PROBLEM STATEMENT
In today’s electronic age, few people still use paper records. Instead, many have turned to mobile apps and online platforms to store their information. Whether it be budgeting apps or expense trackers, there is an oversaturation of these digital record keepers in the app store, yet there seems to be a few common limitations. For many first time users, these personal finance apps are too complicated. Yet many experienced users complain about the lack of features and tools within these apps. The challenge is to create a user friendly expense tracker that provides users with digestible information while also incorporating a variety of tools.
INITIAL RESEARCH
To better understand the expense trackers that are widely used, I went through the reviews of apps such as Mint, Simplifi, YNAB, and Monefy. The following conclusions are also based on my own experience with personal budgeting apps during the last two years.
What must be included?
Users must have the ability to manually log recent purchases and income salary as they occur.
Charts showing the overall distribution of spending and earnings between the different categories.
Monthly summary reports detailing increases/decreases in spending/income based on category.
What is missing?
Many of these apps are missing an award system. Users aren’t encouraged to log their expenses when goods and services are purchased nor are they incentivized to update their trackers with new financial goals or budget restrictions.
Several of these trackers can’t divide the users’ financial records between their different banking accounts. More specifically, users aren’t given the option to set separate spending limits for each account.
Bugs! Apps that allow users to import data from third-party sources always seem to have difficulty in translating the information accurately.
Very few apps allow users to track their progress towards repaying debt or saving for wish list items (ex. student loan repayments, housing down payments, vacation funds).
SOLUTION
Ka’ching, a simple-to-use, personal budgeting app, works with users to help develop good record keeping habits. This mobile app comes with multiple intuitive tools that help track a user’s spending habits and progress towards self-assigned saving goals. Additionally, the monochromatic color scheme and clean interface allows users to have an enjoyable experience.
