1. Ben Dedrick and Michael Iseri
Student Project. General Assembly UXDi. Winter 2013.
Prepared for: SaveUp
January 22, 2014
2. about the site
SaveUp is a website and mobile application for users who want a fun, easy, and
rewarding way to meet their financial goals. It interfaces with nearly all major banks,
credit unions, retirement funds, and other financial services to monitor users’ spending
and saving habits, and rewards them for making smart financial decisions. Unlike Mint
or other finance tracking services, SaveUp encourages users to overcome their debt
or save for the future by offering high-value prize drawings to users who make
consistent steps toward their goals.
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about the project
SaveUp is a startup based in San Francisco, CA. This project was assigned as part of
General Assembly’s UX Design Immersive class; the assigned objective was to
increase SaveUp’s user acquisition and retention by examining and redesigning the
onboarding process.
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This project focuses on the Web implementation of SaveUp.
3. design principles
Change company perception
Help users see SaveUp as caring, helpful, trustworthy, and fun.
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Emphasize what’s different
Make sure users can immediately see why SaveUp is worth checking out.
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Offer clear value proposition
This strategy for encouraging savings has been used before, and it worked. People really
do win prizes from the site; ensure users know this.
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Show how it works
Use clear visual language and simple copy text to help users understand the process.
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Encourage trust from users
Endorsements from major publications, partnerships with banks and credit unions,
believable testimonials from real users, and exciting visual design all give users a
stronger sense that SaveUp is a site they can trust.
4. original site flow
browse prizes
invite
Tour Page
user arrives at
Home Page
Explores Home
Page to learn
more about
SaveUp
join
sign up page
Browse, invite, or
register
join
invite
Dashboard
Tour page 2
invite
connect
join
User receives email
continue
account
registration page
connect
Register
Account Page
6. new site flow
User arrives at
Home page
Explores
Homepage to
learn more about
SaveUp
Joins site
Sign up page
Join
Joins site
User receives
email
Confirm
Dashboard
8. personas
Alexa Bortoncan
Photographer’s Assistant
24 years – Santa Fe, New Mexico
Julie Holt-Ramirez
School Nurse
32 years – Texas
Back Story
• Lots of student loan debt; no savings; some credit card debt
• Not much leftover from paycheck to put towards savings
• No long-term or retirement savings
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Back Story
• Got married after graduating from Texas A&M, has 2 kids
• Loves her job and helping people
• Worried about paying kids’ college tuition, and retirement
• Loves couponing, shoe shopping, and “getting a deal!”
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Motivations
• Read about SaveUp in parents magazine
• Wants to save and be more organized
• Loves the prizes and chances to win on SaveUp
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Technical Comfort: Below Average for Gen-Y
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Motivations
• Concerned about ending up broke, open to trying something
new
• Heard about SaveUp from a friend
Frustrations
• Fears falling for scam. Getting suspicious since she hasn’t won
anything
• Not getting much advice that is relevant to her situation
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Ideal Experience
• Feels like she’s making progress towards paying off credit
card debt
• Opens a savings account with SaveUp’s help
• Gets to play more often / earns more credits for her hard
work
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Technical Comfort: Average for Gen-X
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Frustrations
• Has trouble connecting accounts (forgot passwords or
husband has them)
• Finds the games boring / repetitive
• Wants to be more organized, but she can’t get her husband
to look at SaveUp “because it’s a game”
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Ideal Experience
• More coupons and discounts
• More games / less repetition
• More financial visualizations that she can show her husband
• Still really loves SaveUp
9. original site review
This image looks nice, but misses a
valuable opportunity to communicate
branding or functionality to the user in
an exciting way.
Great endorsements to have. However,
skeptical users may not glean much
from the icons alone. A quote from one
of these publications would go a long
way.
10. original site review
This information is useful, but users
tended to be confused about the
function of the graphics. Adding some
interactivity and polish to this part of the
page will encourage users to pay
attention to it, and improve their
perception of the site.
11. original site review
The fact that SaveUp genuinely wants their
users to learn about savings and finance says
a lot about the company. Improving the
messaging of SaveUp’s core values will help
users feel more confident about signing up.
There are a lot of really positive reviews and
testimonials about the product, but we’re only
given two of them up front.
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Also, the role of research and the application
of PLS in other countries are great ways to
help people understand SaveUp’s foundation,
but they’re only lightly touched on at the
bottom of the front page.
12. original site review
The “How it works” page is full of great information, but
it’s difficult to find. Feedback from users indicated that
they wondered why more of this info wasn’t on the front
page, and most of them had to be directed to the link to
see it.
Including a steady flow of recent winners is a
great idea, and we want it to be visible. Giving
this the appearance of a live feed may help
alert potential new users that there are real
people out there who are actually winning
prizes through SaveUp.
13. original site review
These icons look nice, but the fact that
they’re non-functional makes this page
confusing to users, since it doesn’t
ultimately serve a purpose.
The most important button on this page is
tucked away in the corner. We want this to
be a major call to action!
14. original site review
This process is an extremely important part of getting started with SaveUp, but
each step of it removes the user from the onboarding flow and throws them
into the “wilderness” of the main site. We want this process to introduce users
to the functions of the site in a way that reinforces the value proposition from
the front page, while also encouraging them to complete their registration by
adding and authenticating their financial accounts.
15. Improve visual fidelity to promote
user confidence.
Example: Uber
Huge, eye-catching splash image
with carousel to keep the site
feeling “alive.”
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Establishes brand while also
communicating functionality/
value proposition.
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Content below the fold is also
interactive and makes the site exciting
to read.
16. Improve visual fidelity to promote
user confidence.
Example: Fitbit
Again, big splash establishes branding while also telling the user
about what they’re seeing. More information appears automatically
(carousel) without requiring the user to navigate away to other pages
or read large blocks of text.
17. proposed solution 1
Increase visibility of value proposition.
Method
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Make sure that a clear presentation of the site’s features
greets users as soon as they arrive.
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Maintain a clear call to action on the main page.
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Reinforce the features throughout the onboarding process.
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18. Increase visibility of value proposition.
Example: Simple
Value proposition is clearly stated from the front page, and
call to action is the first thing the user sees.
19. proposed solution 2
Refine language and content to
improve user trust.
Method
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Display more specific endorsements from trusted publications
as they become available.
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Mention partnerships with banks, credit unions, and other
institutions.
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Explain SaveUp’s basis in PLS research to prove that the
concept works.
Example: Mint
20. proposed solution 3
Improve visual fidelity to promote
user confidence.
Method
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Add interactivity and more dynamic content panels to the front page.
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Refine visual styling.
21. research and ideation
Method
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Interview workers from SaveUp to find out
how they wanted the company to be
perceived.
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Findings
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The company should be helpful and fun, but
also seen as secure and safe. Users should
get the feeling that they are here to help
them for their own good.
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Opportunities
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Redesigning of the front page could take
care of the company perception at a first
glance. Imagery, wording, information
hierarchy and architecture could do a lot for
this.
23. early concepts
Method
Findings
Sketch different iterations of the homepage to find optimal ways to
present important information.
Some information didn’t seem to sit well with other bits of information
(i.e. dashboard preview with testimonials or bank eligibility).
Some information could also be presented very well in splash images.
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Hover capabilities can be very engaging.
24. early concepts
1
1. Decided to make the prizes at the top of the screen a filter for which games-types you can play. Now acts as more of
a filter.
25. annotated concepts
2
1
1
3
1. Paralax scrolling makes the site more engaging.
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2. Eligibility check is easily accessible on the front page, so new users won’t
have to search too much or be forced to sign up before they can see if their
bank works with SaveUp. “Check eligibility” button changes to a signup button
if the bank is eligible.
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3.
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Testimonials and big name endorsements encourage trust.
4. Sign up button located at the bottom of the page so people wont have to
scroll all the way back up the page to reach a sign up button.
4
26. annotated concepts
1
1. Included progress bars at the tops of pages to make new users aware of where
they are in certain processes. This includes the username creation process, the
overall account completion, and the link bank account process.
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2. Added “carrots” and indications that people would earn extra credits for linking bank
accounts as another incentive to complete the linking process.
2
27. annotated concepts
1
2
3
1. Placed challenges in the top right because it can provide
incentives to save.
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2. Shortened the social/recent winners window because it didn’t
need so much space to serve its purpose of informing users
that there are real winners. Moved the rewards to a less
visible place (bottom right) because they didn't seem to be a
major part of the site.
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3.
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4
Added the account detail snapshot.
4. Blacked out or blocked certain functionalities to encourage
new users to link accounts.
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