Money Plant
Manage your money Challenge
To show how a seemingly un-related product/service can be combined into a new one that solves a real-world problem. Products/service chosen : An Expense tracking app and a water colour set.
Akar Sinha CX Designer. Zensar Technologies
Intent Statement Problem
Youngsters today love to spend their income and there is no track of their expenses or savings.
Audience
Students, Young professionals and Interns.
Present Solutions
An expense tracking app sounds very serious. It needs efforts in understanding it.
Value Proposition
An expense tracking app that helps you reduce expenses with the influence of colors.
Opportunity
The urgent need for millennial to understand how to save money.
Risk
Depending on the students personalities and psychological condition, the effect of colors can be different.
The Why -- How -- What WHY In todays digital world colors have great influence on the human mind. But is it more to colors then what they just are? Can colors actually help you save money? HOW Human beings are visual creatures. In this era of instant gratification we want everything that we like, and we want it now. But in this quest of wanting everything we forget that, money that can be used for something better to do in life. WHAT I have designed a platform that uses colors to influence the viewer to understand expenses and help them save their money.
What How Why
Meet our Hero Rajesh Patel A 25 year old software engineer who has just started his career in a Delhi based MNC. Rajesh earns around 1,15,000 p.m. Having his ďŹ rst job with such great start, Rajesh feels on top of the world. He impulsively spends on expensive drinks, food, clothes and shopping for products that he always dreamed of when he was 15. But by the end of the month he is hardly left with any money. With such a lifestyle will he be able to achieve ďŹ nancial stability?
Frame context To come up with fresh ideas I asked people what is the first thing that comes in their mind when they hear the words “water colours” and an “expense tracking app”. I came up with pretty interesting keywords. I tried to find out the deeper meaning behind these words and we came to the conclusion that people are looking out for experience in colours whereas on the other side that are trying to look for a purpose in the app.
Key words for Water Colors
Key words for Expense Tracking App
Imagination School Childhood drawing Painting a scenery Flow Art Freedom Irregular Unique Strokes Control-less Unpredictable Ever Changing Layers Splash Lively Dreamy Organic Imperfect
Control Check Regulate Borrow Help Smart Budget Cheap Plan Distribute High Cheap Monthly/Weekly Save Spend Give Low Purchase Expensive
Connecting the dots There were some really interesting connections that I drew from characteristics of water colours that could affect the experience and the interaction of the app.
Water Colors
Expense Tracking App
No correction if gone wrong.
Money once spent doesn't come back.
The colours get finished as you use some more frequently than others.
Some expenses are larger and used more often.
There are two types of brushes, Flat brush and Round brush. Flat for general wash and round for the detailed work.
There are two types of expenses the general expenses that are necessary and the petty expenses.
Overlapping of colour is very prominent.
There might be chance where one expense might overlap the other.
White colour is not used in this medium.
That could help us decide the colour text and background.
Always make a mock-up of what you are going to make on canvas.
In the beginning of the month first sketch out all the expenses and then just follow it.
Always frame the painting in glass.
Frame the previous months expense for reference.
Painting in water colour always start from light to dark.
The expense in control can be light and move to dark.
Customer Journey In order to ďŹ gure out the pain points of the customer, drawing a customer experience journey was necessary
Weekly Uber : 400 Weekly meal : 750 Petty expenses : 200*
30k
Rent : 18000
Maid : 2500 Cook : 1800 Weekend Uber : 500 Weekend meal : 1000 Shopping : 1000+* Movie : 500*
20k
10k
Weekend Uber : 500 Weekend meal : 1000 Shopping : 1000+* Party : 3000**
Weekly Uber : 400 Weekly meal : 750 Petty expenses : 200* WiFi : 3333* Electricity : 1100*
Weekend Uber : 500 Weekend meal : 1000* Movie : 500* Weekly Uber : 400 Weekly meal : 750 Petty expenses : 200*
Weekly Uber : 400 Weekly meal : 750 Petty expenses : 200*
Telephone : 1220* Grocery : 1000*
Unplanned party : 1000**
Weekend Uber : 500 Weekend meal : 1000* Shopping : 1000+** Outing : 2000 Weekly Uber : 400 Weekly meal : 750 Petty expenses : 200*
Grocery : 1220 Movie: 200*
0 st
1 Day of the month
1,15,000
th
Weekend
10 Day of the month
26,650
* : Expense that need a check and a second thought ** : Expense that needs to avoided at all cost.
th
Weekend
13,503
20 Day of the month
Weekend
4,850
Weekend
8,620
Last week of the month
61,377
Inferences We observed that Rajesh has some fixed monthly expenses such as rent, wifi, money given to maid, cook etc. Apart from that, other expenses like watching movies and shopping every week needs some external advice. Can someone suggest Rajesh, that there are smarter ways to shop and more cost efficient places to party. Actual Data Points : Expenses that need a check : Petty expenses, Movie, WiFi and Weekend meal. Expenses that have to be avoided : Partying, Unplanned partying and Shopping in last few days of the month.
Service Blueprint User Journey User action
Front Stage
Entice
On boarding
Engage
Exit
Extend
Wants to save money. User enter his details Receives a mock up Whenever you make Get constant updates Observe and compare The app also suggests Be smart with his like income, desired of expenses in the transaction the app is of where all are you expenses on weekly/ great deals online. earnings. savings, etc. beginning of the month automatically informed spend the most. monthly basis. That helps you save more money. Landing page with the name of MP.
Enter financial and savings target details.
MP tells you where will The app tells you if you It shows all the It shows all the you be spending are well within budget categories of expenses expenses that you most of your money. and the balance left. that you have made have made previously
The app helps in finding attractive deals nearby.
Process Concept development from the scratch, based on the needs of the students. Phase vise implementation planning.
xxx xx xxx xxx
xxx
Detailed service specifications and blueprints.
Monthly Income:
4257 left in your grocery account.
Expected monthly savings:
743/-
Back Stage
Outcome
5,000/-
User downloads app from App store.
User information and preferences are stored for purchase analysis
AI engine helps in better planning by tracking each category of expenditure
The app categorize each transaction and ensures it doesn't exceed target.
More and more users learn how to save money.
Pay directly via the app. If you pay externally the app stores the data.
Rajesh is informed about each and every expense before and after making it
He has a fixed Budget for each and every expense.
It notifies user in case of exceeding expenses
Compare expenditure to plan further transactions
The app displays discount offers based on shopping history.
He can check where He can compare he has spent carefully his expenses monthly. and where he went Check when he saved overboard. the most.
He can now be a smart shopper and save more money.
Back Stage
Service standards for delivery.
Information Architecture 0.0
Splash Screen
1.0
2.0
On boarding 1.1 Sync Up Cards. 1.2 Set Budget. 1.3 Monitor Expenses. 1.4 Get Alerts of exceeding expenses. 1.5 Compare weekly and monthly expenses.
Skip Skip Skip Skip Skip
3.0
Log In 2.1 Log In / Sign Up. 2.2 Enter phone number. 2.3 Enter code for registration. 2.4 Congratulations! on being a member. 2.5 Enter personal details.
4.1
3.1 Debit/Credit card. 3.2 Monthly Income. 3.3 Expected savings. 3.4 Allocate budget. 3.5 Enter personal details.
Artist 4.0
4.1.1 Accounts 4.1.2 Bills 4.1.3 Summary 4.1.4 Edit ProďŹ le 4.1.5 Sign out 4.3
Enter Details
Dashboard
4.2
Palette
Canvas 4.2.1 Amount left.
4.3.1 Food
4.3.4 Shopping
4.3.7 Grocery
4.3.2 Uber
4.3.5 Rent
4.3.8 WiFi
4.3.3 Maid
4.3.6 Telephone
4.3.9 Party
4.3.10 Movie
4.10.1 Budget left 4.10.2 Latest purchase 4.10.2 Compare 4.10.3 Bill
4.2.2 Top spent area. 4.2.3 Yet to come.
Final Outcome Money Plant Money Plant
Money Plant, is the perfect combination of characteristics of water colours and the essence of an expense tracking app. The dashboard of the app is called canvas where we see the ďŹ nal outcome. It shows how our painting (a.k.a Expenses) is emerging. The palette is where all categories of expenses are shown. Each colour represents each category the more you spend from one category the more colour is used from it. You can click on each category, track your expenses and compare them with previous week or month
Canvas
Palette
Canvas
Shopping
Balance left
Money Plant
Palette 21.787/35,000
Palette
Top Spent areas 4847/7000
Nike Sneaker SSIPL LTD
1999/-
White Shirt West side
1399/-
Coee Mug Home Center
Canvas
399/-
Shopping 4847
Travel 2879
Latest Expenses
Denim 2599
Telephone 599
Meal 8931
Shopping
Travel
Meal
Party
Maid
Uber
Rent
Telephone
WiFi
Gym
Grocery
Electricity
Movie
Dish TV
Sister
Meds
Party 3891
Yet to come Flip Flops Super Dry
1050/-
WiFi
Grocery
Conclusion Rajesh fell in love with Money Plant, he takes the app very seriously and tries to remain within the budget that is speciďŹ ed. He eventually became ďŹ nancially stable.