AI‑Powered Finance App
Designed an AI‑driven personal finance app from the ground up—empowering users with smart tools to build healthier money habits.
Year:
2024 - 2025
My Role:
Lead UX Designer
Tools:
Figma
Category:
FinTech
Pulse99 is a mobile-first app that transforms receipt scans into personalized spending insights, micro-challenges, and bite-sized financial advice—designed to simplify money management.
The Challenge: Users abandon budgeting apps when they have to enter transactions by hand. One-size-fits-all tips fail to address individual spending patterns. Complex onboarding leads to high drop-off before users experience value. Goals: Simplify onboarding to drive completion. Surface relevant insights and challenges based solely on scanned receipts. Create a friendly, motivating interface that keeps users returning.
Design Approach & Solution Highlights
Approach & Key Decisions: Interviewed prospective users (n=15) to map pain points around tracking expenses and seeking guidance. Analyzed apps like Mint, YNAB, Monarch, and “scan-only” innovators to identify onboarding best practices and engagement tactics. Applied the Tiny Habits model to design micro-challenges that align with real spending data. Rapid Figma prototypes tested via moderated usability studies (n=5) to refine scanning flows, report layouts, and chatbot interactions. Solution Highlights: Home‑First ‘Scan & Go’ Flow: After signup and goal selection, users land immediately on the scan screen—making receipt capture their very first action and delivering instant value. Personalized Report Tab: Interactive charts show top categories, weekday/weekend spend comparisons, and anomaly alerts (“Dining up 35% vs. usual”). Micro-Challenges: Contextual challenges (e.g., “Impulse Audit,” “Dining Detox”) appear in the Challenges tab, encouraging users to act on insights immediately. Pulse Picks Integration: Curated, goal-relevant articles surfaced alongside challenges to deepen learning. Wealthie Chatbot: An AI assistant guides users through their data—answering questions, suggesting tips, and explaining anomalies in natural language.
Expected Impact & Key Learnings
Expected Impact: Because Pulse99 delivers instant, personal value from the first scan, we expect the product to reduce early drop-off, increase repeat usage through contextual nudges, and encourage small, habit-forming actions via micro-challenges. These outcomes will be validated in a controlled pilot and iterated on based on user feedback and behavioral signals. Key Learnings: Because the first meaningful interaction is so important, making receipt scanning the app’s primary action gives users instant value. Tailored challenges and articles, triggered by actual spend, feel more relevant than generic advice. Wealthie’s chat-based guidance reduces cognitive load and encourages exploration.
