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Nile Bank is known for providing reliable banking solutions, but younger users wanted more. They needed tools that went beyond basic payments, helping them manage their money day-to-day. To meet this need, we developed the Surplus Manager a feature that helps young professionals stay on top of their finances, manage their paychecks, and reach their savings goals.
Young people today demand more than basic banking. They want smart tools that help them budget, save, and grow. With traditional banks not keeping up, Nile Bank aimed to change that by creating a feature that fits seamlessly into their users' lives, especially for those juggling multiple financial responsibilities.
Surplus Manager simplifies financial management. Whether it's tracking your spending, setting savings goals, or managing upcoming bills, this feature puts everything in one place. Users can organize their finances around their paycheck schedule, making it easier to plan and control their money.
Managing your money shouldn’t feel overwhelming. That’s why Nile Bank provides you with a seamless experience to help you stay on top of your finances, whether you're monitoring your surplus, tracking expenses, or ensuring bills are paid on time. With just a few taps, you can understand your financial standing and make smarter choices for your future.
gives a quick overview of your surplus balance and recent spending. With clear summaries and simple navigation, you can stay on top of your finances at a glance.
screen offers insight into your financial habits over time. The clean graphs show your open balances and savings month by month, helping you plan better for the future.
Easily handle Your bills. See payee, amount, due date at a glance. Use autopay or manual pay in the app. Stay organized, avoid late fees, prioritize your finances.
The global financial technology (fintech) market is expanding rapidly, and Egypt’s growth is equally promising. Yet, managing personal finances can be overwhelming for consumers, especially with the growing number of financial management tools. Many banking apps offer standard features but lack meaningful guidance for users to make informed financial decisions.
After analyzing global and Egyptian fintech trends, I conducted a screener survey to gauge how Egyptian consumers manage their finances. The survey revealed that most users feel overwhelmed by manual calculations and managing multiple apps to handle their finances. They expressed a strong need for a comprehensive app that simplifies financial management and integrates various tools such as bill payments, savings tracking, and spending insights.
From the survey, I selected participants for deeper interviews. These users often relied on multiple banking apps for different tasks but felt frustrated with the lack of integration and user-friendly tools. They expressed a desire for an app that combines essential features such as automated bill pay, surplus tracking, and savings management in one place.
Highlight
Laila, a 30-year-old nurse, has used self-guided financial management through spreadsheets and multiple banking apps. However, she often felt stressed by manually tracking her expenses and missing payment deadlines. She later tried seeking help from financial advisors, but the costs and time commitment made it difficult for her to access regular support.
In-Person
Access to branch managers for personalized guidance and expert advice when needed.
Self-Guided
Ease of monitoring balances, savings, and expenses through a simplified app interface
In-Person
Time-consuming visits to branches and the hassle of managing finances manually.
Self-Guided
Lack of motivation and understanding of how to best use surplus income for saving or investing.
To validate user pain points and needs, I interviewed financial advisors who emphasized the importance of simplifying personal financial management tools. They highlighted that users often struggle with tracking expenses, missing payment deadlines, and calculating surpluses manually.
Misconception of Users: Many users misunderstand how to balance paying off debt while saving.
Professional Guidance: Financial advisors suggest using tools to split extra money between savings and paying off debt.
Improvement Suggestion: Experts suggested including a goal-setting feature that guides users to allocate their surplus toward both emergency savings and debt repayment based on their unique financial situation.
I began by analyzing both direct and indirect competitors in the financial management and digital banking space, focusing on apps that offer automated bill payment, expense tracking, and surplus management features. This analysis helped me identify key opportunities to enhance Nile Bank’s user experience by integrating features that address gaps in financial planning, automation, and surplus tracking.
I used a 2 x 2 prioritization matrix to categorize the needs based on users' necessity and priority.Then, I decided on the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) features for the product.
After having done the user and desk research, I synthesized the data and insights to find seven pain points that are crucial for users to success.
Users want the Surplus Manager to be central, offering clear insights into their finances and helping them track savings and spending easily.
The Bill Payment Automation feature is crucial for users, reducing the burden of manual tracking and helping them stay on top of their payments effortlessly.
Users value simple and clear financial visuals, especially for tracking surplus, bill payments, and credit card activity, which help them make informed decisions.
Users need a way to easily find products that are proven to work for their unique skin type and concerns. Pure Beauty must focus on delivering personalized, expert-backed recommendations.
Pure Beauty's app should simplify the process of integrating new products into existing routines. By offering features that help users track progress and ensure products work harmoniously together.
Users want to understand what ingredients are in the products they're using and how they benefit their skin. Providing clear, accessible ingredient breakdowns will empower users to make informed decisions.
Meet Laila Attia, a 30-year-old nurse in Cairo. Laila is a hardworking professional who strives to stay on top of her finances but often feels overwhelmed by juggling multiple apps and missing payment deadlines. She seeks an app that simplifies her financial management and offers personalized tools to help her save, track her spending, and ensure her bills are paid on time.
After analyzing Laila’s journey, I identified three main challenges:
I used the Crazy 8s brainstorming method to explore ideas for paycheck management, savings tracking, and bill payment. This helped identify the core functionalities for Surplus Manager, such as personalized savings trackers and streamlined bill payment tools.
Unmoderated hybrid card sorting was conducted to create an Information Architecture that meets user expectations.
Based on the previous hybrid card sorting, I created an Information Architecture that meets user expectations.
Based on these ideas, I designed wireframes around the Surplus Manager and core financial management features. These wireframes allow users to track their financial surplus, schedule bill payments, and manage their credit cards all from one central hub. I ensured the user flow was intuitive from the moment they logged in to when they viewed their savings or paid a bill.
I created a low-fidelity prototype to test the initial design of the Surplus Manager feature. Users appreciated the organized structure but provided feedback on improving the clarity of the summary page and the autopay management process.
The high-fidelity prototype explored multiple design options, allowing me to test and refine the overall experience. Users could now navigate seamlessly between managing bills, tracking their surplus, and understanding their spending patterns. This feedback helped in fine-tuning the final design and features.
A sticker sheet was developed to ensure visual consistency across the app. This included color schemes, typography, and reusable components, ensuring that each element aligned with the brand and user expectations.
After conducting usability tests with 4 participants, I gathered insights to refine the final design. Users appreciated the Surplus Manager's intuitive interface and the overall ease of use. Based on the feedback, I designed the Surplus Manager Outgoing screen to provide a clearer overview of upcoming and completed payments, ensuring users could manage their outgoing transactions seamlessly.
Based on feedback, I made several key revisions:
Building the Nile Bank app taught me the importance of balancing an intuitive user interface with powerful financial management tools. By listening to user feedback, I was able to refine the app to ensure it met the core financial needs of young professionals while making financial management easier and more accessible.
In the next phase, I will continue testing and refining the Surplus Manager to ensure it delivers the best possible experience for users. The goal is to launch an MVP that focuses on core features like surplus tracking, automated bill pay, and credit card management. Future updates will include additional features such as investment insights and goal tracking.
Developed a financial management app for young Egyptian professionals. Features automated bill payments, budget tracking, and future planning tools. Provides clear insights for effortless money management.
Developed a financial management app for young Egyptian professionals. Features automated bill payments, budget tracking, and future planning tools. Provides clear insights for effortless money management.
Designed a personalized skincare platform for Egyptian consumers. Features include routine management, ingredient insights, and custom recommendations. Delivers seamless experience from product discovery to routine tracking.
Created an intuitive flight booking platform for Egyptian travelers. Offers flexible date selection, easy seat booking, and secure payments. Provides clear flight details and personalized recommendations throughout the booking process.
