Improving Splitwise

Splitwise helps to keep track of shared expenses and balances with housemates, trips, groups, friends, and family. I use this app a lot in my everyday routine.

To suggest improvements for the app, I conducted UX research to gain a deeper understanding of the field. Finally, I developed a case study and even came up with the idea of a profound redesign of the app.

User research

Redesigning an entire app is not an approach that typically works well for a product company. Moreover, I do not have internal statistics and information about user behavior, business goals, and technical restrictions necessary to do this job.

So, I have focused mostly on the Add Expense screen. I suggested refinements aimed at enhancing user experience. This screen is particularly crucial as it influences how the entire product is perceived.

I did user research and collected insights related to this screen. Here are the most typical comments that helped me:

I have suggested improvements to this screen to make adding an expense easier and more seamless (without enhancing the visual style yet):

I took the opportunity to improve the UI, too. To maintain consistency, I relied on Splitwise’s existing color palette but changed the main font to Onest:

Little details and features that make the UX even better:

The process of adding a description has been improved as well:

Further development

As I conducted my research on users’ needs, I realized that many people struggle to keep track of shared expenses and are looking for a lightweight and fast tool for the same. They find it confusing to navigate through the numerous powerful features of the current app, which they never use and want a seamless and intuitive experience instead.

Based on my findings, I have developed a concept of an app that meets the needs of the vast majority of users I interviewed, with a minimal number of screens and features.