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Walleta is an automated expense and budget tracking app for young adults that calculates disposable income, sets savings goals, and uses color-coded notifications and peer comparisons to nudge spending awareness.
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Walleta is an automated expense & budget tracking smartphone app primariily designed for 18 – 29 year old young adults. This group of individuals tend to have the most potential to save money but who also spend impulsively and are less financially literate. We seek to make spending more conscious and purposeful.
Desirability is defined here as providing insights on spending habits previously absent and on whether someone is keeping up with their peers. Operationalize is defined here as an automated, immediate feedback system that makes user more aware of subconscious, routine behavior. We use visual presentation that analyzes spending trend and does comparative analysis for the users.
The current issues in the failure to save money are:
- Each expense is viewed individually on the micro scale, and not viewed as part of a larger purchasing trend
- There is no direct and immediate reminder on how a purchase affects bank account. Calculations needed to be done mentally, or via voluntary checking of bank accounts
- Some expenditures are from habits (coffee, sandwich, smoothie) that are often made unaware by their frequency
- Due to lack of information /financial literacy, some young adults are unsure of how much to save and what a realistic disposable income is
- Use of intermediate currency such as credit card, Apple Pay, and PayPal further distances the user from their financial health
App Set-Up: Walleta collects data from user’s previous bank statements, but individual goals can also be manually input to allow for flexibility. It separates spendings into major categories, and calculates the monthly disposable income for the user. Then, it provides guidance on setting up a monthly savings goal.
Notification Screens – Different colors indicate different savings statuses:
- Green indicates that you’re on track to meet your savings goal
- Red indicates that you’re not on track to meet your savings goal
When you slide the notification as pictured above, your phone will direct you to view more details in the app (see below). Note that users can view details on what they spent their money on by tapping the “disposable income spent” portion of the pie chart (in dark green).
Why a nudge system:
- Young adults mostly have the ability to save, but often lack the sustained motivation that makes long term savings happen
- Visual presentation helps the user to be more engaged and displays information effectively and efficiently
- The automated and immediate feedback system provides the constant reminder that bridges the gap between will and action
Motivation for the individual:
- Internal – one’s desire to save up money, either for future personal use or toward a specific goal
- External – reminder of repeat purchase, comparison with peers of similar age that establishes a competitive interest
Motivation for the app developer:
- Data cloud collect shopping trends for individuals, this information can be aggregated (to ensure anonymity), and be provided to third parties
- Particularly valuable information can be derived from learning about the type of shoppers: lots of purchase at a few vendors, or smaller purchase at more vendors?
- Macro data on how young adults are faring in their financial status
Sources: BJ Fogg