MoneyManager - GR1

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Team members: Stephanie Chang, Qian Long, Isabella Lubin

User Analysis

We have two main sources of user populations: college students and their parents.

College Students

Characteristics:
  • 18-23 years old
  • Evenly male and female
  • Proficient with technology
  • Diverse ethnic backgrounds and origins (but basic proficiency with English)
  • Wide variation of income level and spending capacities

Luke is a freshman at college. His parents pay for his tuition and housing and provide him with $300 a month for food and other necessities. Luke wants to keep track of his spending so he always has enough money for food and textbooks and knows if he has any extra money for recreational activities as well.

We observed college students (especially ones in dorms without dining plans) who are often left with $5 in their bank account and a couple of packs of ramen to last them through the last few days of the month. Several students were observed calling their parents and requesting more money to get them through the weekend; others who have limited resources were seen ordering takeout that they might not be able to afford. The ability to track spending easily would greatly help all of these students, even if it's just a matter of proving to parents that they really do need more money and aren't spending money frivolously.

Parents

Characteristics:
  • 40-60 years old
  • Evenly male and female
  • Very basic experience with smartphones
  • Diverse ethnic backgrounds and origins (but basic proficiency with English)
  • Wide variation of income level

Vader is Luke's 42-year-old father. He wants to keep track of his son's spending so he knows where his hard-earned money is going, and if his son asks him for more money he wants to make sure that his son has been responsible with what he's already been given.

In the student user analysis, a student was observed asking his mother for more money with the explanation that he had just spent the rest of his money on groceries - a parent's ability to view this expense would reassure them that their faith was not misplaced.  Other students reported creating careful budgets to present to their parents when defending extra expenses, like spring break trips - parents therefore like being presented with budgets because it illustrates their children's responsibility.

Task Analysis

All of the following tasks require a smartphone connected to the Internet.

1. Register and log in (Luke and Vader)

  • Create username/password (first time app users)
  • Input username/password (repeat users)

This task is the entry point to the app, used to create an account for the user so that he can modify personal data. The user is assumed to have an email address that will be used for the username, and the user will generate his own password for this account.

This task can be performed anywhere as long as the user has a smartphone that is connected to the Internet. The registration task is only performed once, but once the user has created an account, he can log in anytime afterwards or simply remain logged in, so overall, this task will be performed very infrequently.

This task will be learned by trying it as it will be consistent with other login and registration interfaces. The user might input the wrong username and/or password, but the interface will give immediate feedback so that the user can try again. Only the user is involved in this task.

2. Create and modify budgets (Luke)

  • Create categories (groceries, clothing, etc.)
  • Input budget
  • Input income
  • Input expenses
  • Input recurring income and expenses (paychecks, rent, Internet, etc.)

The purpose of this task is for the user to create and input his budget and expenses. The user is assumed to know or decide the values of his budget, income, and expenses, and which categories his expenses belong to. The user can create customized categories to reflect his spending trends.

This task can be performed anywhere with a smartphone, but will probably be performed most often at stores right after a purchase is made. This task will most likely be performed at least once a day. This task might be constrained by time, especially if the user is inputting on the go.

This task is learned by trying it because there will be a very intuitive, easy-to-use interface for the user to input information.

This task is reasonably prone to user error because the user might be constrained by time or distractions while he is entering values for his expenses and budget. Because the user is entering values on a mobile phone, he might additionally mistype a value that can later affect his spending decisions. To account for this, there will be immediate feedback after a user has saved an input so that the user can perform a sanity check to see if he made any errors.

3. Share budgets (Luke)

  • Share expenses with others
  • Enter username/email to share budget with

The purpose of this task is for the user to share his budget with someone else, most likely a parent. This task can be performed anywhere with a smartphone. It is likely to be performed a few times a month. This task is learned by trying it on the intuitive interface.

The user might make an error when inputting a username with whom to share his budget, so the user will need to check a confirmation before sharing. No one else is involved in executing the task, but this task will result in another party receiving a notification.

4. View budgets (Luke and Vader)

  • View graphs of expenses by category
  • Monthly or yearly cumulative views
  • View breakdown of expenses by category

The purpose of this task is for the user to view and track his (or another user’s) expenses. The user is assumed to know how to select options and view simple charts before performing the task.

In the case of a budget having been shared with a user who has not already created an account, that user will first be prompted to perform task 1, and will then be able to view the shared budget.

This task can be performed anywhere with a smartphone. This task is likely to be performed a few times a day.  In the case of one’s own budget, one is especially likely to view the budget when one is deciding whether or not to make a purchase, so while at a store with somewhat limited time constraints (the user doesn’t want to spend a lot of time on the task and wants to view the budget quickly). Viewing someone else’s budget is a more leisurely activity and would likely happen in the comfort of one’s home.

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