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SchedYou

Mobile App Design Project

Budgeting can be difficult when plans keeps changing. SchedYou is an AI-powered scheduling tool that considers users' budgets to suggest spending strategies on events to help them achieve their spending goals.

Developed: 2023

Platforms: IOS

Tools: Figma

Role: Product Designer

01 | Context

I collaborated with three other product designers to explore the emotional and behavioral challenges people face around budgeting. My role focused on user research, flow design, and brand positioning.

Problem + Opportunity 
  Worrying about whether your plans align with your budget is taxing

While many budgeting tools help users track spending, they often overlook the stress and time it takes to stick to a rigid budget, especially when unexpected plans or social events come up. People don’t just need information about their finances; they need support making real-time decisions that won’t derail their financial goals.

SchedYou addresses this gap by shifting the model: instead of forcing users to adjust their lives around a static budget, it adapts to them. The app uses AI to offer cost-conscious suggestions for calendar events, helping users stay on track without sacrificing spontaneity.

02 | Design Process

Our design process followed 3 phrases to prioritize users' emotional and practical needs:

I.  Understanding Users
Drawing from user-research from interviews and online anecdotes, we found that despite anxious attitudes toward money, users were motivated to spend more thoughtfully if it meant they could still attend meaningful events.

From there, I led the development of two primary personas based on spending styles and emotional triggers.


II.  Story Mapping + Hypothesis Building
Using our personas, we crafted tailored user flows and hypothesized that users would focus more on event planning than on static budget reviews.

Our hypothesis guided our focus on three core features:

  1. Cost-efficient event suggestions
  2. Bank integration
  3. Post-event spending summaries

III.  Testing & Iteration
We ran usability tests with 40 users to verify our hypothesis, using the Likert scale and preference testing. Based on feedback, we refined the brand positioning, revised our copy and flows, and created a simple design system to align visuals with function.

03 | Design Solution

design principles

Final flows showcased distinct pathways tailored to our personas, balancing both planning and budget-awareness.

Key Features

📍 Smart Event Planning 
Geared toward our Rigid Planner persona, this feature integrates budgeting directly into the event creation process. As users add a location, the smart map surfaces nearby options visually marked with price tiers. Below, a list view summarizes key info like reviews and price fit. By calculating estimated costs in real time and contextualizing them within SchedYou’s suggested budget, SchedYou enables informed, spontaneous decisions, without asking users to interrupt their flow or recalculate finances manually.

📍Flexible Event Revision 
Designed for our Go-with-the-Flow persona, this feature supports users who may overspend as plans accumulate. When budget thresholds are at risk, SchedYou flags affected events and offers cost-efficient alternatives. These suggestions appear non-intrusively within the event editor, allowing users to review options, compare savings, and update their schedule without redoing their plans. 

04 | Reflection + Achievements

Reflection

 Guidance shouldn’t feel instructional
Every interaction in SchedYou was designed to let the user take the lead, with supportive suggestions offered only in context. This approach ensured that guidance felt timely, relevant and non-intrusive, helping users make confident financial decisions without disrupting their daily life.

Clarity in brand positioning
When a product spans multiple domains, like scheduling and budgeting, the way it's framed can either clarify or confuse. Strong positioning helps users instantly grasp the value of the tool, setting expectations before they even tap a button.


AChievements

  • Led the creation of initial storyboards and flows for personas.


  • Outlined the visual direction and structure of our final interactive prototype.

  • Presented weekly deliverables to industry professionals, demonstrating design process and highlighting enhancements to user flows - measured by user research surveys, reducing navigation time by 30%.

VVP Version 1
Full Flow Prototype
VVP Version 2

Thanks for reading!

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