Overview
This project was inspired by a casual conversation between my friends on daily expenses and purchasing habits. The project goes through the double-diamond process from discover, define, develop and deliver.
Based on my friends' group demographic, the target user group are millennials who live in Hong Kong & Taiwan. With the research findings from surveys, interviews, and competitive analysis, I was able to identify the problem statement: How to help female millennials in Hong Kong prevent impulsive buying that leads to overspending and negative emotion.
Throughout the design process, I've also sought potential users to rate the design outcome from a usability test through zoom and improve the design based on feedback.
Research
During the research phase, a comprehensive blend of primary and secondary research methodologies was employed.
Primary research encompassed an online survey targeting individuals residing in the Hong Kong and Taiwan regions, exploiting their shared cultural and lifestyle parallels. Additionally, three insightful interviews were conducted to glean a profound comprehension of the shopping behaviors within our target demographic. Furthermore, a thorough competitor analysis was executed, delving into the existing market landscape.
For the secondary research, a meticulous examination was carried out, drawing from the Thematic Household Survey administered by the Hong Kong SAR Government Census and Statistics Department. Augmenting this, two journal articles were scrutinized, providing an enriched understanding of the domain.
Primary Research
Insights from 27 respondents
Online Survey
Most respondents are a single female who studies at a university that usually shops in a physical store for clothes or food.
16
92%
11
64%
47.7%
81.2%
64%
63%
A saving plan is partially effective
58.5%
Usually shop
in physical store
Insights from 3 interviewees
Zoom Interview
The formulated questions aimed to delve deeper into participants' underlying motivations and emotional aspects when engaged in impulsive buying experiences, while subsequent probing questions were introduced to elicit more in-depth around the causes of actions.
Could you introduce your name and your current occupation?
Could you share with me an experience of you buying something without thinking thoughtfully?
What did you buy and how does it influence your feeling before and after buying it?
What do you feel when you purchased the item, but yet not often or barely use it?
In the future, if you encounter a similar situation, what would you do?
Is there anything you would like to share that you think might help me to develop the project?
Secondary Research
Government census and journals insight
Thematic Household Survey Report No.73 - HKSAR
Analysed by sex, the rate of having used online purchasing services for personal matters was slightly higher for females, at 44.3%, than males (41.9%).
Some 2,546,600 persons aged 15 and over had made online purchase of products/services for personal matters during the 6 months before enumeration. Among them, “online purchase of daily necessities, clothes and footwear” was the most common (as cited by 83.5% of those persons), followed by “online food delivery ordering” (25.6%) and “online purchase of food/beverages” (20.6%).
Analysed by economic activity status, 76.7% of the persons who had used online purchasing services for personal matters during the 12 months before enumeration were economically active. Another 10.2% were home-makers and 8.1% were students. The rates of having used online purchasing services for personal matters were higher for economically active persons and students, at 56.7% and 51.5% respectively.
5 Surprising Findings About How People Actually Buy Clothes and Shoes - Harvard Business Review
Myths
Shopping has become truly omnichannel.
The sales channel doesn’t matter.
Online shopping is about instant gratification.
The retailer doesn’t matter.
Consumers always want something new.
Fact
Most journeys are still overwhelmingly single-channel, though this is changing.
When consumers purchase online, they tend to buy more.
Online journeys tend to be longer than in-store.
Spend is dramatically higher at brand stores and websites than in multi-brand stores.
Very often, they are happy to rebuy the same or a similar item.
Impulse Buying: Are You Guilty? - Forbes
Why We Impulse Buy
You Want to Save
You Want to Feel Good
You Like Shopping
Signs You're a Chronic Impulse Buyer
You Feel the Urge
You Overspend
You Feel Regret
Stopping the Habit
Plan Fun Spending in Your Budget
Compare Price With Value
Leave Your Credit Card at Home
Competitor Analysis
To gain valuable insights, I looked at the top 1% of mobile apps in the Playstore across the Asia region as a reference point, then I carried out an indirect competitive analysis for two specific mobile apps. This approach helped us better understand the landscape and user experiences in the context of our research.
Smoney - Expense Tracker
"Smoney is determined to help users simplify their personal finance tracking. Financial Independence is not just a dream, it's reality."
Fortune City - A Finance App
"Track your spending, grow a city! Fortune City gamifies bookkeeping with a fun city simulation game. Record your expenses, and watch as your city flourishes into a beautiful metropolis.
Pick up good budgeting habits as you track income and expenses, so you can grow your personal fortune into a prosperous city!"
Insights
These finance planning apps revealed key insights, spanning expense breakdowns, gamification for engagement, city-building visualization, social interaction, monthly reports, and a user-friendly calendar view. These features collectively offer users an enriched experience in managing their finances efficiently.
Research findings
Collecting and structuring research discoveries from diverse origins to attain a holistic grasp of user behaviors, preferences, and pain points.
Affinity Mapping
The process of affinity mapping expertly organises extensive qualitative data from the competitor analysis, online surveys, and interviews, revealing valuable insights.
Empathy Map & Persona
An empathy map and persona were crafted to gain deeper insights into the thoughts, emotions, and actions of Hong Kong female millennials when it comes to impulsive buying.
Journey Map
Journey maps documented Yuki's typical buying process in detail.
Ideation
Generating and exploring creative concepts to address user needs and solve design challenges.
How Might We?
Turning challenges into a solvable question.
How might we often allow Yuki to keep updated on new release series so that she can always plan ahead of her budgeting?
How might we provide accurate clothing sizes for Yuki so that she can well use her time on choosing clothes?
How might we indicate discounted items for Yuki so that she can save up money to purchase the clothing that she likes?
How might we use alter the payment burden for Yuki so that she would feel less negative emotion after purchasing something expensive?
Crazy 8s
As the target users are based in Hong Kong, I've reached out to them via Instagram messages and prompted them with the question of coming up with 2 ideas that will reduce their regretful emotion after an impulsive purchase.
Based on the conversation above, I've summarised 8 of the ideas the target users have provided, and based on the conversation, the common one would be spending less in the coming weeks, therefore it sets the basis of the design direction.
Refund
Donate the item
Give it away
Throw it away
Sell to others
Recycle
Try to use the product more often
Spend less in the coming weeks
Prototype
Creating a working model of the product to test and validate its functionality, user interactions, and design concepts.
User Flow
A detailed user flow for the proposed design solution.
Wireframe
A detailed user flow for the proposed design solution.
User Test
Gathering feedback from actual users to evaluate the usability, effectiveness, and overall user experience.
Task Analysis
I engaged in four distinct task analyses via Zoom sessions, involving the target users, where I observed their interactions with the prototype while they tackled assigned tasks organically, without intervention. Then, I gathered their valuable feedback to enhance the design's usability and overall user experience.
Task 1: Create an account
Go through onboarding process
Fill in name
Fill in email
Fill in password
Click “Create account”
Task 2: View goals
Click “Goal”
View all goals
Task 3: View monthly spent
Click “Spend”
View spending
Task 4: Add new record
Click “+”
Fill in information
Complete process
Task Analysis User Feedback
The target users provided insightful feedback in regard to their interaction and the perceived usefulness of the prototype.
During user feedback sessions, it emerged that the users found the goals page overwhelming due to excessive information on a single screen, making it challenging to prioritize focus.
User feedback highlighted the challenge of locating the monthly spending section, as the similarity in button and layout designs caused confusion in their interaction.
After
Users expressed a strong preference for the convenience of social login, as it eliminates the need to create a new password and simplifies the account setup process.
After
Users positively acknowledged the emotion icon selection feature, appreciating its efficiency in allowing them to convey sentiments with a simple click rather than taking time to write notes.
After
Heuristic Evaluation
Enhanced consistency and standards and, aesthetic and minimalist design.
Thanks for reading till the end…
Future direction and what did I learn from the project.
Future direction!
• API - Utilise banking API to retrieve expense records automatically, and visualise expenses along with emotional changes.
• Language - As Hong Kong official language is Traditional Chinese, future improvement will work on language display, potentially expand to Simplified Chinese.
My learnings
Listen to the audience
Comprehending the needs and preferences of our target users is paramount in UX, as their trust fosters the provision of valuable insights regarding the perceived effectiveness of the design outcome.
It's not personal
In the dynamic landscape of design, diverse perspectives often emerge, each offering a unique viewpoint on solutions and ideas. I've come to understand that these voices don't constitute personal criticism but rather reflections on the creative output. This has taught me to remain receptive to varied insights while also prioritizing the design solution's needs.