my expenses

Keeping track of monthly expenses is one of those tasks people know they should do and quietly avoid. The app exists to make that habit feel light, especially for someone who has never been comfortable with personal finance.Keeping track of monthly expenses is one of those tasks people know they should do and quietly avoid. The app exists to make that habit feel light, especially for someone who has never been comfortable with personal finance.

I had designed its first version in 2020. Two years later I came back to rebuild it, this time with something the original never had: thousands of real users telling us exactly where it hurt.I had designed its first version in 2020. Two years later I came back to rebuild it, this time with something the original never had: thousands of real users telling us exactly where it hurt.

The project covered the product end to end, from the audit that started it to the assets the developers would build from.The project covered the product end to end, from the audit that started it to the assets the developers would build from.

By then the app had passed a thousand ratings on the store, which is a research panel most projects never get for free. I read through more than a hundred of them, positive and negative, and grouped the recurring complaints into themes.By then the app had passed a thousand ratings on the store, which is a research panel most projects never get for free. I read through more than a hundred of them, positive and negative, and grouped the recurring complaints into themes.

The pattern was clear. People were not asking for new features so much as asking the app to stop making them work. Every top complaint was friction that the interface itself had created.The pattern was clear. People were not asking for new features so much as asking the app to stop making them work. Every top complaint was friction that the interface itself had created.

Four problems came up often enough to shape the redesign, and each one earned a direct answer in the new version.Four problems came up often enough to shape the redesign, and each one earned a direct answer in the new version.

The new interface keeps everything the old one could do and adds what people had been asking for, while feeling simpler to move through. Density gave way to hierarchy, and the daily actions moved to where the thumb already lives.The new interface keeps everything the old one could do and adds what people had been asking for, while feeling simpler to move through. Density gave way to hierarchy, and the daily actions moved to where the thumb already lives.

Two years without maintenance had left the interface full of small inconsistencies, the kind that accumulate quietly until nothing quite matches. Rather than patch them screen by screen, I documented the foundations first, from typography to the color palette.Two years without maintenance had left the interface full of small inconsistencies, the kind that accumulate quietly until nothing quite matches. Rather than patch them screen by screen, I documented the foundations first, from typography to the color palette.

A component library followed, so the same decisions could be reused instead of redrawn. It saved time during design, and it gave the developers one source of truth to build against.A component library followed, so the same decisions could be reused instead of redrawn. It saved time during design, and it gave the developers one source of truth to build against.

The app went on to pass a hundred thousand downloads and eleven thousand ratings, holding a 4.8 average on Google Play. The redesign turned a popular but frustrating tool into one people were willing to recommend.The app went on to pass a hundred thousand downloads and eleven thousand ratings, holding a 4.8 average on Google Play. The redesign turned a popular but frustrating tool into one people were willing to recommend.

Store reviews turned out to be the most useful research material of the whole project. They cost nothing to gather and they point straight at the friction people actually feel, which is rarely the friction a team assumes.Store reviews turned out to be the most useful research material of the whole project. They cost nothing to gather and they point straight at the friction people actually feel, which is rarely the friction a team assumes.

The harder lesson came after handoff. The released build drifted from the design in places, mostly because communication with the developers thinned out near the end. Documentation alone does not carry a design across the finish line, and staying close to the build is part of the designer's job.The harder lesson came after handoff. The released build drifted from the design in places, mostly because communication with the developers thinned out near the end. Documentation alone does not carry a design across the finish line, and staying close to the build is part of the designer's job.