MindBud
Building financial wellbeing through mindfulness practice
AREA
UX Design
Timeline
12 weeks
Brief
MindBud is a mobile app designed to help college students manage their finances through mindfulness. The app aims to reduce financial stress by encouraging mindful spending habits and providing tools to track expenses while promoting well-being.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
Finances are a major source of stress for college students, often leading to negative impacts on both their academic performance and mental health. Despite the increasing financial burden, there is a lack of accessible tools that incorporate mindfulness to help students manage their finances in a healthier, more sustainable way. MindBud addresses this gap by offering a solution that combines financial tracking with mindfulness techniques to empower students to take control of their financial wellbeing.
OBJECTIVES
Mindful financial tracking
Create a user-friendly interface that allows students to monitor their finances while practicing mindfulness with every transaction.
Encourage positive financial habits
Create paths to revolutionize how we think about money, utilizing mindfulness as a lifelong tool to overcome stressors in positive ways.
Research and market analysis
To inform the development of MindBud, I conducted comprehensive market research to understand the landscape it would compete in, combining insights from both the health and wellness and financial technology sectors.
The health and wellness market is rapidly growing, valued at USD 5.7 billion and expected to reach USD 25.2 billion by 2028 (MarketWatch). This growth is driven by increasing consumer demand for wellness apps focused on mental health, mindfulness, and stress management. As healthcare models shift to more patient-centric approaches, users are relying more on mobile apps for managing their well-being (Statista).
On the financial technology side, the personal finance sector has been thriving as banks move toward digital transactions. The growth of fintech startups and online banking solutions is significant, especially with millennials now comprising the largest generational group in the U.S. and entering their prime spending years (Goldman Sachs). These trends present an opportunity to address financial stress, especially among younger audiences, by combining financial tracking with mindfulness practices.
While MindBud doesn’t have direct competitors, there are established platforms within both the wellness and finance app markets. Analyzing these apps provided valuable insights into successful features, design patterns, and user expectations, informing the development of MindBud and ensuring it meets the needs of its target audience.
Key Insights
Most competitors range from a 'freemium' model to high subscription costs.
Banking apps tend to be geared towards higher-income users, who are capable of paying fees and subscriptions. Given that MindBud is for young adults and college students with finance-based stress, a completely free model gives MindBud a competitive advantage.
Gamification elements are highly effective.
Apps that incorporated elements such as 'streaks,' community-based social obligations, and goal-setting, tended to be more popular amongst younger generations. These highly interactive features help keep the user engaged on a daily basis.
Mindfulness can be incorporated at various stages.
Wellness apps, such as Headspace, aim to teach beginners about meditation and mindfulness, providing guided sessions and learning materials. Budgeting apps, such as YNAB, utilize elements of mindfulness when forcing users to make decisions and be intentional about their spending.
USER INTERVIEWS
I conducted interviews with six college students to explore their budgeting habits, personal finance management, and the impact of stress on their lives. To synthesize the findings, I created an empathy map and organized the interview data by key insights and emerging patterns. From this analysis, I identified and prioritized the most prevalent and actionable insights, which informed the generation of user needs.
INSIGHT
Users rely on habit tracking, progress overviews, and feedback.
NEED
Users need a way to connect with their data and feel a sense of accomplishment with their progress.
INSIGHT
Users feel stress related to opening budgeting apps.
NEED
Users need ways to incorporate mindfulness into their relationship with money so that it is no longer inherently stressful.
INSIGHT
Users value seeing insights into their spending habits.
NEED
Users need a visual overview to simplify meaningful insights from their spending habits.
INSIGHT
Users don't have any prior experience with mindfulness or meditation.
NEED
Users need a way to learn as they go, and educate themselves on the values of mindfulness to achieve desired results.
The application sitemap was designed based on user insights, ensuring an intuitive flow that balances financial tracking with mindfulness. This structure prioritizes ease of navigation, allowing students to seamlessly manage their spending, set goals, and reflect on their financial habits.
INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE
With a clear understanding of user needs and behaviors, I developed an application sitemap to establish a logical structure for MindBud. The goal was to create an intuitive user experience that balances financial tracking with mindfulness practices while minimizing cognitive overload.
I mapped out the core functionalities based on insights from user interviews and competitive analysis, and then identified key features that would support students in managing their finances mindfully, including:
A dashboard for tracking expenses and financial health
A mindful spending journal that encourages reflection on purchases
A goal-setting feature for budgeting and financial wellness milestones
A learning hub with educational resources on stress management and financial literacy
The sitemap provided a foundation for structuring the app’s navigation, ensuring that users could easily access important tools without friction. By prioritizing simplicity and clarity, I refined the information architecture to align with user expectations, reinforcing a seamless and engaging experience.
LOW FIDELITY WIREFRAMES
With the information architecture finalized, I developed low-fidelity wireframes to outline key user interactions and screen layouts. This stage focused on structuring content effectively, ensuring that core features were logically organized and easy to access.
Prioritizing usability over aesthetics, I rapidly iterated on these wireframes based on feedback, refining navigation and user flows before progressing to higher-fidelity designs. This process ensured a clear, efficient experience tailored to student needs.
The low-fidelity wireframes established a strong foundation for MindBud’s functionality, shaping key interactions and refining navigation before advancing to visual design.
Key takeaways
Developing MindBud as a case study allowed me to explore the intersection of financial technology and wellness, applying user-centered design principles to an area often overlooked—mindful spending. Through research, user interviews, and iterative design, I gained valuable insights into how financial stress affects students and how technology can support healthier financial habits.
One of the biggest takeaways from this project was the importance of balancing functionality with engagement. Designing for both practicality and long-term user adoption required thoughtful information architecture and clear, guided interactions. Additionally, this project reinforced the value of early-stage research, as understanding user needs from the beginning helped shape the entire experience.
While MindBud was not developed beyond the prototype phase, the process deepened my ability to approach design challenges holistically. It also strengthened my skills in user research, wireframing, and usability-focused decision-making, all of which I will carry forward into future projects.