Splend
A mobile app to mindfully track your daily spending.
Discover
RESEARCH
I conducted research to understand the current state of personal finance and users' pain points when it came to their personal finances.
📍 The Current State
Majority of Canadians say rising high costs are affecting their ability to reach financial goals — but many believe being proactive and planning could improve their finances.
Their top financial goals? 1) start saving and 2) stop overspending.
The challenge is that Canadians aren't reviewing their spending regularly. Most only do so monthly, some just yearly, — and others not at all.
This is all to say - saving and spending are major concerns for Canadians, but not enough is being done to take control of their finances.
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EMPATHIZING WITH USERS
I conducted one-on-one interviews with 5 adults who manage their own finances to uncover the problem. Many of the findings from the reports were validated through user interviews.
When I set a goal to stop overspending, I stick to it for a few days — then I just forget.
Example of a user persona
Define
FEEDBACK TO INSIGHT
With all the feedback from users collected from the interviews, I synthesized the data by grouping sticky notes to identify patterns and related themes.
Grouping sticky notes and identifying themes
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WHAT DID WE DISCOVER?
After taking our research and synthesizing the results, we were able to define our solution space and focus on some main insights to guide our iterations.
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Money is spent on the go
Users typically spend money while out and about — after work, on weekends with friends, and so on— but budgeting and expense tracking often happen later, at home. This gap presents an opportunity to bring planning and spending closer together.
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Money spent is money forgotten
Some users have no idea how much money they’ve spent in the past week or month, others have some, but they’re uncertain what and where they’ve spent money. Some don’t track expenses at all, as it takes time and effort, others use automated tools to track, but often forget about it.
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Getting started is the hard
Users are intimidated by the learning curve of finance tools and often don't know where to start when it comes to their finances. Many also shared that while they got started, they stopped within months, stating that it was hard to keep up.
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💡 The Opportunity
How might we design user-friendly financial tool that turns routine spending into mindful spending — helping users feel more connected to their everyday spending
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HOW ARE OTHERS SOLVING THE PROBLEM
I conducted a competitive analysis to understand how others have tackled expense tracking. Apps like You Need a Budget (YNAB) and EveryDollar use their own systems, but they lack intentional habit-building features. To explore this further, I turned to successful learning and wellness apps, like Duolingo and Headspace, designed to drive daily engagement.
Analyzing pros and cons of competitors
So, what did we discover?
💰 Finance Apps
Most lacked intentional habit-building features
Onboarding was often difficult—either due to a steep learning curve or requiring users to use a combination of features
Users tended to use the web more than the mobile version of the app, stating there were more features available on the web
🗓️ Habit-Building Apps
Use positive reinforcement — like rewards and streaks — to encourage engagement
Offer personalization and user control, from flexible onboarding to daily reminders
