Keeps your budget intact
PrepNo helps new homeowners to be assured that there is sufficient money for their renovation in time.
The context
My fiancé and I started planning the budget for our new house renovation. We were excited but do not where and how to start. We consulted our friends who have renovated their houses for suggestions.
Conversations with other new homeowners
BRAND
PREPNO
PRODUCT
Mobile Application
PROJECT
General Assembly Graduation Project
Our hypothesis
New homeowners need a way to plan and save for their renovation so that they have sufficient budget for the anticipated timeline and home design.
We believe by creating an app to manage finances vs renovation budget for new homeowners, we will achieve seamless renovation budgeting.
We will know this to be true when new homeowners are able to accurately manage their renovation finances in a specified timeline.
Competitive Analysis - Features
Next, I conducted a simple feature comparison among competitors to get a sense of what is available, their core offerings and opportunities for further innovation.
Competitive Map
Interviews & Affinity Clustering
I conducted 6 interviews with potential users of the app.
The goal was to further understand the needs of our target market and their desired features they were looking for.
Key Insights
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Get the information on costs and loans (if applicable)
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Match their budget with desired renovation
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Execute saving for budget
Goals
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Couple activity (Newlyweds)
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Concrete step-by-step goal to work towards
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Able to complete renovation successfully by the desired timeline
Motivation
Defining the audience
From the interviews, I get better insights into whom I am designing for.
These new homeowners each have their own goals and needs and I have discovered that there are 2 key personas.
Newlyweds
Timeline planning is the top priority. The next priority is to be able to make sure there is enough budget to match their desired first home concept.
Eligible Singles
Time is not a huge concern. There is no rush to complete it. However, the ability to easily see and plan the amount to use for renovation, fittings, and appliances is the key.
Charmaine
Personas
Scenarios
Behaviours
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Goes to the app store to search for apps to help her with tasks when needed
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Open to trying new apps as long as they are easy to use
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Posts on Facebook & Instagram frequently
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Believes in early planning for life's big decisions
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Treasures time with family and friends. Believes that communication is key for all relationships & planning (especially with her husband)
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Lazy to find detailed information about specific renovation costs
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Hence, to make it convenient for her and her husband, they rely fully on the interior designer’s quotes.
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The cost turned out to be higher than what it could be
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No clear comparison of renovation rates and cost
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Stop using expense planning apps due to the high frequency of updating basic income
Goals & Needs
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Know what is the common/ average amount needed for renovating a new home for most people in Singapore
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Save $ at a comfortable pace of at least a year with her husband according to their income respectively
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Need to know the amount of time needed to save for their new place
Edith
Bio & Demographics
Age: 30
Marital Status: Single
Occupation: Client Partnership and Consumer Insights Director
Lives in a 1 room condominium, in Singapore
Uses Apple iPhone
Scenarios
Behaviours
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Always on a constant lookout for the latest apps that help with the quality of life - efficiency at its best
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Posts on Facebook & Instagram frequently
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Minimal renovation is needed as the unit is small
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Realised that there is no clear comparison of renovation rates and costs in the market
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Have not found any mobile expense planning app that fully makes her financial planning seamless
Goals & Needs
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Know what is the common/ average amount needed for renovating a new home for most people in Singapore
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Able to plan her finances at every stage of setting up her new home (Pre-purchase>Pre-renovation>During Renovation>Post renovation (Fittings and Appliances)
Bio & Demographics
Age: 31
Marital Status: Married
Occupation: Senior Financial Consultant
Lives in a 5 room HDB flat, in Singapore
Uses Android OS phone
Visualising the User Journey
Gets all information for renovation
Cost
Loan
Set Timeline
Plan Budget
Fixed Expenses
Income
Targeted Amount ($)
Card Sorting
Once I visualised the user journey for the 2 personas, I did a card sorting exercise to help determine the features based on the users' needs and thereafter plan the user flow and wireframe for the app.
Defining the User Flow
From the card sorting exercise, I further planned out the user flow with multiple considerations that users might encounter while using the app.
Low fidelity prototype
Next, I created low-fidelity prototypes for the first round of testing and understanding the behaviour of the users. This helps me re-look at how to app could be improved for the users' needs.
ATTEMPT 1
What was lacking:
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Full flow and always have buttons to go back
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Options to go to next or skip
ATTEMPT 2
What can be done better:
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Terms and icons used to be more universal
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Less is more (remove uncessary steps)
ATTEMPT 3
What went well:
• User is able to complete the task
• Understand the chart in the summary page
Wireframes
Usability Testings
Round 1
Round 2
What was lacking before
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Skip button for onboarding instructions in all cases
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Showing the date after it has been selected
What went well
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User is able to complete the task
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Understand the chart in the summary page
What can be done better
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Omit functions that don’t make sense to the user
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Always show the state after an action is done and where the user is at (e.g. highlighted/ reveal)
Calculate Screens
Before
After
Purpose of screens
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Users hate to constantly update and worry about how much money is needed
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The 2 step-calculators only take 3-4 steps each to find out the key thing: the amount needed to save and plan
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This process will be saved just by doing it once & can be edited at any point in time
What was lacking before
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The immediate answer, user dont need to press ‘calculate’ button - extra step.
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The label of the input disappeared once clicked, user is lost what is that for
What went well
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User is able to get the amount without issues
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Keyboards are solely numerical format for this context
What can be done better
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Keyboards are solely numerical format for this context
Progress Screens
Before
After
Purpose of screens
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Let user have a quick understanding of the status
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Remind user monthly to save
What was lacking before
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No clear hierarchy of importance - take a longer time to know where to look at
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Users prefer to know that they are moving forward, not what is lacking - the way information is portrayed
What went well
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The user is able to complete the task
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Understand the chart on the progress page
What can be done better
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Edit functions for each section can be more prominent
High Fidelity
Prototype
Branding & Typography
PREPNO is reliable, flexible, helpful but never a hassle.
We help new homeowners be assured that there is sufficient money for their renovation in time.
Colours
#29499D
Trust
#29499D
Flexibility
#24A4AC
At Ease
Typography
Helvetica
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx Yy Zz
In the future
Communication
Be able communicate with contractors and interior designers to update each other on the renovation status
Smart Community
Forum and recommendations of trusted Interior designers and their portfolio with AI chatbot
One-stop solution
Manage all preparation of the new house from beginning to end