User Requirements

Based on the interview results, subjects were all on the go and needing budgeting tools to follow them wherever they went.

It would create too much hassle for users to wait until they were home to enter data into a computer and rely on it. If we created a mobile app, they could make the purchase and then directly enter it into the app.

Based on asking the focus group their feelings towards budgeting. The group noted that the process was necessary after college but did not want to get started on it while in college because the process was too complicated for their smaller and simpler expenses.

Creating a tool that can teach and build good budgeting habits could get the users used to process and prepare for life post-college.

Based on asking the focus group what they thought about using Excel for budgeting. The group said that Excel was nice for its formulas and auto-calculations but too confusing on entry and required too much effort to learn.

If we are able to create a pretty easy to learn and remember method of tracking expenses users could track their expenses much more accurately.

Based on a participant's response in the contextual inquiry, we found that tracking budgets down into categories can really help show them where they are spending too much and where they should be cutting back.

The participant mentioned doing this all by hand. As a result, she ended up cutting into her savings more often than she wanted to. If she had an app to show her automatically the breakdown of her spending, she could draw conclusions and plan for future changes.

Based on a contextual inquiry subject issue with Mint's auto-tracking and delayed notifications, we knew we could contract this with a manual and instant approach.

If we create an app that allows a user to enter purchases manually and do not have to go through their bank, we can give them more real-time notifications that are more helpful.

This is critical in the budgeting experience as it helps users curb their spending right away rather than having an excessive twenty-four hours.

Based on the user group's proposals to what would make them want to stay on track, we found that showing savings and giving awards can keep them motivated in the budgeting process.

The first idea was to show what savings have been made so far and allow them to put those savings towards something they want like a dress, gadget, or trip. These savings adding up can show them the rewards of keeping good spending habits.

The second idea was an award system in which the users can be awarded if they stay under budget for the week. If they did it continuously, they can earn some sort of streak and that would motivate them to keep going and keep up the good work.

Participants: Three Engineering and Computer Science students between 20 and 22 years old.

Goal: Gauge the respondent's mental model of the budgeting experience by asking how the users felt about budgeting, different kinds of budgeting methods, and their thoughts.

Outcome: We could document both good and bad qualities of experience. In creating requirements we emphasize the positive qualities and mitigate the bad ones when deciding on how our tool could help them

Participants: 30-year-old Male Civil Engineer and 22-year-old Female Healthcare worker

Goal: Get insight from participants by asking them to show how would they go about constructing their budget and tracking as well as if they are keeping with their budgeting goals.

Outcome: By watching the user plan their budget, we could learn how the users created their budget and what tool they used to construct as well as allow us to see how do they keep up with their budget and which additional tools they use to stay on track.