Stratus Spending Plan
Stratus is a fintech startup that helps young adults manage expenses.
I redesigned the spending plan as a step-by-step flow to help users understand the purpose of the spending plan and how they will be using it.
Users
User between the ages of 23 - 33 struggling to understand finances and pay down debt. Our main focus is the user persona named "Struggling Steve/Stacy," who needs to pay off student loans, cover necessary expenses, and needs help with future financial planning.
These users need help creating a spending plan to help reach their goals.
The original low-fi mockups and multiple iterations of hi-fi mockups were tested with target users. Users were confused about what actions they needed to take with the spending plan. They also did not understand the connection between creating a spending plan to reach goal of "Spend less than you earn / Avoid New Debt."
Problem
Problem Statements and Solutions
Problem Statement
As a user, I don’t know where I am in the process, or how long it will take to set up my account and spending plan.
Solution
Designed and implemented progress circle for each step on the menu.
Problem Statement
As a user, I need to take action and set my spending for "Must-Have" (necessities) categories prior to landing on a spending plan interface.
Solution
Redesigned flow to show how much user could be saving in these "Must-Have" categories and the take action by "committing" to spending less which automatically sets the spending for this category in the spending plan.
Problem Statement
As a user, I don’t know where to put my full attention and what information I need to focus on.
Solution
Designed the menu to collapse after first screen.
Problem Statement
As a user, I need to know how is in my savings as I commit to spending less in each category.
Solution
Designed a progress bar to aggregate as user "commits" to spending less in each category. I also added a check mark on categories they have committed to.
User Flow
Step 1 User is dropped in Goal 1 flow (Avoid New Debt - or Spend Less than You Make) after onboarding flow if Stratus calculates that user is overspending.
Step 2 User clicks "fix now" to an overview and introduction of the spending plan.
Step 3 User clicks continue to view their spending as it pertains to these buckets. User can drill down and see their spending has been in each category.
Step 4 User clicks continue to view savings opportunity in each category.
Step 5 User views opportunity to find overspent money and agrees to spending less in that category. This is automatically adjusted in their spending plan.
Step 6 User is ready to view and adjust spending plan.
Step 7 User can drill down deeper for details.
