CLEERSPLIT
transparent payments, zero stress
Project type
UX/UI Case Study – Mobile & Web App Design
Project Duration
May 2025
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Process Highlights
Design Challenge and responsibilities overview
The problem
Managing shared expenses among friends or family often leads to late payments, uneven participation, and disputes over fairness, especially when transparency is lacking.
The goal
Design a fun, social budgeting app, fostering trust and accountability among groups to simplify expense sharing and encourage goal-based saving.
Role
Product Designer
Disciplines
User Experience Design
User Interface Design
Product Design
Responsibilities
User research
Sketching
Wireframing
UI/UX Mobile Design
UI/UX Web Design
Prototyping
Tools
Figma
Notion
Google Forms
Google Meet
Maze
Background
Our Vision
To empower groups of friends and families to plan, budget, and save together in a fairly, transparently, and stress-free way. We envision a world where collective financial goals, like travel or shared experiences, bring people closer without awkward conversations, misunderstandings, or money-related tension. Our app fosters collaboration, accountability, and choice so that everyone contributes with clarity, comfort, and control.
The Process
1
User Research
Pain Points
Personas
Problem Statements
User Journey Maps
Competitor analysis
2
Ideation
Moodboard creation
Low fidelity sketches
Brainstorming solutions
3
Decide
Prioritize features
Refine key ideas
Finalize approach
4
Prototype
Low fidelity wireframes
High fidelity designs
Interactive prototypes
5
Test
Usability testing
User feedback
Iterative improvements
User Research
Summary
To better understand the needs of groups managing shared expenses, I conducted qualitative user interviews with individuals who frequently travel or share financial responsibilities with friends and family. Going into the research, I assumed most users simply needed a budgeting tool to track shared costs. However, the interviews revealed deeper pain points around uneven contributions, communication discomfort, lack of accountability, and the need for customizable participation. Many users expressed a strong desire for privacy-respecting reminders, flexible contribution options, and transparent goal tracking. These insights significantly shaped the direction of the product.
User research
Pain Points
1
Lack of Accountability and Transparency
Without a clear system to track who has paid and who hasn't, users struggle to keep everyone accountable without creating tension or exposing individuals publicly.
4
Discomfort with Asking Others for Money
Users, especially those who are non-confrontational, feel awkward reminding friends or family to pay their share, which often leads to unpaid or delayed contributions.
Here are 4 major pain points identified from your user interviews
3
Inability to Customize Contributions
People in a group often have different financial capacities and preferences but current tools lack the flexibility to allow each person to choose what they want to pay for and how much they can contribute.
2
Uneven Participation in
Expenses
Not everyone in the group wants to contribute to or participate in every activity (e.g., groceries, breakfast, or excursions), leading to confusion and perceived unfairness in splitting costs.
User Research
Personas
I developed user personas based on the research findings. One key persona was the "responsible planner," someone who takes charge of tracking expenses, while another was the "passive participant," often forgetting to contribute. These personas highlighted the need for features like gentle reminders and simple interfaces to ensure equal participation in budgeting.
Persona 1:
Brenda - The Overgiver Roommate
Ontario, Canada
University of Waterloo
Project Coordinator
BRENDA ROJER, 28
Brenda shares a house with three roommates. Every month, she fronts the electricity or Wi-Fi bill, and every month she has to chase people for their share. The group chat is chaotic, receipts are scattered, and someone always insists they paid when they didn’t. Brenda wants a smart app that tracks all payments, shows who owes what, and reminds people quietly and automatically. One that keeps her from feeling like the nag, and helps her roommates stay accountable.
Ensure utility bills are paid on time and fairly
Avoid conflict with housemates over money
Keep a clean record of who paid what
Constantly covers more than her share
Feels guilty asking to be reimbursed
No visibility into who’s behind on payments
FRUSTRATIONS
PERSONALITY
GOALS
“Didn’t I send my part of the electricity bill last month?”
“No, I covered the entire bill and you haven’t paid me back.”
Persona 2:
Marcus - The Empowering Dad
MARCUS JACK, 41
Ontario, Canada
University of Waterloo
Sales Manager
Marcus is planning a beach trip for his family of five. He’s keen to involve his children in setting savings goals for food, transport, and fun activities but spreadsheets bore them and budgeting apps feel too formal. What he dreams of is an app where they can see their progress in real-time, get high-fives or virtual badges when they complete their part, and celebrate small wins together. A fun, family-friendly space that makes learning about money a shared adventure.
NEEDS
GOALS
Save for family vacations
Include his kids in the budgeting process
Celebrate when savings milestones are reached
Unsure how to teach budgeting in an engaging way
Kids lose interest or don’t understand financial tools
Existing apps feel too adult or complex for family use
FRUSTRATIONS
PERSONALITY
“I want to teach my kids how to save, but I don’t know how to get them involved in budgeting.
Persona 3:
Amaka - The Empathetic Organizer
Saskatoon, Canada
University of Saskatchewan
Marketing Intern
AMAKA SAMSON, 21
Every summer, Amaka and her friends plan a group trip. She’s the trip organizer who books accommodations, plans the meals, and fronting costs. But the tricky part isn’t the planning and it’s the money talk. One friend opts out of groceries, another doesn’t want to go bowling, and someone always forgets to pay their share. Sarah craves a tool where each person can vote on what they want to join, contribute only to those items, and get quiet reminders if they miss a payment. No awkward chats. No judgment. Just clarity and calm.
NEEDS
GOALS
Coordinate group trips and shared budgets with minimal stress
Let people contribute only to the activities they want
Respect everyone’s privacy while maintaining transparency
Dislikes reminding friends to pay her back
Can’t track payments privately and fairly
Faces confusion when friends have different financial preferences
FRUSTRATIONS
PERSONALITY
I love planning trips with my friends, but I hate asking people to pay me back. It just feels awkward.
User Research
User Journey Map
Mapping the user journey provided a clear picture of how users interact with shared budgeting apps. It revealed friction points, particularly during contribution tracking, where users experienced a lack of motivation or missed updates. The journey emphasized the importance of fostering trust and group accountability, especially in stages like goal setting and expense tracking.
Brenda Rojers
As an over-giver roommate, I want a smart app that tracks shared bills and automatically reminds my roommates of payments so that I don’t feel like the nag and everyone stays accountable.
STAGE/PHASE
Bill tracking
Payment Collection
Conflict
Reflection
TASK LIST
-
Add bills Manually
-
Calculate shares
-
Constantly reminding roommates to make payments
-
Receipts lost
-
Disputes arise
Review monthly payments
FEELING
ADJECTIVE
-
Stressed
-
Anxious
-
Guilt
-
Annoyance
-
Frustration
-
Tension
Relief
PAIN POINTS
-
Manual calculation errors
-
Forgotten payments
Feeling like a nag
Disagreements on who paid
Temporary peace only
IMPROVEMENT OPPORTUNITIES
App auto calculates and tracks who owes what
1. Quiet automatic reminders.
2. Payment confirmations
1. Transparent history
2. Proof of payment
Clear, organised and low-stress management
Marcus Jack
As an empowering dad, I want a fun, interactive app to track family savings goals so that my children stay engaged and we can celebrate small wins together while learning about money.
STAGE/PHASE
Planning
Goal setting
Tracking contributions
Reflection
TASK LIST
Plan trip with the kids.
Creating goals for food, fun and transport.
Kids log contributions
Reviews trip success and goals
FEELING
ADJECTIVE
-
Excited
-
Curious
Hopeful
-
Proud
-
Motivated
Satisfied
PAIN POINTS
Spreadsheets boring for kids
Budgeting apps feel formal
Hard to maintain engagement
Learning experience is inconsistent
IMPROVEMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Engaging playful app interface
1. Visually appealing and less formal
2. Assignable tasks
1. Real-time progress
2. Celebration of milestones
App reinforces collaboration
Amaka Samson
As an empathetic organizer, I want a tool that lets friends vote on activities and track their contributions so that I can manage group trips without awkward money conversations and everyone stays accountable.
STAGE/PHASE
Planning
Collecting Contributions
Managing exceptions
Reflection
TASK LIST
1. Plan group trip with friends
2. List meals and activities
Request payments
Adjust for last minute changes
Review contributions at the end of the trip
FEELING
ADJECTIVE
1. Excited
2. Nervous
1. Stressed
2. Anxious
Concerned
1. Relieved
2. Satisfied
PAIN POINTS
1. Awkward money conversations.
2. Friends opt-out or change minds
Friends forget or dispute payments
1. Partial payments
2. Disputes
Lingering stress from money talks
IMPROVEMENT OPPORTUNITIES
Voting system for participation
1. Quiet reminders
2. Itemized contributions
Flexible fair tracking and reporting
Clear, calm organized system for next trips
User Research
User-Centred Value Propositions
Each persona brings unique needs, and the strength of the app lies in addressing them with focused, meaningful features. Instead of overloading users with options they didn’t ask for, the design delivers one clear feature that directly matches each persona’s core challenge.
Brenda
Automated bill-splitting with quiet reminders.
Marcus
Interactive and fun savings goals with family rewards
Amaka
Activity-based contributions with flexible opt-ins.
Prototype
Wireframes and User Flow
The goal at this stage was to clarify structure and hierarchy without being distracted by color or detail. This helped ensure that every action had a clear purpose and that navigation felt intuitive on mobile screens. I iterated on layout spacing, button placement, and screen transitions to build a rhythm that felt familiar yet engaging.
By visualizing the complete flow early, I was able to identify opportunities for subtle animations, streamline redundant steps, and align the interface with CleerSplit’s vibrant, people-first identity.
Prototype
Low Fidelity Design Evolution
At this stage, I focused on defining the information architecture and flow for the CleerSplit mobile experience. Each screen was designed to visualize how users progress from onboarding to creating their first group.
The wireframes helped me test early assumptions about screen hierarchy, button placement, and the overall narrative flow from:
Brand reveal → onboarding → account setup → dashboard.
By keeping the layout simple and color-coded, I was able to quickly identify pain points, redundant steps, and areas for potential animations that would make the experience feel more fluid and intuitive.
Prototype
High Fidelity Design Evolution
After finalizing the wireframes, I transitioned into high-fidelity design to refine CleerSplit’s visual identity. This stage focused on applying color, typography, and motion principles while ensuring accessibility and usability across devices.
The sequence above shows how the login screen evolved starting with layout foundations, then interaction elements, and finally, the complete branded interface. Each iteration improved contrast, hierarchy, and overall user flow clarity, leading to a polished, intuitive sign-in experience.