Apple Wallet Enhancement
Project
Conceptual Case Study - Design Sprint
My Role
UX/UI Designer
Tools
Figma Framer
Timeline
25/02/25 - 01/03/25
Description
The Apple Finance Companion is a smart finance assistant that helps users manage spending, savings, and investments within the Apple ecosystem, offering budgeting, automated savings, insights, and Siri integration while ensuring security and privacy.
Context
With increasing digital payments and financial management apps, users seek seamless, secure, and intuitive solutions. While Apple Pay is widely available, many iPhone users underutilise its full potential. The Apple Finance Companion aims to bridge this gap by integrating budgeting, savings, and financial insights within Apple's trusted ecosystem.
Problem
The problem is that users struggle to manage their finances efficiently, often overspending without real-time insights or automated savings strategies. Many rely on third-party apps for budgeting and financial tracking, lacking seamless integration with their payment methods.
Many users, especially younger generations, struggle with financial literacy and effective money management despite having access to digital financial tools. Gen Z leads Apple Pay usage (8.8%), yet they often lack the budgeting tools and spending insights needed to make informed financial decisions.
Additionally, over 90% of eligible iPhone users have not used Apple Pay for in-store purchases, highlighting a gap in financial tool adoption and awareness. This suggests that while digital wallets are widely available, many users are not fully leveraging their potential for budgeting, saving, and financial planning.
The Apple Finance Companion aims to bridge this gap by integrating smart budgeting, AI-driven expense analysis, automatic savings, and financial education, helping users take control of their finances within the Apple ecosystem. The Apple Finance Companion aims to provide AI-driven insights, smart budgeting, automatic savings, and financial education, helping users spend wisely, save effortlessly, and make informed financial decisions, all within Apple's secure ecosystem.
Process
My process for enhancing the Apple Pay ecosystem begins with a combination of qualitative and quantitative research. I started by analysing usage data from sources like Apple’s financial reports, third-party research platforms, and consumer behaviour studies.
I’ll focus on key metrics such as transaction trends, Apple Pay usage frequency, spending categories, and feature adoption within Apple Wallet. From there, I’ll incorporate user surveys and interviews to understand pain points and preferences. The insights will guide the creation of a user-centred Wireframes & prototype.
Solution
My solution is to integrate a Smart Personal Finance Assistant within the Apple Pay and Wallet ecosystem, designed to provide users with real-time insights into their spending habits, budgeting tools, and automated savings suggestions. By leveraging Apple’s existing technology, the assistant will offer seamless, personalised financial tracking, helping users manage their money effortlessly while maintaining Apple’s commitment to security and privacy. Through intuitive features like smart alerts, spending categorisation, and Siri integration, the solution will empower users to make informed financial decisions directly within the Apple ecosystem, all while enhancing their overall experience.
Process Work
User Interviews & Surveys
User research revealed a strong demand for a smart financial assistant that integrates budgeting, savings, and financial education within Apple’s ecosystem.
Many users rely on third-party apps like Snoop and Chase for financial tracking but prefer a built-in Apple solution for security and convenience. While Apple Pay is valued for ease of use, delayed balance updates and the lack of Apple Card in the UK limit its effectiveness.
Users expressed interest in AI-driven spending insights, voice integration (Siri), and automated savings features to help control impulsive spending. Privacy remains a top concern, with trust in Apple’s security but some skepticism about government access to data.
A health app-style finance dashboard, budget-sharing options, and financial education content were highly requested. By addressing these needs, the Apple Finance Companion could provide a seamless, secure, and insightful money management experience.
Key Statistics & Data
Since its launch in 2014, Apple Pay has slowly evolved into one of the leading mobile payment services globally. Initially met with skepticism, many consumers preferred traditional methods like cash and credit cards, questioning the security and convenience of paying with their phones. However, as the digital payment landscape has shifted, Apple Pay has experienced remarkable growth, making it a cornerstone of Apple’s broader finance ecosystem, especially with its integration into the Apple Finance Companion Project.
User Personas
Key users of the Apple Finance Companion include individuals seeking easy access to all their financial data. Their goals include managing spending and improving savings, but they face frustrations with impulsive spending and a lack of insights. Privacy and security are important, and they value features like voice integration and financial education.
User Needs Framework
Based on user persona research, the most important factors for the Apple Finance Companion include ease of use and security & privacy, as users prioritise a seamless and safe experience.
Smart budgeting and integration & accessibility are also key, ensuring effortless financial management within the Apple ecosystem.
Automatic savings and AI-driven insights enhance financial awareness, while financial literacy and investment management cater to those looking to expand their financial knowledge and grow their wealth.
Balancing these elements ensures a well-rounded, user-friendly financial tool.
Journey Mapping
For this project, journey mapping involves visualising how users interact with the Apple Finance Companion, tracking their key touchpoints, goals, and challenges. It aims to understand how users navigate various tasks. By identifying pain points such as app navigation difficulties, unmet needs for financial insights, or security concerns, journey mapping helps refine the user experience and ensure the app delivers value in an intuitive and efficient way, aligning with the users’ financial goals and behaviours.
Empathy Mapping
The user's struggle with financial awareness, budgeting overwhelm, and inconsistent saving habits, leading to stress about future expenses. Existing tools feel complex or lack personalised insights.
The Apple Finance Companion addresses these pain points by offering automated savings, smart budgeting, and AI-driven insights, making money management effortless.
With clear spending breakdowns and proactive recommendations, users gain confidence, control, and better financial habits—all within the familiar Apple Pay/Wallet ecosystem for a seamless experience.
Competitive Analysis
The Apple Finance Companion stands out among competitors like Chase, Snoop, Monzo, Revolut, and YNAB by offering AI-driven budgeting, Siri integration, and seamless Apple Wallet usability.
While Chase provides strong banking and budgeting tools, it lacks advanced automation. Snoop excels in spending insights but lacks savings automation and investment features. Monzo and Revolut offer real-time tracking and investment tools, making them strong challengers, while YNAB is ideal for manual budget control but lacks AI automation.
Apple’s focus on AI-powered insights, privacy, and automation makes it a unique, secure, and intuitive financial assistant.
Hooked Model
Nir Eyal’s Hooked Model provides a framework for building habit-forming products, making it highly relevant for developing the Apple Finance Companion. By applying this model, the app can encourage repeated engagement, helping users build healthier financial habits through four key phases: Trigger, Action, Variable Reward, and Investment.
Information Architecture
The information architecture of the Apple Finance Companion is designed for seamless navigation within the Apple Wallet ecosystem, ensuring quick access to key financial tools.
The home screen provides an overview of spending, savings & financial articles, with intuitive categories like Smart Budgeting, Automatic Savings, AI-Driven Insights, and Finance Hub. Users can easily drill down into specific sections, such as checking detailed spending breakdowns, setting savings goals, or exploring financial education in the Finance Hub.
A consistent hierarchical structure and Apple’s design principles ensure clarity, while Siri integration enables quick, voice-assisted interactions for an effortless user experience.
User Flow
The user navigates to the Smart Budgeting section within the Wallet app, selects "Add New Budget", and chooses a category (e.g., groceries, dining, or transport).
They then set a spending limit and enable optional AI-driven insights for personalised recommendations. The system provides a preview of spending trends and allows users to adjust settings before confirming.
Once added, the new budget is tracked in real-time, with notifications and insights helping users stay within their financial goals.
Low-Fidelity Wireframing
The wireframing iteration process involved experimenting with different layouts and UI elements to create an intuitive and visually cohesive experience. Initially, rough low-fidelity wireframes helped explore various structures for key features like Smart Budgeting, AI-Driven Insights, and Automated Savings. User research insights shaped decisions, ensuring features aligned with real financial needs.
As iterations progressed, refinements focused on optimising navigation, enhancing readability, and ensuring seamless interaction flows. Throughout, Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines were adhered to, maintaining consistency with the Wallet app and Apple’s ecosystem.
High-Fidelity Wireframing
As iterations progressed, refinements focused on optimising navigation, enhancing readability, and ensuring seamless interaction flows. Throughout, Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines were adhered to, maintaining consistency with the Wallet app and Apple’s ecosystem.
Prototyping
The prototype is designed to be intuitive, seamless, and user-friendly, ensuring it fits perfectly within the Apple Wallet app and broader Apple ecosystem.
With a clean, minimalist interface following Apple’s design guidelines, users can easily access financial insights, budgeting tools, and savings features without unnecessary complexity. The integration with Apple Pay, Siri, and iCloud ensures smooth navigation and real-time updates.
The interface prioritises clarity and efficiency, allowing users to check spending, set smart budgets, and automate savings with just a few taps. By leveraging familiar Apple UI elements, the prototype feels natural and effortless for iPhone users, enhancing financial management without disruption.
Usability Testing
To ensure an intuitive and seamless experience, usability testing focused on key user flows, accessibility, and engagement. Participants were asked to complete tasks such as:
Checking Smart Savings to see monthly energy savings.
Exploring AI-driven expense insights to understand spending trends.
Reading an article in the Finance Hub to improve financial literacy.
Findings & Improvements
The testing process helped refine the experience, ensuring that users could effortlessly manage their finances within the Apple ecosystem while gaining meaningful insights into their spending and savings.
Some users struggled to locate insights quickly, leading to refinements in the UI layout.
Terminology adjustments were made to improve clarity in expense breakdowns.
More personalised recommendations were added to increase engagement.
Final Product
After usability testing, the designs were refined to enhance clarity, navigation, and user engagement. Key improvements included a more intuitive Smart Budgeting interface, clearer AI-driven insights, and streamlined access to the Finance Hub. the updated layout is more accessible, with improved readability and faster access to key financial information.
HomePage
The homepage redesign focused on enhancing clarity, accessibility, and user engagement. Based on usability testing insights, the new layout prioritises key financial insights at a glance, including Smart Budgeting, AI-driven expense tracking, and savings goals.
Improved navigation ensures seamless access to essential features, while a refined visual hierarchy aligns with Apple’s design principles, creating a more intuitive and aesthetically pleasing experience.
Smart Savings
The Smart Savings page was designed for clarity and ease of use, allowing users to quickly track their automated savings across different categories. It provides a clear breakdown of savings progress, comparisons to previous months, and AI-driven insights on spending habits.
Users can set custom goals, receive personalised recommendations, and adjust contributions seamlessly. The interface follows Apple’s clean and intuitive design principles, ensuring effortless navigation while maintaining a visually engaging and data-rich experience.
Automatic Savings
The Automatic Savings page provides users with a clear breakdown of their progress toward their savings goal. It displays the current amount saved, the target goal, daily input, and estimated time to completion based on automated contributions.
Finance Hub
The Finance Hub redesign enhances accessibility and engagement by making financial education more intuitive and interactive. Based on usability testing, the updated layout prioritises personalised content, including articles & interactive tools.
A streamlined navigation system ensures users can easily explore budgeting tips, investment guidance, and credit management resources. The refined design aligns with Apple’s ecosystem, creating a seamless and visually cohesive experience.
AI-Insights
The AI-Insights page, powered by Finn, the AI chatbot, provides users with real-time financial analysis and personalised recommendations. Finn delivers clear spending breakdowns, trend alerts, and smart budgeting insights through a conversational interface.
Users can ask questions like “Why did my energy bill increase?” or “How can I save more on groceries?” and receive actionable suggestions backed by AI-driven comparisons. The seamless integration ensures users stay informed and in control of their finances, making budgeting and saving effortless within the Apple Finance Companion.
Integration & Triggers
The Apple Wallet & Siri integration ensures seamless access to financial insights through voice commands and quick interactions.
Users can ask Siri for budget updates, savings progress, or spending insights, making financial tracking effortless. The notifications design is personalised and actionable, providing real-time alerts on spending trends, savings milestones, and upcoming bills.
With a clean, unobtrusive layout, notifications keep users informed without overwhelming them, ensuring a smooth and intuitive financial management experience.
Prototype
The interactive prototype of the Apple Finance Companion brings the user experience to life, showcasing seamless navigation, intuitive interactions, and dynamic motion design. Thoughtfully crafted micro-interactions enhance usability, providing smooth transitions, haptic feedback, and responsive animations that align with Apple’s design principles.
Users can explore features like Finn, the AI chatbot, Smart Savings, and Automatic Budgeting, experiencing firsthand how the interface adapts to their financial needs. Every interaction is designed to feel natural and efficient, ensuring users can effortlessly track spending, set goals, and receive insights—all within a fluid and engaging digital experience.
Business Impact
These five key business impact metrics highlight the significant progress and growth within Apple’s financial services ecosystem.
Increased user engagement and retention, along with higher adoption of Apple Pay and Wallet, show a clear rise in daily activity and financial transactions. Apple’s expanded market share in financial services, coupled with a competitive advantage over third-party apps, strengthens its presence and user loyalty.
Additionally, the overall revenue and ecosystem growth reflect an increase in financial product adoption and longer user engagement, driving continued success in the personal finance space.
Development Handover
To showcase the development handover process, I will embed clean, structured HTML & CSS snippets demonstrating how key UI components, such as buttons, cards, and navigation, can be built from the design.
Additionally, I will document the design-to-code workflow, highlighting how design tokens, spacing, typography, and responsiveness are considered to ensure seamless implementation.
I also considered Apple's design and development ecosystem, aligning components with SwiftUI principles to ensure consistency with Apple’s native frameworks. This approach helps create a smooth transition from design to development, making it easier for engineers to integrate the features efficiently.
