Researching Without (Much) Data 💡

With only 1 day (1) for research and no access to analytics, I leaned heavily on help from ChatGPT to get some data — any data at all, per Jakob Nielsen — on Lana’s proposed users to help drive design. Fortunately, I found some data.

Microloan market

I spent the first half of my research day quickly learning about the micro loan market space. Among the some competitors in late 2023 were:

• Dave

• MoneyLion

• Varo

• Super.com

And the leading budget-tracking apps were:

• Chime

• Nerdwallet

From a 2023 investor presentation by Dave, I learned some research about just how big the microloan market is — 180 M customers and growing!

Dave Investor Presentation Q3 2023

And from a slide deck from a similar site, Super.com, I got a snapshot of Lana’s potential target market:

Super.com Slide Deck 2023

I would end up using this data, plus customer information I knew already from doing research for a newsletter redesign for the The Penny Hoarder, to create a proto-persona of the Lana user.

Testing the competition first-hand

Still that same day — with no access to real users or time to recruit and test any — I decided I needed to try out the micro-loan and budget-tracking app experience from at least one of the main competitors. I signed up with Dave and Nerdwallet, to understand how they worked. It wasn’t perfect, but it was something.

Key Insights💡

• Focus is on getting “ExtraCash”

• Fast and easy to apply for a loan

• Use of the “Dave bear” and flat-art illustrations keeps the mood light

Key Insights💡

• Focus is managing money — especially credit and spending

• Less push to apply for offers, loans

• Tone is much more neutral and “expert”

• Design is more functional than “fun”

User persona

To better understand how to design for Lana’s target users — and because I had neither time nor resources to do real user research with actual users — I created a proto-persona based on the research I could gather and from previous experience, and the help of ChatGPT.

Before this project I had recently worked on a redesign of a personal finance website and newsletter whose readers bore a striking similarity to those using micro-loan apps — struggling financially and needing help making ends meet.

Jasmine

• 28-year-old woman

• Lives in Jacksonville, Florida

• Occupation: 3 PT jobs

  • Community advocate at nonprofit

  • Cashier at a Publix supermarket

  • DoorDash driver

• Annual salary ~ $34K

• Credit score: 620

Jasmine is a passionate community advocate dedicated to making a positive impact in her neighborhood. She works part-time for a nonprofit organization, where she contributes to community development projects and supplements this by working at a local supermarket and as a delivery driver. With a modest income and a credit score of 620, Jasmine seeks financial tools that align with her values and support her community-focused lifestyle.

Use Case

Budget Tracking

• Jasmine uses Lana to manage her combined income from both part-time jobs, ensuring effective allocation for personal expenses, community projects, and savings goals.

• The budget tracking feature helps her strike a balance between her two occupations and maintain financial stability.

Credit Monitoring

• Jasmine regularly monitors her credit score to stay informed about her financial health, particularly as she plans for future initiatives.

• The app's insights on improving credit scores provide valuable guidance tailored to her dual-income lifestyle.

Micro-Loans

• Facing occasional unexpected expenses, whether related to community projects or personal needs, Jasmine relies on the app's micro-loan feature.

• The quick and accessible micro-loan process supports her financial needs, allowing her to continue her community advocacy without financial stress.

Needs & Frustrations

• 🛟 Needs: financial stability, credit improvement, simple ways to make and save money

  😡 Frustrations: limited financial resources, credit score concerns, time constraints and stress

Quote

“Balancing two part-time jobs while advocating for my community is my way of making a positive impact. Lana Money helps me manage my finances, allowing me to grow personally and contribute to the community I love. It's like having a financial ally that understands my unique journey.”
— Jasmine

Early Iterations / Sketches

Creating a fun, helpful interface to help users track finances and get cash advances fast

We started by sketching a big-picture view of the newsletter to get a sense of how to create variety and rhythm.

And we started with mobile because analytics told us more than 85% of our users read on their phones.

Solutions

Home / Dashboard

I sketched solutions to how we could increase conversion opportunities “above the fold” — the initial view by readers — in case they never scroll down.

• Currently, the number of conversion opportunities was, at best, 1

• We sought to (at least) triple this

Wireframes

Putting it all together to test it

The wireframes for .

🧪 Testing needed

Interactive prototype

From wireframes, I created mockups and an interactive, high-fidelity prototype in Figma designed for mobile to test with potential users.

I conducted some guerrilla user-testing with a half dozen friends and family — enough people to get the bare minimum of data but hardly the kind of rigorous usability tests you would want to perform.

🔥 Key Takeaways

⏳ Spend time learning about users — Even with no time allocated for real user research, learning as much as I could about Lana’s potential user helped almost every aspect of the design later on. With more time spent with real users I am sure I would have uncovered insights to help Lana differentiate itself from its competition.

🛠️ Borrowing selectively saves time — With such limited time available, I had to rely on Jakob’s rule for many aspects of the design — that most people use other sites/apps and are familiar with those. While customizing the UI for Lana, I saved time by selectively borrowing patterns from the best designs

🧪 Need for more testing — I would have loved to test at every stage, especially with early concepts, but (and this sounds like a broken record). . . but there just wasn’t enough time. Before spending a lot of time on a high-fidelity prototype, quick testing with use would have given me more confidence to back up decisions with real data.

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