04 OutlayAI
OutlayAI
An AI-powered expense coach that helps users track and spend smartly.
ArtisanSQR is a conceptual app that help Nigerians find reliable artisans and local vendors for home services.
Role
Product Designer
Year
2026
Team
Solo Project
Industry
Fintech + Artificial Intelligence (AI)
OutlayAI is an AI-powered expense coaching platform designed to help users proactively manage their finances, reduce unnecessary spending, and build sustainable financial habits.
This project explores how intelligent systems can move beyond passive tracking to actively guide users toward better financial outcomes.
In the UK, managing personal finances has become increasingly complex. Hence, here are some of the key challenges people face :
Users hold multiple bank accounts and cards
Subscription services are hard to track and manage
Rising cost of living makes financial planning critical
Most banking apps are reactive, not proactive
From research and behavioural analysis:
Over 50% of UK users frequently check financial apps, with many doing so daily, indicating a reactive approach to money management. Read more…
The average UK consumer spends ~£72/month on subscriptions, often underestimating recurring costs. Read more...
1 in 4 adults face low financial resilience, with many lacking emergency savings or struggling to meet financial goals. Read more…
More than 28 million UK adults now use AI tools for financial management, showing a shift toward simpler, insight-driven experiences. Read more…
I started my discovery phase by researching similar products/competitors in recognizing patterns and strategies for insights. Popular apps for hiring professionals/artisans such as Wrkman, Fiver, TaskRabbit and Thumbtack were helpful in gaining insights.
I identified the target audience (Artisans) which has a wide skills set, so I segregated the artisan skills into categories for easy search. I also used AI tools such as ChatGPT, and Stitch for insights. The wrkman app which is a Nigerian based product was helpful as it helped with clarity on how to tackle the problem for the Nigerian market.
While the tools and current solutions were helpful in gathering research data for my design, my goal was to create a better and intuitive product based on the problems identified.
To kickoff this project, the first thing I did was to go on a discovery journey to clearly understand the problem, audience, and the features to be designed for the app. The problem which I have also experienced myself is tied to money management. The key question I began with is "how to we make money management feel more human? In the UK context, managing personal finances has become increasingly complex and here are some of the notable problems:
Users hold multiple bank accounts and cards
Subscription services are hard to track and manage
Rising cost of living makes financial planning critical
Most banking apps are reactive, not proactive
With solid findings, I started creating wireframes of the app from lo-fi and fully prototyped wireframe to an hi-fidelity designs. I did couple of iterations during the wireframe before moving to hi-fi designs. The final design was tested for usability and readability and more iterations were made where necessary.
Users can search through from the search bar and find results. The results can be filtered based on skill, location and other possible search filters.
Users can browse through the app and find artisans based on the service categories.
Users can view artisan ratings, reviews and other information on their profile, pick a time slot and book service request.
The key-takeaways:
Research Brings Clarity: The initial research conducted enabled me to visualize what the result will look like and understand the pain point of the users.
Impact of Visuals in Design: This project further gave me clarity on the value of visuals in driving actions. Use of illustrations and vibrant colors made the app more appealing, easy to understand at first glance and prompt users to act.
The key-takeaways:
Research Brings Clarity: The initial research conducted enabled me to visualize what the result will look like and understand the pain point of the users.
Impact of Visuals in Design: This project further gave me clarity on the value of visuals in driving actions. Use of illustrations and vibrant colors made the app more appealing, easy to understand at first glance and prompt users to act.
The key-takeaways:
Research Brings Clarity: The initial research conducted enabled me to visualize what the result will look like and understand the pain point of the users.
Impact of Visuals in Design: This project further gave me clarity on the value of visuals in driving actions. Use of illustrations and vibrant colors made the app more appealing, easy to understand at first glance and prompt users to act.
Other works
05. Naxum Mobile App
Refining a referral marketing engine
01. Cadence Referral Application
A SaaS web app for an affiliate marketing company
