DollarWise from Hammer Media is a budgeting app designed to help users track spending, set goals, and build financial habits.
Team
Manager
4 Mobile engineers
Backend engineer
Role
Product Designer
Scope
Competitive Analysis,
UX Design,
Interaction Design,
Prototyping,
Client & Dev Handoff
Timeline
Mar 2025 - 3 Weeks
Our client wanted to introduce push notifications to help users track monthly spending and boost engagement. The product was in its early stages, so the solution needed to be lean for an MVP, yet scalable enough to accommodate future notification channels like email, SMS, and in-app alerts.
The users needed timely reminders about their spending habits to stay on track financially. Simultaneously, our client, Hammer Media, aimed to increase user engagement through proactive communication. The core challenge was to design a notification system that users would find valuable and welcome, rather than intrusive or annoying, especially in a product's early stage
The core challenge was to design a notification system that users would find valuable,
without being intrusive or annoying, especially in a product's early stage
A comprehensive notification system focused on transparency and user control.
A simple, value-driven screen during onboarding that shows a preview of the notifications.
An easily accessible Notification Center that keeps a history of all alerts.
An easily accessible Notification Center that keeps a history of all alerts.
With limited initial direction and product requirement, my first step was to create clarity and define a feasible V1.
Competitive Analysis & Insights
I analyzed leading financial apps like Rocket Money, Copilot, and Albert to understand established patterns for notification management. And there were 3 key insights I've discovered:
Insights 1: Transparent Onboarding
Clearly explain the value of notifications during user onboarding and ask for consent at the right moment.
Insights 2: Centralized Control
Users expect a dedicated "Notification Center" to view past alerts and manage their preferences easily.
Insights 3: Granular Settings
Providing users with control over which notifications they receive builds trust.
Based on the competitive analysis, we identified four essential components for the MVP: Transparent Onboarding Consent, a Notification Center, Notification Settings, and the initial Push Notifications.
Strategy
In order for MVP to continue to scale as we add more notification types,
Having the right architecture model was crucial.
After explorations on several models and consulting with engineers, I advocated for a Notification-Center Model as it provides a persistent, in-app space for users to review alerts and serves as a scalable foundation for future notification types (email, SMS).
Notification Center Model
Ideation
Collaborative User Flow Ideation:
With a tight deadline, each iteration cycle was costly. And I saw that the early developer collaboration was key to success.
I created initial user flows and low-fidelity wireframes to facilitate a discussion with the engineering team.
This proactive step helped identify technical constraints early, preventing costly changes and ensuring my final designs were feasible.
Initial wireframes and userflow with developers' feedback
Part of refined userflows with hi-fi mockups
Prototyping & Iterating on Client Feedback
Prototyping: Developed a high-fidelity, interactive prototype to validate the user experience with our client.
Client Feedback: The client's feedback revealed the need for a master "All Notifications" toggle in addition to the granular controls.
Iteration: Quickly iterated on the design to incorporate this aggregate switch, simplifying the experience for users who prefer an all-or-nothing approach while retaining detailed control for others.
Takeaway
From Handoffs to Co-Creation: I initiated a shift from traditional design handoffs to a collaborative process with engineering. Involving developers from the start had some of the benefits including:
Help identify edge case in UX and engineering constraints earlier.
Share goals and understanding of the products, building trust with developers and reducing frictions in the collaboration.
Earning developers trust goes a long way in product design.
Designing for Future Scalability: I successfully advocated for building a scalable Notification Center model into the MVP. This strategic foresight proved critical, saving significant development resources and allowing for a much faster rollout of future notification features.