PlanWell
PRODUCT DESIGN
FULL CASE STUDY
PlanWell is a financial planning app designed for individuals close to or living in retirement to understand their financial health, plan for the future
and make financial decisions
with confidence.
TIMELINE: 14 Weeks (January-April 2024, February 2026)
PROJECT TYPE: UI/UX, Product Design, Prototyping
ROLE: Full- Stack Designer
PROBLEM STATEMENT
There is a lack of financial literacy in the world especially among the baby boomer generation making them more vulnerable to financial
hardships and fraud.
More than one-third of Americans adults today (35 percent) say no one taught them about investing, according to a survey by RBC Wealth Management–U.S. and City National Bank (RBC/CNB).
But that experience doesn’t appear to be shared across generations.
Baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) are the least likely to have had any sort of financial instruction, the survey found. In fact, 38 percent of Americans in this age group say no one taught them about investing. But for millennials (born between 1981 and 1996), the experience is clearly different; only 29 percent say they grew up without any instruction on investing, while another two-thirds say they learned about investing from their parents, someone else, or in school.
Taravandenberg. (2023, November 1). Financial Literacy and the generation gap: The importance of teaching money matters. RBC Wealth Management. https://www.rbcwealthmanagement.com/en-us/insights/financial-literacy-and-the-generation-gap
THE CHALLENGE
How might we simplify the user-interfaces and design an app which is suitable for our target audience and also helps to teach them about their benefits and taxes?
THE RESEARCH
Project Overview
As part of a class assignment, we were tasked with designing an app aimed at the Baby Boomer generation. We were free to choose any track, provided that our app was tailored to our selected target audience.
After discussing our ideas, we collectively decided to focus on the finance track.
UNDERSTANDING THE PROBLEM
We began our research process by preparing an interview script. Our goal was to conduct primary interviews with at least 2–3 individuals across different ages within our target group and from various professions, in order to gain a better understanding of the problem we aimed to address.
However, we encountered some challenges, particularly in finding participants for our research. As university students, we did not have easy access to our target demographic. We also attempted to contact several old age homes to request interviews, but unfortunately, we received little to no response. As a result, we expanded our outreach to include anyone we could identify within our target age group, such as professors, relatives, and friends.
USER-INTERVIEW SCRIPT
USER INTERVIEW #1
USER INTERVIEW #2
USER INTERVIEW #3
INTERVIEW ANALYSIS
🩹 FILING
TAXES
All three of our participants mentioned they do not file their own taxes, and actually rely on hiring someone to file their taxes on them, and in most cases they rely on the same person for years.
📉 COMFORT WITH TECHNOLOGY
Most of our participants were not very comfortable with using technology for their banking operations other than very basic operations and even then they did not blindly trust it.
👨🦳 LACK OF FINANCIAL LITERACY
Our participants did not posses a lot of financial literacy and were not very aware of their benefits and how they could use investments to grow
their finances.
🛠️ LACK OF RESOURCES TO UNDERSTAND
THEIR FINANCES
All our users did not have the right tools to actually understand and manage their finances, and
neither did they use
our competitors.
THE SOLUTION
PlanWell.
PlanWell is a financial planning app designed for individuals close to or living in retirement to understand their financial health, plan for the future and make financial decisions with confidence.
Acting as a structured digital guide, PlanWell enables baby boomers to organize their income, expenses, savings and long-term goals with clear projections and practical next steps.
The app helps users visualize how choices of today such as spending habits, savings, contributions and timing for retirement will impact their future financial stability.
Turning complex financial information into user-friendly insights, PlanWell supports baby boomers to build an informed and secure financial future.
FEATURES
01 PERSONALIZED FINANCIAL ROADMAPS
PlanWell tailors financial plans based on the user’s income, expenses, savings and retirement goals enabling them to see their present financial position and what changes are needed to achieve their financial goals.
It provides guidance on filing of taxes and recommendations on government benefits for which they are eligible.
02 MADE FOR BABY BOOMERS
PlanWell is designed for individuals approaching or living in retirement . From managing retirement savings and healthcare costs to estate planning, this generation faces complex choices and financial responsibilities.
PlanWell prioritizes simplicity, clarity and user friendly guidance helping users feel confident and informed without being overwhelmed by technical jargon.
03 ACCESSIBLE AND PERSONALIZED
PlanWell is designed to be accessible and tailored to suit the needs of the baby boomer generation. The app allows users to customize accessibility settings, ensuring a comfortable and inclusive experience.
By maintaining a clean, simple interface, PlanWell ensures users are not overwhelmed and experience an easy, secure and trustworthy financial planning tool.
HIGH- FIDELITY PROTOTYPE
Following several rounds of iterations and revisions, the final design took form and shape.
The prototype shows the ease of using the app and demonstrates the steps users take to review their finances, exploring tax and benefits to make informed financial decisions.
WHAT I WANT TO DO IN THE FUTURE
🧾 EXPANDED TAX & BENEFIT FILING SUPPORT
PlanWell could introduce step-by-step tax filing assistance pulling pre-populated data to populate forms, set reminders for deadlines and automate checks for eligibility for benefits to ensure users do not miss payments and benefits.
🛠️ INTEGRATION WITH GOVERNMENT & BANKING SYSTEMS
Future updates could allow PlanWell to securely connect with banks and government services to enable pre-population of data, alert of receipt of government benefits, expenses beyond a pre-defined threshold, payment of utility bills, online investment in mutual funds, stocks, bonds etc.
🪜 PERSONALIZED RETIREMENT INCOME STRATEGIES
Future versions will enable options for retirees to opt for pre-defined investment strategies in market linked instruments or government investment instruments. Guidance on how and when to make withdrawals from retirement and investment accounts minimizing tax liability and maximizing long-term returns.
💎 ACCESSIBILITY ENHANCEMENTS
Additional accessibility features such as voice guided commands, larger default text and low light options, multi-language support etc.
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