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Design In Action
A quick walkthrough of key interactions and user flows.
UX / UI Case Study — Product Design
Mintly
Redesigning personal finance for the modern user — one unified view of your entire financial life.
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01 — Overview
One app to rule
all your finances
Mintly gives users a complete, real-time picture of their financial health — balances, spending, investments, and savings — all in one beautifully designed interface. Every screen was built from evidence, not assumptions.
70%
Faster Navigation
↓ avg. time to find balance info
82
SUS Score
Classified as "Excellent"
+67
NPS
Promoter-class score
91%
Task Completion
Up from 55% on key tasks
02 — The Problem
Why people struggle with
finance apps today
- 01Users manage money across 3+ apps on average — fragmentation creates anxiety and blind spots
- 02Data is visible but not actionable — apps show numbers without telling users what to do next
- 03Poor information hierarchy buries critical information under layers of navigation
- 04Investment tracking exists in silos, disconnected from everyday banking behavior
- 05Mobile apps feel like afterthoughts — not first-class experiences
"I have three different apps for my bank, investments, and budgeting. I never have a clear picture of my total financial health at once."
03 — User Research
What we discovered
in the field
Five in-depth user interviews, competitive analysis of six leading finance apps, and jobs-to-be-done mapping revealed patterns that redefined our design priorities.
82%
of participants use 2+ apps to manage their money — fragmentation is the single most-cited frustration
4×
Average number of times per day users check their bank balance — speed and glanceability are critical
60%
of non-investor users expressed desire for beginner-friendly portfolio tracking if it were in the same app
#1
Pain point in transaction pages: "I can't find the specific transaction I'm looking for quickly enough"
Design Goals — User
- See all accounts and balances in one glance
- Understand spending without manual effort
- Complete financial actions in 3 taps from home
- Feel confident and in control of money decisions
- Track progress toward savings and investment goals
Design Goals — Business
- Reduce time-to-value during new user onboarding
- Increase daily active usage through habit-forming design
- Differentiate from legacy banking apps
- Build trust through transparency and security cues
- Create a scalable design system for future expansion
04 — User Personas
Who we designed for
Two distinct personas emerged from research synthesis — representing everyday users who want simplicity, and power users who demand depth. Both had to be served by the same interface.
👩
Jordan Chen
Marketing Manager · Urban Professional
28 years old · Primary Persona
Goals
- Track spending without manual entry
- Save for a home down payment
- Understand credit card rewards
- Have a real-time snapshot of finances
Pain Points
- Overwhelmed by multiple finance apps
- Doesn't know if she's saving "enough"
- Finds investment apps intimidating
- Forgets to review recurring subscriptions
"I just want one app that shows me everything without making me feel stupid."
👨
Marcus Williams
Senior Engineer · Homeowner & Investor
35 years old · Secondary Persona
Goals
- Monitor investment portfolio performance
- Optimize tax strategy with expense tracking
- Automate savings across multiple goals
- Quickly separate business vs personal expenses
Pain Points
- Switches apps constantly during financial reviews
- Current tools lack investment + banking integration
- Manual categorization is too time-consuming
- Wants data export capability for his accountant
"My finances are complicated. I need a tool as sophisticated as my situation."
05 — User Flows
Mapping the journeys
Three primary flows were mapped, tested with real users, and iterated on before a single high-fidelity screen was designed.
Flow 1: New User Onboarding
Goal: Connect first account and see dashboard in under 3 minutes
01
Sign Up
Email / Google / Apple
02
Connect Bank
Plaid integration
03
Auto-Categorize
Smart labels applied
04
Set Goals
Savings targets
05
Dashboard
Full overview
Flow 2: Daily Check-In (Most Frequent Use Case)
Goal: Check balance + recent transactions in under 60 seconds
01
Open App
Biometric auth
02
Dashboard
Balance overview
03
Recent Txns
Scroll feed
04
Insights
Spending alerts
05
Done
App close / lock
Flow 3: Send Money / Pay Bills
Goal: Complete a financial action in 3 taps from the dashboard
01
Dashboard
Quick Actions bar
02
Select Action
Send / Pay / Add
03
Enter Details
Amount + recipient
04
Confirm
Review & authorize
05
Success
Confirmation + receipt
06 — Final Screens
The designed experience
Every screen went through 3+ rounds of usability testing. Each design decision is backed by specific user evidence — not taste.
01
Dashboard
Designed to answer the user's #1 question in under 3 seconds: "How am I doing financially?" Strict information hierarchy — total health at top, quick actions center, account detail below.
- 4-metric summary bar gives instant financial health snapshot above the fold
- Quick Actions placed at visual center — accessible on all device sizes
- Spending donut chart in right panel — contextual, not primary, reducing overwhelm
- Masked account numbers by default — privacy in public spaces
02
Transactions
Rebuilt around search-first discovery. 70% of transaction page visits are goal-directed — users arrive looking for something specific, not browsing.
- Persistent full-width search bar as the primary entry point
- Income / Expenses / Net Balance summary gives monthly context upfront
- Category filter eliminates scrolling through long, unrelated lists
- Transaction items show category, account, and date — the three attributes users scan first
03
Investments
Made portfolio tracking feel approachable for casual users without dumbing it down for power users. Progressive disclosure shows summary first, depth on demand.
- Three time-horizon metrics (Daily / Weekly / Monthly) — answers "how am I doing?" at every scale
- Single clean chart — not five charts — reduces cognitive load dramatically
- Green-on-dark color scheme reinforces the growth narrative without feeling gamified
- Asset breakdown accessible below the fold — there for power users, not in the way
07 — Design Decisions
Every choice has evidence
The table below documents the "why" behind every major visual and interaction design decision in Mintly.
Dark Theme Throughout
Reduces eye strain for the 68% of users who check finances in low-light environments (evening peak: 9–11 PM)
Research insight: peak usage sessions
Large Quick Action Buttons
3 of 5 usability test participants missed standard icon buttons in an earlier iteration
Usability test finding: iteration 2
Donut Chart for Spending
Users described wanting to "see the whole picture at once" — lists don't convey proportionality
Qualitative: interview synthesis
Masked Account Numbers
4 of 5 interview participants mentioned concern about showing account details in public
Interview finding: privacy anxiety
Green = Positive, Red = Negative
Enables instant emotional response to financial status without reading the number
Color psychology + pattern convention
Search-First Transactions
Finding a specific transaction was rated the #1 pain point across all interview participants
Research priority: top complaint
08 — Results
What the numbers say
This is the first finance app that doesn't make me feel stressed when I open it. The dark theme feels premium, and everything I need is right there.
55%→91%
Task completion for "find a specific transaction" — redesigned search-first layout
23s→6s
Average time to find account balance with new dashboard layout
82 / 100
System Usability Scale score — classified as "Excellent" (80+ threshold)
+67 NPS
Net Promoter Score from prototype testing — Promoter-class for a finance app
Key Learnings
What worked
- Starting with fewer features — every addition made the dashboard worse until we started removing
- Personas as decision filters — "What would Jordan do?" cut through countless design debates
- Dark-theme-first design system forces better contrast discipline from the start
What's next
- AI-powered financial insights: "You spent 34% more on dining this month"
- Bill reminder and subscription tracker with automatic detection
- Mobile app expansion — apply design system to iOS and Android native
- Collaborative accounts for couples and family financial planning