibility standards was a main priority while refining the app. Color contrasts, text sizing and spacing were assessed with a WCAG 2.1 Compliance Checker & WCAG 2.1 Guidelines.
The following changes to the colors were made in order to increase readability to users with visual impairments. The contrast ratio reached each time was at least 4.5:1.
Previous Version
#848484
Updated Version
#848484
Previous Version
#9DAEE9
Updated Version
#6071B7
Using color to complement information, the error message has the familiar icon and red color correlated to error messages. Error is also labeled in writing. This ensures that if users can’t see the color red, or have a language impairment, they will still be able to recognize the message.
Visual & Auditory Accessibility
For future prospective blog and learning aspects of the app, text-to-speech and subtitles/written scripts will be added to aid users with visual and/or auditory impairments as there will be potentially long text and videos.
Testing
A usability test, A/B preference test, and peer reviews were conducted to gauge usability and areas of improvement based on DAL’s first and second version high fidelity prototype.
Usability Test
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Users thought they would be able to send money through the Wallet page
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Users want the Wallet page to be organized better
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Users felt splitting transactions was very confusing and frustrating to follow
A/B Preference Test
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Users prefer screens that look more modern and polished
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Open space screens called users attentions
High-Fidelity Wireframes
DAL’s high-fidelity prototype was refined based on user and peer feedback. Accessibility was also considered and applied to color contrasts and text/icon sizing.
Welcome Page
Simple page new users can scroll and get a better idea of what’s included in the app.
Errors
Errors are notified through text, color, and icon for increased accessibility.
Home Page
The home page is kept simple and contains access to users Wallet, Shortcuts, Alerts, and Activity.
Confirmation
The checkmark animation and text is used to indicate confirmations.
Wallet
The wallet has access to stocks and send/request. The banks and cards are organized in a way users can easily visualize all their information, but can click on to view specifics.
Send/Request
Users can toggle between sending/requesting funds from their contacts, scanning a QR code, or searching for usernames.
Security
Users can choose to use Face ID authentication or a passcode of their choice.
Insights
Users can visualize and read insights of their finances for all their accounts or filter for a specific search.
Shopping
Users can use the features in this tab to organize shopping lists and coupons, while keeping their budget in mind.