Expensly is a monthly financial tracker that helps freelancers and small businesses optimize finances and maximize tax savings. It streamlines expense tracking and tax deduction identification for easier financial management.
Platform: Native App
Deliverables
Visual design and UI concepting
Tools
Figma
Team
Solo
Time Line
2 Days
Hey There!!
Want to take charge of your freelance finances? That's where Expensly comes in. Many freelancers struggle to manage their finances because they juggle different revenue sources and costs without a defined approach. This project intended to create a clean, attractive monthly financial tracker that facilitates spending tracking and cash flow analysis. Expensly's easy design and smart automation transform complex financial data into a clear, actionable picture, making money management easier, smarter, and more rewarding each month.
Problem Statement:
The core problem was that freelancers lacked a single, streamlined solution to manage both their monthly expenses and tax filing together. Instead of juggling multiple tools and manual processes, users needed an integrated platform that would simplify tracking business finances year-round and make filing taxes stress-free helping them stay organized, maximize savings, and eliminate complexity from financial management.
Solution:
To solve this problem, the approach should focus on making monthly financial organization indispensable not just during tax season. By seamlessly integrating expense tracking, smart categorization, and real-time insights with automated prompts and actionable guidance, freelancers are consistently motivated to stay engaged year-round. Enhancing discovery of valuable features, providing meaningful reminders, and personalizing the experience builds lasting habits, so users always feel in control and see clear benefits from keeping all expenses and tax processes unified in one place.
Generative research:
The investigation phase involved a comprehensive user research process to deeply understand user goals, needs, and pain points in managing taxes and finances. The aim was to uncover actionable insights that would contribute to delivering ongoing value and addressing real user concerns throughout the year.
Year-round financial engagement:
Freelancers typically address their finances only during tax season, missing the advantages of continuous monthly tracking. Proactive financial planning, such as monitoring expenses and deductions is recognized as vital, but often overlooked between tax filings.
Budgeting and monthly cash flow clarity:
Users value the ability to budget and understand their cash flow as fundamental to their financial well-being. Access to ongoing, actionable insights each month is essential for meeting personal and business goals, far beyond just preparing for taxes.
Need for unified tools:
Freelancers currently rely on multiple apps and spreadsheets to manage income, expenses, and savings, which leads to complexity and inefficient workflows. Integrating all financial tracking within a single platform streamlines their process, so tax filing becomes a simple extension of their regular habits rather than a disruptive, seasonal chore.
How might we make financial tracking a natural, ongoing habit for freelancers, not just a task for tax season?
How might we help users gain real-time, actionable insights into their cash flow and budgeting making financial wellness easy and motivating?
How might we consolidate multiple finance and tax tools into a single, frictionless workflow that saves freelancers time and prevents data loss?
How might we help users confidently identify, capture, and categorize business deductions throughout the year, so they maximize tax savings without stress?
How might we design Expensly’s tracker so that monthly organization and review feel both effortless and rewarding—encouraging freelancers to stay engaged?
How might we simplify onboarding and make the first month of tracking finances feel effortless and motivating for new users?
How might we provide ongoing feedback and positive reinforcement so users feel accomplished after organizing their monthly finances?
How might we make reviewing and categorizing monthly transactions faster and more accurate, even for users with minimal financial expertise?
How might we help users seamlessly transition from monthly tracking to stress-free tax filing when the season arrives?
Throwing Every Crazy Idea on the Table !!
User Profile
On-boarding
To enhance discoverability, I experimented with an unobtrusive bottom sheet to announce the launch
of the feature.
I also implemented ongoing discovery of the feature through a home page widget, persisting even after dismissing the bottom sheet.
Talk about values
I aimed to ensure that users grasp the value proposition of the feature without having to delve into extensive information.
Give guidance & show progress
Displaying the user's current status and outlining remaining tasks.
Rationale: Motivating users by highlighting that a significant portion of the work is already completed.
Show status
Display the total detected deposits to set appropriate expectations for users as they proceed.
Rationale: Ensuring that the users link all their accounts for precise information about their financials.
Show A.I. in action
Utilize our A.I. to propose income categories and refine the model based on user actions.
Rationale: A.I. successfully recommended categories for 80% of income transactions.
Upon completion of the deposit review, we display a congratulatory message to enhance user satisfaction.
Rationale: The average user processes approximately ~200 deposits annually, requiring a significant investment of time and effort.
Card & list views
Implemented a switch view allowing users to classify their deposits in either a list view or a card view.
Rationale: List views enable users to categorize multiple deposits quickly. However, they can be overwhelming and less accurate compared to card views.
The financial tracker dashboard
My aim was to provide the financial information in the most simplistic way for the users with varying levels of financial expertise.
Information architecture
Opting to present a year-to-date summary at the top, followed by a detailed breakdown of trends lower on the screen.
Rationale: Our primary research and competitor analysis indicate that users prioritize viewing gross income and expenses as the initial information.
Saving trends
Chose to display savings on a distinct dashboard instead of combining it with the income vs. expense overview.
Rationale: Presenting a large amount of information in a single dashboard may pose difficulty for users in comprehension.
Net savings - year to date
This provides users with a comprehensive overview of the financial performance of their freelance business over a specific period.
Ask for user feedback
We aimed to gather user opinions on the product and establish a feedback loop to enhance and refine the product iteratively.
Capability to delve deeply
Should any user wish to explore specific details within the overall summary, we provided them with the option to do so by tapping into the corresponding widgets.
Designing dashboards
Determining the suitable representation for each data point we aimed to showcase posed the following challenges,
How to distinguish between cumulative data points and discrete data points?
How to depict data containing both positive and negative values?
How to create a meaningful representation for a dashboard with limited data points?
Guided by a focus on time efficiency, I embraced calculated risks by choosing to release without A/B or prototype testing, trusting in our team’s conviction that the solution would deliver clear value to users. While designing financial dashboards, I carefully evaluated how best to represent various data points, understanding the importance of selecting the right visualizations for effective communication. Establishing clear design principles was key to streamlining decision-making and accelerating the entire feature design process.
