A NEW FEATURE FOR SPLITWISE

Eliminating awkward conversations around finances

YEAR

2023

PLATFORM

iOS Mobile App

CLIENT

Splitwise

ROLE

User Research
UX Design
Information Architecture
Content Strategy

INDUSTRY

FinTech

TOOLS

Figma + FigJam
Google Forms
Maze

I saw an opportunity to improve the popular financial mobile app Splitwise by adding a group budgeting feature.

As a long-time user of the app, I knew it was great at managing group expenses and repayment. However, the latter often raised concerns about unexpected costs or exceeding group members’ intended budgets.

I began this project with these goals in mind:

Simplify financial planning among group members
Foster a sense of fairness and trust within groups
Lessen discomfort typically associated with financial discussions

PROBLEM

When members of a group share expenses, unexpected high costs can cause friction, delays, and disagreements over reimbursements and, in worst cases, damage relationships.

RESEARCH & ANALYSIS

I first sought to understand how Splitwise users budgeted for their shared expenses, if at all.

After analyzing competitors, conducting surveys, and interviewing past and present users, I learned these are the most common frustrations users have when sharing expenses:

Uncertainty about final costs
Forgotten debts
Reluctance for members to add expenses
Discomfort when requesting repayments

Click to expand: Competitive analysis, Affinity map, Empathy map

Top Splitwise Use Cases

50%

Sporadic

special situations only

60%

Activities

with groups who meet often

65%

Travel / Events

with any group

Key Insights

Users typically enjoy sharing the costs of group activities but dislike negotiating costs or handling reimbursements.

Users hesitate to discuss finances with group members because they don’t want to appear overly cautious or less fun.

THE SCOPE

Defining the design

Based on my research findings, I worked on developing a solution that would:

Painlessly prompt group budget conversations
Respect and acknowledge individual and collective financial sensitivities
Engage all members in financial planning
Encourage prompt debt repayment to strengthen trust and relationships

DESIGN & PROTOTYPE

Fitting it all in

In my first iteration of the new feature, I…

Added a toggle to enable budgeting in new groups
Implemented a "Spending Style" questionnaire with a summary of preferences to align group expectations
Developed a group mindfulness agreement
Provided a way for users to add proposed / future shared expenses

Example of how to create a new group with budgeting enabled

USABILITY

I tested the feature in an interactive prototype with seven target users.

I asked testers to do the following:

create a budget-enabled group
add a new planned expense

The feedback received was diverse. Some suggested increasing the flexibility of payment options and creating notifications for unaffordable expenses. The clarity and usefulness of the Group Preferences Summary were also highlighted for improvement.

The second iteration of my designs had: