Background
Using qualitative customer research to identify ways of leveraging our user's linked data and AI to empower their financial decision making. Resulting in a flexible planning tool aimed at supporting families in navigating the entire spectrum of their milestones.
Problem
Meeting the needs of couples approaching significant financial milestones
As couples plan for financial milestones, they're using single-user tools which focus on individual planning, or they resort to reverse engineering platforms like Monzo pots and spreadsheets. The challenge lies in the fact that financial goals are often shared with loved ones, making it difficult to track progress and plan for the future together.
Research
Deep-diving into the 'how'
Tasked with leading the user research for this project, my research goals included the types of goals users planned for, factors tracked, the financial check-in process between partners, and the tools used. A primary objective was also to assist the product team in identifying whether projection/forecasting functionality should be included in our first or second release (if at all).
Embarking on a research plan
After drafting a research plan and interview script, I reached out to existing leads who had responded to a post on Linkedin. I scheduled and conducted 10x 15-30 minute calls, setting up a casual environment where we could talk about the person's financial goals.
I spoke to co-habiting couples, married couples, parents, co-parents and singles managing money with members of their extended family. It was important to include all family set-ups within this umbrella, and to investigate both shared and personal goals in order to gauge the level of transparency or privacy in each dynamic.
Comparing initial assumptions to insights
After creating an affinity map with the notes from the research calls, I started compiling a research summary for the product and engineering teams. There were a number of key areas this covered:
Goals partners are working towards, and the tools they use
Factors considered when planning, unique to each goal type
How goals correlate to financial accounts (account to goal relationships)
Pain points and questions
Other soft insights included:
Motivators
Ideas
Sharing insights with the team
One intriguing discovery was that users appeared to be more driven by making gradual progress rather than reaching a specific, predefined target. For instance, when pursuing long-term goals, users tended to focus on saving monthly amounts rather than aiming for a specific end amount. They also expressed challenges in distinguishing between short-term and long-term goals.
I shared the research summary with the team and we decided to incorporate the option of setting a goal without a specific target or timeframe. We also concluded that including projections would be part of our initial release plan.
Ideation & testing
Translating the concept into something tangible
My role from there was translating the research insights into a fleshed out user flow and initial lo-fi sketches to workshop with the team. We made the strategic decision to prioritise the creation of a custom goal, with plans to customise the user journey for specific goal types in future phases.
I then fleshed the sketches out into a high-fidelity prototype to test in Figma.
Testing, testing, testing
Within this process, a significant challenge emerged - that we needed to help users grasp the new concept of virtually assigning an account to a goal. I prototyped two different variations of a guide. One outlining the entire process at the start and one utilising a step-by-step pop-up modal, deciding on the latter so as not to overload the user with information at the beginning of the flow.
I carried out AB testing with voluntary participants as well as adhoc tests with the team. The step-by-step guide did reveal some confusion regarding whether users were assigning existing funds or indicating future contributions, and so we were able to refine the user copy to provide more clarity on this aspect.
Solution
Financial success is when money is less of a worry and more of a contributor to quality time
With the feature we released, users can now seamlessly create a custom goal by selecting the goal type, setting a target and timeframe (or skipping this step), assigning accounts and planning contributions. With the development team's projection functionality and the data visualisation interface I designed, users can also view how much they are projected to reach and when. Goals can be managed individually, shared with a partner, or designated for children.
We followed up this launch with customisations for each goal type, focussing on copy as a priority, with further feature customisation coming soon. For this I mapped out tailored user flows for specific goal types like retirement, property and kids’ education fees based on the customer calls conducted.
To announce Goals on our social media I also storyboarded and animated a user demo for Linkedin, using the CEO’s script, titled ‘How to create a goal’.
Next Steps
The future of financial planning
I was asked to design the UI for a future-facing demo that captures the founders' vision for this feature moving forwards. This introduces lifeline mapping – a consolidated view of all the user’s household goals to help visualise short term vs long terms goals and how these interact. As well as the integration of AI insights to provide users with personalised financial advice, so they can leverage their linked data. The Flo app's chat functionality served as a huge inspiration for me here.