Problem Statement: facilitate the budgeting process for college students who are looking to manage their money.
From the pre-task questionnaire, we found that students have diverse experiences with financial management. Most have never formally tracked their expenses, highlighting the need for a budgeting app. We found that all students have academic expenses, such as textbooks and tuition, as well as varying needs depending if they are living on- or off-campus. For example, college students living on-campus tend to spend less on groceries as a fixed expense than those living off campus. All participants have some form of self sufficient income source through a job, even if they might receive financial gifts from third parties. Commuting was a recreational expense for one individual and a fixed income for two others, indicating differences in needs of individual regarding similar expenses. The extent of the student’s financial independence varies, some may receive monetary help from parents, some may receive financial advice, and some may have neither. Moreover, the majority of college students have never structured a personal savings plan to purchase large expenses, meaning that our application could assist in setting smaller, attainable goals to eventually reach their main savings goal.
In the following interview activities, we observed users’ decisions and thought processes as we asked them to (1) categorize hypothetical revenue streams and expenses, (2) create a savings plan to achieve a financial goal, and (3) track their spendings with financial constraints in relevant locations where spending might occur, such as the grocery store.
Description: Users were asked to categorize each source of revenue and expenses.
Users seemed to have different ideas about how to categorize items. For instance, some users categorized revenue based on how they would spend the money or how the revenue source related to the user (e.g. earned income, gift). There were trends in category choices, however, so we could provide some default categories if the user needs this guide. Overall, users had diverse notions on the purpose of categories. This highlights the need for customization of categories. Our mobile application could therefore tailor to users’ preferences by allowing them to choose, edit, and prioritize categories based on their various needs. This would not only increase their locus of control, but improve the overall user experience by supporting to the requirements of the users.
Description:Users were asked to develop a plan to save for a camping trip given fixed expenses and incomes, and then calculate the length of time it would take for them to reach their savings goal.
How users planned out their budget varied based on experience level with budgeting. Users that had more experience budgeting developed structured plans that outlined weekly revenue and differences after expenses were deduced. On the other hand, users with little to no experience struggled to schedule payment increments. This phenomenon highlights the need for learnability and usability across users of varying experiences. Our app should be accessible to users who have little experience creating a saving plan for themselves,guiding them through the process, while allowing a higher locus of control for users who are more financially savvy.
Description: In this activity, users were given $15 in cash and $30 in credit and asked how they would form a budget to shop for groceries to last for one week.
Users had different approaches to tracking grocery expenses and had various spending habits. Some users would estimate expenses as they bought items, others would calculate exact amounts in their head. Some users would prioritize organic food choices, others would try to optimize the number of meals per item. Our app would provide tips to users in order to inform them of potentially unfamiliar spending terms, such as credit. This feature is geared toward less experienced users. Our application could facilitate the shopping process by tracking a user’s total spending. By inputting prices into the application, users could see whether a certain purchase would exceed or fall within their budget. This way the user can avoid the tedious task of loosely or strictly estimating prices in their head or on paper as they shop. This would be applicable to any store as well. If the user finds that a certain purchase exceeds their budget, then the application would allow for an easy reversal of action, removing the inputted purchase so the user can continue shopping with ease.
As a financially independent college student, Alex has experience budgeting his finances, but desires a more efficient way to manage his savings and daily expenses. He has difficulty tracking his finances on pen and paper because there are too many bills to account for. It would be a very tedious process for him and he would rather invest his time in his work. Our app would serve as a tool for him to organize his finances by calculating his daily expenses for him, sorting it into his own personalized categories, and helping him manage savings, which he could check with one tap of a button. Because Alex is already experienced in budgeting, he needs an app that enhances his monetary management through accessibility, ease of use, and customizability for greater locus control. The gamification feature would provide an incentive for continued use.
As a naive first year, Natalie has not yet gained financial independence and is unsure of how to manage her finances. Although Natalie has a general idea of personal savings, her spending habits need to be refined. She has no experience making a budget and wants guidance. She would benefit from a mobile app that would get her accustomed to tracking her cash flow, where her money is being spent, and plan out future expenses to stay within her budget. Our app would update Natalie with her net balance, log her spending, and give her general budgeting tips. The badges feature and progress tracker would provide informative feedback on her development of financial skills.
Aware that his financial habits are not sustainable, Kevin needs an incentive to control his spending. Kevin has no experience with budgeting and no sense of his savings of expenses. Without an independent source of income, Kevin does not have direct control of his cash flow. However, he is still able to control his spending habits. By displaying a side-by-side comparison of Kevin’s monthly expenses, our app would provide a general sense of his spending activity, making him more aware of his extravagant consumer lifestyle. He would be able to clearly see his financial dependence and splurging habits. To incentivise spending more realistically, our app would provide feedback through the pig avatar regarding responsible spending on Kevin’s part.
Hierarchical Task Plan
Plan 1: Do 1.1 and 1.2 in that order
Plan 1.1: Do 1.1.1 and 1.1.3 first in any order, then 1.1.2 and 1.1.4 in any order
Plant 1.2: Do 1.2.1 and 1,2.3 first in any order, then 1.2.2 and 1.2.4 in any order.
Plan 1.2.2: 1.2.2.1 can be done first, it is optional, then 1.2.2.2. Repeat as needed.
Plan 1.2.4: 1.2.4.1 can be done first, it is optional, then complete 1.2.4.2. Repeat as needed.
Plan 2: Do 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, and 2.4 in that order
Plan 2.1: Do 2.1.1, optional step but recommended. Then 2.1.2
Plan 2.1.1: Do 2.1.1.1
Plan 2.2: Do 2.2.1 and 2.2.2 in any order, but 2.2.2 must be done before 2.2.3
Plan 2.2.1: 2.2.1.1 is optional, though recommended. Do 2.2.1.1
Plan 2.2.2: 2.2.2.1 and 2.2.2.2 are optional, though recommended. Then do 2.2.2.3.
Plan 2.3: Do 2.3.1 and 2.3.2 in that order.
Plan 2.3.1: Do 2.3.1.1. Only complete 2.3.1.2. If necessary.
Plan 2.3.1.2: Do 2.3.1.2.1.
Plan 2.3.1.2.1: Do 2.3.1.2.1.1.
Plan 2.4: Do 2.4.1, 2.4.2, and 2.4.3. In any order.
Plan 2.4.1: Do 2.4.1.1.
Plan 2.4.3: 2.4.5.1. is optional.
Plan 3: Do 3.1 and 3.2 in that order
Plan 3.1: Do 3.1.1, 3.1.2, 3.1.3, and 3.1.4. 3.1.1. And 3.1.4 Must be done before 3.1.2 and 3.1.3, which can be done in any order.
Plan 3.2: Do 3.2.1, then 3.2.1.1 in that order.
Plan 3.2.1: Do 3.2.1.1, then 3.2.1.2 in that order
Plan 3.2.2: Do 3.2.2.1.
Task 1 can be performed anywhere that the user has their expenses and revenues available to them. There is no particular environment where this task must be done. The task of categorizing could be performed once a day when all revenues and expenses can be accounted for. The task can also be done after every individual purchase is made or a revenue stream is identified. The task can be learned and optimized after going through the process once. Items could be miscategorized because of human error, leading to incorrect category analysis in budgets. Only one person is involved in the task.
-The task of planning a savings goal is performed whenever the user desires to purchase a currently unaffordable item. The task is learned by calculating a user’s expenses and revenues and using the resulting net balance to develop a reasonable timeframe to save money. The task can go wrong if the user miscalculates the difference between expenses and revenues, forgets a source of revenue or fixed expense to factor into the savings plan, underestimates the amount of time needed for savings to surpass the total of expenses, or overestimates how much revenue the user is capable of saving without depleting another source of necessity. Other people involved in this task are the user’s guardians, who may fund the user’s bank account.
Task 3 can be performed while spending money for the activity. The environment depends on the activity being performed; for example, it can be within a grocery store where one is buying food. The task is performed as often as the activity needs to be performed, which can vary from once a week to several times a week. The task is learned through completing the activity once and allocating money accordingly. Users may overspend and exceed the limits of their budget. If others are involved in the activity, they would also be involved in the task.
Some subtle relationships worth noting are the relationships between college students and the government. While the government may provide federal aid to a college student, the college student also pays taxes to the government, creating a mutual relationship of expense and income for the college student. Moreover, the entity of loans is interwoven between many other entities, such as bank accounts, college students, colleges, and parents, showing that these entities are connected in more ways than one.
Kevin wants to plan out a short weekend vacation to the Hamptons. Kevin is a junior in college and has always depended on his parents to straighten out his finances. He is trying to become more financially independent. He wants to try planning out the financial aspects of the vacation, but is unsure of how to do this. Money is not an issue for him, but he wants to have a rough idea of the costs associated with vacation and how he would pay for them. Kevin decides to categorize each expense and different ways of paying for the vacation. He pulls out his iphone and opens the PigPal app, adding individual expenses associated with the vacation, such as airfare, hotel, food, and recreational costs. He categorizes each expense into either “necessity,” “recreational,” or “utility.” He also adds current revenue sources to his app and adds these revenue streams to either the “earned” category or the “gift” category. He then goes to the Budget Detail feature and is able to see what percentage of his expenses will go toward necessities, utilities, and recreational expenses. He is also able to see the aggregate amount of revenue he has towards this trip on the app.
As a first-year student in college, Natalie is just learning the ropes of a financially independent life. Although she understands the importance of saving money, she is inexperienced in handling finances and doesn’t quite know how to follow a formal savings plan. Natalie knows, however, that if she wants to study abroad in the upcoming years, she has to save up soon and stick to a diligent plan. Her new mobile app, PigPal, encourages her to begin by searching up costs of a specific place she wants to travel. Motivated, Natalie looks up study abroad programs in chemistry and biology to compliment her pre-med route. Despite being costly, the sciences program at Oxford University catches her attention, and Natalie realizes that this is where she wants to attend even if the university’s tuition far surpasses her annual income. Natalie then takes note of the program’s application fees, housing dues, textbook expenses, air travel, meal plan, and course costs. After adding up all the costs, Natalie estimates that a semester abroad would cost a total of $31,000, so she enters this amount into PigPal’s create a “savings goal” feature. The app then asks Natalie to set a deadline. The app encourages Natalie to allocate money towards her savings by featuring a progress bar that displays not only the amount of time left she has to reach her goal, but also the amount of money left needed to be saved. The app then creates a budget tailored to her needs based on her spending habits, and all Natalie has to do is follow the suggested weekly spending amounts to reach her savings goal in the desired time frame.
Alex is going shopping at Walmart. He is financially independent and has been shopping for himself for a while. Although he has a good idea of what to spend and knows not to spend too much, he would still like a way to track his expenses to make sure he is not going over his amount allocated for groceries. He has thirty dollars in cash and sixty dollars in his credit card. He would like to spend only the money he has in cash and not touch the money he has in credit. He decides to pull out his PigPal app and starts adding each expense to his recent purchases as he puts items in his cart. Near the end of his shopping trip, he sees he is close to his thirty dollar limit at twenty six dollars spent. His pig avatar, Wilbur, sends his phone a reminder that he must stay within his budgeting limit. He still needs to buy a box of cereal for breakfast. He has two options, the generic brand three dollar cereal and the whole grain five dollar cereal. After being reminded by Wilbur to stay on budget, he decides to buy the three dollar generic brand cereal to remain under forty dollars. He buys all his items and saves the rest of his money in his credit.
Thank you for agreeing to participate in this usability study. You will receive food compensation at the end of this study. This shouldn’t take more than a quarter hour. Your identity will remain anonymous. You may stop the test at any time.
We will be testing the prototype for our budgeting application, PigPal. Our application is geared toward college students to assist them with managing their finances. Users will be able to track expenses, create savings goals, and stick to a budget. Our app includes rewards, in the form of badges, and interactions with a pet pig (default Wilbur) to encourage users to manage their finances.
In the study, you will complete three tasks related to using the application. You can ask for clarification about the scenario tasks.We cannot tell you how to complete the task. Please say your thoughts out loud so we can record them. We can show you our notes if you would like at the end of the study for transparency.
Please complete the tasks to the best of your ability. We are only testing for usability in our application in this study.
Assume you are a new user and must create an account.
You receive $250 monthly paycheck and $75 weekly from parents. You pay $100 monthly for studewnt loans, $50 weekly for groceries, and $30 weekly recreationally. Create an initial budget.
You are saving up for a $300 bicycle. You need it by August 31, 2016. You already have $100 saved up for the bicycle. Create a savings goal for buying the bicycle.
You are grocery shopping. You are buying $2 eggs, $3 milk gallons, and $2 bread. Input these expenses to track your spending.
For the first task, the first user in the pilot study was unable to navigate to their starting budget for the first task from the overview page. We found the user must be prompted to create an account first.
We did not have a dropdown menu for “Time” in entering either initial income sources or recurring expenses, as seen when one user attempted to click on “time”. A drop down menu was created for it with the wording being changed to “frequency” to clarify what this meant.
When users would click on “start budgeting” after initial budgeting, they were prompted to a page that asked them to name their pig instead of sending them to budget, which was confusing for some users. The “start budgeting” button was removed from the form and placed on the pig naming page instead.
In the second task, two users was not sure what “reserve money toward the goal” meant, therefore the wording was changed in the next prototype to make it more clear that the question means if users have money saved towards their goal already.
Several users had trouble finding the “savings goal” form page. Some users managed to navigate towards the savings goals using the nav bar. Others, instead, entered the savings goals as a new expense. To fix the issue, we added a “savings goal” button to different pages so users may find it more easily.
One user was unsure if “amount” meant their starting amount for savings or if it meant how much the bicycle it. The wording was clarified in the updated prototype to mean the amount that the savings goal costs.
For the third task, some users would group the items together into “groceries,” while others would enter the expenses for the three items one at a time. While it was not the intention that users would group together grocery expenses, our app was dynamic enough for the users to enter their expenses this way.
One user went to the overview page and to the menu after that, but was unsure of where to go back to input expenses. Add expense icons were added in order to simplify this process for the users.
In the first task, one user made a mistake in entering the amounts for initial budgeting and asked if they could go back to fix them. They made the mistake before adding expenses, which made it possible for them to edit the page, but we realized they would not be able to change their initial budget after this.
One user pointed out that the frequency button would only count the frequency starting from the day they entered the amount. It might be user to add a date for the frequency to start calculating a budget.
A user was confused by what the plus sign meant in the income and recurring expenses. We should find a way to clarify this for users.
In the second task, one user was confused on what the happiness bar was. We may need to add a ‘?’ prompt next to the happiness bar, similar to the one in next to the coinks, to clarify what the happiness bar means.
One user still had trouble finding the savings goal, or had trouble understanding what it meant.
In the third task, two user asked whether the expenses should be grouped or whether they should be added together. One user noted that because there wasn’t a plus sign, similar to the one in the first task, then they should group the expenses.
One user was unsure if the happiness bar would increase after entering the expense, meaning the purpose of the happiness bar is ambiguous for some users.
One user asked for a back button because they would have liked to go back to the previous screen rather than navigating through it with the nav bar.
During the pilot test, our prototype featured a “Start Budgeting” button on the registration form, which when clicked, led to a “Get Started” screen where users can name their pig. After naming their pig, the pilot users could click the “Next” button, which would then lead to a new “Starting Budget” form. After performing our prototype tests on the pilot users, we found that the ordering of these buttons were misleading, so we switched their orders on our new prototype for the real user tests. On our prototype for the real users, our registration form features a “Next” button, which would navigate the user towards the “Get Started” page. The “Get Started” page then had a “Start Budgeting” button, which properly lead the real users to the “Starting Budget” form.
On our overview screen for our pilot test, our prototype contained a “Happiness Bar” section with the virtual pig, a “Budget” section where users could view their budget progress, and a “Add Expenses” button on the bottom right corner that users could click to enter any new expenses. After performing our initial tests, we found that the pilot users often confused the “add expenses” button as a dual-functioning “add savings” button as well. So, for our test on the real users, we changed our prototype “Overview” screen to feature two separate buttons: “Add Expenses” on the bottom right, and “New Goal” on the left.
Like the overview screen on our first prototype, our “Budget” screen for the pilot test was also missing a “New Goal” button that users can click on to enter a new savings goal. Because the budget screen is the most important and informative page on our application, we found it necessary to add a savings goal feature next to the new expenses button on the iterated design of the Budget page. Our prototype for the real users therefore has a “New Goal” button on the bottom left side, next to the “Add Expenses” button.
To keep our application structurally consistent, we changed our prototype for the “Savings Goal” page to feature a “Add Expenses” button on the bottom right corner. Previously, the prototype for the pilot users only had a “New Goal” button on the bottom right corner, where users could input new savings goals. To follow the consistency guideline in the 8 Golden Rules, we moved this “New Goal” button to the left, and created an “Add Expenses” button on the right.
Moreover, we added trash can icons on the bottom right of each savings container so that real users could delete any savings goals. During our pilot test, users did not have the capability of removing any savings goals, which was problematic in terms of reversibility. We accounted for this problem by adding a delete feature in the form a trash can icon on the Savings Goal page.
During our pilot test, users were confused by the question on the bottom of our “New Goal” form. The question, which was below the “Deadline for Goal” section, asked pilot users, “Would you like to reserve money towards your goal?” Users could respond either yes or no by clicking a radio button, but our pilot users were unclear what the question was referring to. We changed the wording of this question in our prototype for real users by restating it as “Do you already have money saved towards your goal?” This wording was much more straightforward, and real users did not find themselves pondering over the meaning of the question.
During our pilot test, we noticed that the pilot users were not receiving enough feedback from our application. For example, in our pilot test, our prototype did not respond to user input, such as clicking the radio button in “New Goal” page. Our test with real users fixed this problem by adding a popup box, which asks “If yes, how much?” when users answer the question that asks “Do you already have money saved towards your goal?”
On our “[Pig Name]” page, we also added a “help” feature for our real user tests, which when clicked on, would create a dialog box that explains the gamification features of the PigPal application. In our prototype for pilot users, our settings page also didn’t respond to user input such as password changes, account deletion, or log out confirmation. In our prototype for real users, we added these features so that when the user changes the account password, a pop up box appears, saying, “Password Reset”, a text input box that says, “Enter Email Address”, and two buttons that read, “Submit” and “Cancel.” When the real user clicks on “Delete Account” in the settings page, a dialog box will also pop up and read, “Are you sure you want to delete your account?” to which the user could respond with either “No” or “Yes.” When the user clicks “Sign Out”, a confirmation box will appear, notifying the user with “You have been logged out.” Lastly, when the user is finished with the settings page, a pop up box will read, “Your settings have been updated.” Before the test for real users, none of these informative features were in our prototypes.
In our “Starting Budget” page, our prototype for the pilot users also didn’t feature a drop-down menu for the “Frequency” option which should’ve contained options for monthly, weekly, or daily sources of income. We changed this so that in our prototype for real users, users could click on the drop-down menu and choose either “Daily”, “Weekly”, “Monthly”, or “Annually,” making the overall process for users much easier, informative, and responsive.
Editing the initial budget is not possible after creating an account. We could create a new form that allows for editing the initial budget in the “Budget” page. This would allow reversal of errors for the users if the user made a mistake entering their initial budget. Additionally, if the user’s needs changed while using the app, this feature would allow for added customizability and an improved locus of control for the user.
The frequency drop down menu in the initial budget page needs a start time. This could be added to the initial budget form users fill out when they create an account. This allows the users to control when their income sources or recurring expenses get added or taken away from their budget. Assuming the frequency would start when the entered the initial budget could be very problematic when calculating their budget in the future if it doesn’t reflect their actual budget.
The plus sign in the initial budget may be ambiguous. In a previous iteration, there was text in this field rather than a plus sign. Some users do not have issues with the plus sign, while one did see it as unclear. Because the plus sign button offers visual cues, unlike its text field predecessor, the plus sign is more effective in communicating its function. If users desire to input more sources of income and recurring expenses, they could thus simply click the plus sign and enter more information. To resolve the issue of ambiguity, the button could be colored to give users a better idea of what its function refers to.
What the happiness bar does is unclear for some users. This can be fixed by providing a ‘?’ icon next to the happiness bar, similar to the one near the coinks, that provides users with information on what the happiness bar does. Alternatively, there could be a page after naming the pig that tells the user about the happiness bar, it’s purpose, and what it does. Using both could provide the user with the initial information for the happiness bar, while allowing the user to go back and check if they forget what it does and what it means.
There is still trouble finding “savings goal” for some users. To fix this, either the navigation bar needs to be more apparent on the screen to allow users to navigate to it more easily, or every screen should include an “add savings goal” and “add expense” icon on the page. This would provide users with faster access to the core features of the app and eliminate navigation issues.
A back button was requested when users got lost. Every page could include a back button in the header menu, which allows users to go back to their previous page if they made a mistake and need to return to it. Some of the forms already include a back button, but if the user exits out of this form, it may be difficult to return to that menu. Therefore, the back button on every screen would allow easier navigation for the user.
There is ambiguity on whether expenses should be itemized or grouped together based on the current form.The form could be updated to encourage itemization within the form. The form could be edited in order to allow users to enter individual things for one larger expense with the form, rather than added what they bought in the notes field. For example, the groceries would be the main expense in the form and there would a field in the categories that would allow users to enter specifically what was bought. In the case of task three, it would be milk, eggs, and bread. This feature would be optional based on the user and how detailed they would like to be with their expenses.
If video isn't working, click here
PigPal’s design focuses on memorability, learnability, and providing feedback to users. The first page of our design, the login screen, is a familiar page to our target audience, college students. Clicking on “new user” prompts users to fill out several forms. All forms provide feedback on what to write in each field. All forms across the app have a similar design and color scheme and they all include buttons, labels, and forms, which adds to the consistency of our app. The core features of the app, adding transactions and savings goal, are easily accessible, since the app is designed for use on the go to track expenses. There is no need to memorize information from one screen to another, which reduces the memory load on the user.
The app’s color harmony is a complimentary color scheme, with shades of pink being in the main color of our design, to match the “pig theme”, and green colors being used as accents, to match the “budget” theme. The green highlight appears when filling out forms, clicking on buttons, and any active radio buttons or checkboxes. Green, red, and yellow were used in progress bars in budgeting. Progress bars start off green, become yellow when more money in the budget is depleted, and ends on red, which is intuitive for users. In the recent activity page, expenses are colored in red and income is colored in green to make a clear distinction between them.
The labels and dialog boxes provide users with feedback and information on what the screen displays, since our app mostly caters to novice and first-time users of budgeting apps. For instance, the label for adding a new transaction and a new savings goal is clearly marked on the buttons that takes you to these forms. The badges page also prompts the user to click on badges to see their meaning. Delete buttons allow users to reverse errors in the transaction page or the new savings goal page, along with an edit button in the recent activity part of the budget page. Whenever delete buttons are pressed in either the savings goal page or the budgeting page, a dialog box allows the user to give confirmation for this action. In the settings page and forgot password page, users are shown a dialog box which confirms their action to either update their settings or retrieve their password. In the pig page, a clicking on the question mark next to the coinks prompts a dialog that gives the user information regarding this feature.
Features of the app is designed to give users customizability of the app and encourage long term use of the app through rewards and budgeting feedback. Users are given a pet pig that gives them budgeting feedback through it’s happiness bar. The overview page and main pig page show the user the status of their pet pig. Users can click on a “daily tip” for budgeting tips in the form of a popup. A progress bar signals how satisfied the pig is based on how well the user is budgeting. The higher the bar, the better the user is doing. The happiness bar is one of the gamification features that encourages users to have good spending habits, along with the badges page that rewards the users for specific spending habits.
The side bar allows users to easily navigate through different parts of the app. It can toggle between hidden and visible; this is done to optimize screen space when the navigation feature is not in use. The total spending page gives the user a clear visualization for spending in each category. Users can interact with the visualization for further feedback on their spending. Users can also navigate to different charts, but if a chart is not availables, they are given feedback about this through a label.
Overall, the look and feel of our app, along with it’s features, provides novice and first-time users a clear, simple, and intuitive way to manage the seemingly complicated world of budgeting.
Presentation link:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1AG8bB7zWOCyzgsXzdufEffrFuvWw3Ll3XBnHx1nwITM/edit?usp=sharing
Based on feedback provided during the presentation and our own evaluation of the app, features were added or changed from previous versions of our design.
In the “Budget” page, one person noted that there was not a clear distinction between recent activity that is income and one that is expenses. Therefore, we changed the colors of recent activity to green for earning and red for expenses to give a noticeable difference between the two. We also added a delete button to the recent activity to give users more control over this page and to account for possible errors users may make in adding transactions.
In the savings goal page, we added a button to delete specific savings goals so the user can delete any goals they no longer wish to continue on.
Someone else noted that college students may have an irregular work schedule and would, therefore, need a more dynamic way to input income sources, rather than just having the fixed income frequency at the “start budgeting” form. Therefore, we changed the “add expense” page to an “add transaction” page, where users can distinguish whether they would like to enter money for an expense or an income source.
Confirmation dialogs were added to all delete buttons (to make sure actions are reversible if the user makes a mistake), along with dialogs in the update settings and forgot password page. A forgot password page was added for when the user clicks on the “Forgot Password?” link in the login screen.
The total spending screen was also redesigned the give the user more feedback based on which month and year they select to be viewed.
One feature of our app we would like to utilize more is the “coinks,” which were originally meant to provide the user with added customization to their pig in the form of an accessory store. The accessory store would have been used with the coinks given to users. This feature would tie together the gamification aspect of our game that encourages users to budget, where the user would be rewarded with coinks for good spending habits, consistent use of the app, and gaining badges, among other things.
Sometimes navbar freezes, refreshing the page makes it work again. Charts in the total spending doesn’t render correctly when going to them from the navigation bar. In general, refreshing fixes most issues.
home
analysis
prototype
completion