Research
Research Goals:
- Determine why people are motivated to set budgets.
- Determine and understand the processes people use to manage their money.
- Learn the reasons why some people struggle with budgeting.
- Discover what tools people use for creating their budgets—spreadsheets, pen & paper, budgeting apps, etc.
- Uncover any frustrations people have with budgeting apps.
Secondary Research
I conducted initial research and defined my objective to understand better how and why people budget. Through this research, I discovered that while various tools are available to assist with budgeting, the two primary tools used are budgeting apps and spreadsheets.
Interestingly, many individuals still prefer to input their transactions into spreadsheets manually. What is it about spreadsheets that make them such an effective budgeting tool? Is it the ability to customize them to suit individual needs? Or is there a psychological component to manually inputting transactions that motivate users to stay on budget?
By exploring these questions and gaining a deeper understanding of user preferences and behaviors, I aimed to create an iOS app that provides users with a seamless and effective budgeting experience.
Competitive Analysis
Based on what I gathered during my initial research, I needed to understand popular budgeting apps' features. To achieve this, I conducted a competitive analysis of the four most popular budgeting apps, hoping to identify any missing features that could benefit my app.