My Role
UX/UI Designer
Researcher
Tools Used
Figma, Zoom
Project Type
Mobile/Web App
Overview
is a simple yet powerful invoicing and financial tracking tool designed specifically for business owners and freelancers. It helps users create and manage invoices with ease, track payments rather overdue or partial, and gain real time insights into the user's financial statistics. With intuitive banking features, clear visual dashboards, custom invoice templates, and built-in communication tools, the app eliminates the frustration of clunky accounting software and scattered payment sheets. Users can stay organized, get paid faster, and make smarter financial decisions. All from one accessible, user friendly platform.
Problem
Small business owners face challenges in sending and managing invoices. This can lead to missed payments, poor cash flow, and a lack of visibility into financial health. Key issues include:
-
Difficult onboarding and confusing interfaces
-
Ineffective tracking of overdue or partial payments
-
The inability to conveniently communicate with customers
-
Limited insights on financial tracking
Solution
To improve financial management, reduce workload, and enhance cash flow through intuitive invoicing tools such as:
-
Design a simple interface for user navigation.
-
Design a notification system that highlights overdue payments.
-
Provide a message system for direct customer communication.
-
Provide financial tracking with data tracking charts
-
Design a simple way to customize invoice templates and add the company logo
Research
Methodology
To better understand business owners and freelancers, we conducted qualitative and competitive research. Our focus was on solo entrepreneurs, independent contractors, and small shop owners, as they juggle multiple roles and lack formal accounting support. Through contextual interviews, we uncovered pain points like confusing software interfaces, inconsistent payment tracking, difficulty reaching customers, and limited financial visibility. A competitive audit identified gaps in existing tools, while affinity mapping clustered user frustrations and goals into actionable insights.
Competitive Analysis
Feature comparison across major competitors
Features
QuickBooks
Wave
Square
Competitor Type
Direct
Direct
Direct
Mobile App
Banking Features
Accessibility
Financial Statistics
Security & Privacy
Pricing
Market Share
45%
25%
20%
Interview
Interview Conclusions
Interviews were conducted through Zoom with four participants, consisting of two small business owners, one freelancer, and one independent contractor. The interview topics included:
(1) The ability to create and send invoices. (2) Making on time payments. (3) The ability to communicate with customers.
(4) The ability to track finances.
1
Participants wanted faster, more customizable invoicing.
Branding is important to participants such as adding logo & company colors
2
Participants need a way to see when payments are due
Participants would like a way to see and review past payments.
3
Participants need a simple way to contact customers
Participants would like a way for customers to be able to reach out to them
4
Participants need a method for tracking spending
Participants are unfamiliar with their financial statistics
AFFINITY MAP
Following the interviews, I meticulously reviewed the recordings, identifying significant insights to discern the aspects of the
questions that deeply resonated with the participants. Additionally, I categorized their responses to develop a clearer understanding of their focal points.
Creating & Sending
Invoices
"I wish I didn't have to fill
in the same info over
and over."
"I want my invoices to
look professional, like
they're from my
business."
Need for customizable
branding (logos, colors)
Confusion over
formatting invoice items
Making On-Time
Payments
"I can't always remember
who's paid and who
hasn't."
"Sometimes I don't realize
a client is late until it's too
late."
Lack of clear payment
status tracking
No system for automated
reminders
Communicating with Customers
"I use email, but it's easy
to lose track of
messages."
"It would help to have
everything in one place."
Switching between tools
to follow up on invoices
Tracking Overall
Finances
"I don't really know how
much I make until tax
season."
"I want to see trends—
like what months are
busiest or who pays
late."
Relying on spreadsheets
or multiple apps to
manage finances
PAIN POINTS
Time-Consuming Manual
repetitive and time-consuming, often
Manually creating invoices is
requiring users to re-enter the same
information for each client.
Poor Payment Tracking
follow-ups and inconsistent cash flow.
partial payments, leading to missed
Users struggle to track overdue or
Communication
Fragmented
making it hard to keep conversations
requires switching between tools,
Communicating with customers
organized and timely.
Lack of Overview Financial
overall finances, forcing users to rely
There's no clear, centralized view of
on spreadsheets or multiple
disconnected apps.
PERSONAS
Personas created based on patterns identified during user interviews, affinity mapping, and review of pain points. Personas represent common roles like a time-strapped freelancer, a service based small business owner, and a multitasking independent contractor. These personas helped guide design decisions by highlighting user goals, user needs, and preferred workflows within the app.
Name: Jacob
Age: 28
Location: Online
Occupation:E-commerce Fashion Store
I love running my own brand, its my passion but managing invoices and tracking payments feels like a full-time job on its own.
— Jacob
Jacob runs a small but growing online fashion boutique that he started during college. He handles everything from curating inventory and managing social media to processing orders and handling invoices. As his sales increase, Jacob is looking for tools to streamline operations, especially finances, so he can focus more on branding and less on admin work.
Bio
Goals
Save time by automating invoicing
Keep finances organized without hiring an accountant
Get paid quickly by online customers
Motivations
Growing his business and brand recognition
Looking professional to clients and partners
Staying ahead of e-commerce trends
Frustrations
Manually entering client info and payment updates
Confusing invoice interfaces
Unclear financial summaries or trends
I love to bake bread and make bread, if you know what I mean...but sometimes I need help!
— Tyra
Tyra has been running her neighborhood bakery for over a decade and recently started offering custom cakes and catering. She’s not very tech-savvy but understands the importance of staying on top of payments and tracking income. Her current system involves handwritten notes and spreadsheets, which often leads to confusion and missed payments.
Bio
Name: Tyra
Age: 39
Location: Sacramento, California
Occupation: Bakery Owner
Goals
Spend more time with family and less time baking
Simplify financial record keeping
Maintain trust and communication with regular customers
Motivations
Keeping her business sustainable and customer happy
Having time to pursue other passions in her life.
Making her daily routine smoother
Frustrations
No quick view of how the business is performing financially
Forgetting to follow up on unpaid orders
Overwhelmed by overly complex tools
I work with my hands not computers, I wish there was a easier way to keep track of my business.
— Gus
Gus owns a small mechanic shop where he manages a team of three. His workday is packed with hands-on service, so back-office tasks like invoicing and tracking payments often get pushed aside. He needs a fast, reliable way to handle financial tasks without stepping away from the garage too long.
Bio
Name: Gus
Age: 51
Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico
Occupation: Mechanic Shop Owner
Goals
Keep customer communication all in one place
Quickly assess which services or months are most profitable
Use the logo his son mad on business
invoices
Motivations
Spending more time in the shop than in front of a screen
Be able to keep up with customers payment plans
Scaling operations in the near future
Frustrations
Switching between apps just to send reminders
Losing track of which customers paid and when
Inflexible tools that don’t match his daily workflow
Design
Flows
I designed flows with four specific goals in mind:
Prioritize clarity and simplicity to make navigation intuitive for all users.
Highlight core actions like creating invoices and tracking payments.
Ensure information is easy to scan, with clear hierarchy and labels.
Design for flexibility to accommodate different user types and workflows.
Primary Flow - Search Path
Secondary Flow - Category Path
SKETCH WIRE FRAMES
The process of creating sketch wireframes began with reviewing research findings and identifying the core user tasks that needed to be supported. I sketched out rough layouts by hand to explore different ideas quickly, focusing on structure, flow, and content placement rather than visual details. All, while using my flow chart as a primary guide.
Homepage
Bank & Stats Page
Sketches of the homepage, banking page, and statistic page during the ideation phase.
Message page
Invoice Creation page
Sketch of message page, re-sketch of statistic page, and invoice creation page during the ideation process.
Pulling ideas
During the ideation phase, I drew many iterations of sketches. Using methods like crazy eights, I then scanned through my ideas and pull the best components from each sketch.
DIGITAL WIREFRAMES
Using insights from user interviews, affinity mapping, and persona development, I translated key user needs into a clear and functional digital wireframe. Each screen was mapped out to prioritize simplicity, ease of navigation, and the needs of the user. The wireframe served as a blueprint to visualize how users would move through the app and interact with its core features, keeping their goals and frustrations front and center.
After finalizing the digital wireframes, I used them as the foundation to build a low-fidelity prototype that users could interact with. This prototype focused on structure, flow, and functionality rather than visual design, allowing me to test how users navigate key tasks like creating an invoice or checking payment status.
Prototypes
Low-Fidelity
Utilizing research information, wire frames, designs, and flow chart as the foundation to build a low-fidelity prototype that users could interact with. This prototype focused on structure, flow, and functionality rather than visual design, allowing me to test how users navigate key tasks like creating an invoice or checking payment status.
TEST
METHODOLOGY
We conducted a moderated usability test via Zoom sessions with participants using a clickable prototype. They completed tasks like creating and sending invoices, navigating back to the homepage, and accessing stats, messaging, and banking pages. We observed their ease of movement through the flow, from the homepage to completing tasks and returning. Encouraging them to think out loud helped identify confusion, such as unclear page transitions or easily discoverable buttons. Notes and screen recordings informed further improvements to the prototype’s flow and interaction design.
RESEARCH GOALS
Goals for conducting usability test:
Evaluate whether users understand the overall structure and flow of the app.
Identify areas where navigation feels unclear or unintuitive.
Observe how users complete key tasks like creating or sending an invoice.
Gather initial reactions to the layout and organization of information.
Uncover gaps or missing elements that users expect, even in an early version.
USER TASKS
The participants were asked to:
Can you walk me through how you would create and send an invoice using this prototype?
Was it clear how to return to the homepage after completing a task?
How easy or difficult was it to find the stats, messaging, and banking sections?
Is there anything about the layout or navigation that felt confusing or unexpected?
USABILITY TEST RESULTS
After completing the usability test, I organized all participant feedback into an affinity map to identify patterns and common themes. I grouped similar comments and observations into categories such as navigation, labeling, invoice creation, and user expectations. This method helped clarify which issues were most frequent and where users experienced confusion or success. The affinity map became a valuable tool for guiding design improvements and prioritizing the next steps in the app’s development.
Navigation & Flow
"I didn't notice the return
to homepage button at
first."
"I wasn't sure where the
stats section would take
me."
Users paused when
switching between
messaging and banking
pages.
Some transitions
between pages felt
unclear.
Invoice Creation
Most users completed
invoice tasks
successfully.
Some hesitated due to
unclear button labels.
"It wasn't obvious where
to click to send the
invoice."
Users wanted
confirmation after
submitting an invoice.
Labeling & Terminology
Terms like "Stats" and
"Banking" weren't
immediately clear.
Users asked for more
descriptive labels/icons.
"I expected different
content when I clicked
'Stats.'"
Layout & Visibility
Homepage button was
hard to spot.
Some sections felt too
different visually.
"I wasn't sure which part
of the screen was
clickable."
Positive Feedback
Users liked the
simplicity of the layout.
"It's easy to follow once
you understand the
flow."
Appreciated logical
task order and minimal
distractions.
Navigation & Flow
"I didn't notice the return
to homepage button at
first."
"I wasn't sure where the
stats section would take
me."
Users paused when
switching between
messaging and banking
pages.
Some transitions
between pages felt
unclear.
Invoice Creation
Most users completed
invoice tasks
successfully.
Some hesitated due to
unclear button labels.
"It wasn't obvious where
to click to send the
invoice."
Users wanted
confirmation after
submitting an invoice.
Labeling & Terminology
Terms like "Stats" and
"Banking" weren't
immediately clear.
Users asked for more
descriptive labels/icons.
"I expected different
content when I clicked
'Stats.'"
Layout & Visibility
Homepage button was
hard to spot.
Some sections felt too
different visually.
"I wasn't sure which part
of the screen was
clickable."
Positive Feedback
Users liked the
simplicity of the layout.
"It's easy to follow once
you understand the
flow."
Appreciated logical
task order and minimal
distractions.
Key Insights Summary
Primary Issues
User Successes
Recommendations
Low Value
High Value
Important
Less Important
Low Value
High Value
Important
Less Important
Make the Footer Nav buttons more prominent.
.
Fix button and component spacing for better UI.
.
Create a more consistent UI from page to page.
.
Add creative animation transitions between pages and overlays.
.
Add a favorites feature to the messages, for user convenience.
.
Fix the flow between the bank and the invoice page.
.
UI Kit
Logos, Colors, Typography, & Components
HIGH-FIDELITY PROTOTYPE
Based on insights from the usability study, I used the feedback to refine the overall user experience and build a high-fidelity prototype. The process focused on improving clarity, simplifying navigation, and aligning the design more closely with user expectations. By translating what we learned into more thoughtful interactions and workflows, the high-fidelity prototype provided a more complete and realistic version of the product for testing and feedback.
Final Design
High-Fidelity Prototype
REFLECTION
What was learned from User testing.
The first user test showed that they had trouble navigating the app, understanding how invoice creation worked, and seeing how to check their financial statistics. Usability testing confirmed these problems, so we made changes.
Added features
User feedback helped us come up with added features like simpler payment tracking, access to client information, and better communication tools.
INVO’s achievements
This app empowers business owners by simplifying invoicing, improving visibility of overdue or partial payments, and centralizing client communication. It provides accessible insights into cash flow and financial performance, allowing owners to focus on business growth rather than administrative tasks, and most importantly, it helps users create beautiful invoices and receipts for customers.
WHAT I LEARNED
LiftUP
Mobile App
PUMA
Web Redesign
