Product Design, Branding, 2025

Studebt

A personalized dashboard that simplifies debt repayment and builds long-term financial wellness.

PROBLEM

How might we transform debt repayment from an overwhelming task into a clear, achievable path toward financial wellness?

SOLUTION

Created a personalized plan that combines automation, education, and holistic financial insights to help users pay down debt with confidence.

MY ROLE

  • Concept ideation

  • Qualitative Research

  • Insights/Synthesis

  • UI Design

  • User testing

  • Illustration

RESEARCH

RESEARCH OVERVIEW

90 min, in-context user interviews with:

  • 20 Core users

    • Active students with debt

    • Recent grads with debt

    • Parents actively saving for school

    • Parents paying off college and actively saving for school

    • People with automated bill pay

  • 6 Extreme users

    • People with massive amounts of debt

    • People who are terrified of debt

    • Low income people with debt

    • People who have 4+ credit cards

RESEARCH GOAL

  • Deepen our understanding of debt, autonomous finance, and financial wellness.

"I defaulted on quite a few because daycare is $1,200 a month. So if I have to choose between my child and a credit card, you'll get your money when I get it."

"A lot of people go by the umbrella method for paying things off. I don't believe in it. I believe whichever one just mentally bothers me the most is the one I'm going to focus on first."

"I do want to be able to take care of my personal debt at least this year. So I'm trying to definitely pick up more brand gigs, more modeling gigs, and starting some more side ventures for extra income. I'm definitely on a hustle."

"I would be interested in using automated finance if it would ask me permission first. Lay out why is this coming out of here and going to there so I could look at it for review. I'l be interested in that."

KEY LEARNINGS & INSIGHTS

PEOPLE WOULD RATHER EARN MORE THAN SPEND LESS

Users prefer to manage debt by creating new income streams instead of reducing spending or optimizing their existing income. They view increasing their earning potential as a more sustainable and empowering path to becoming debt free.

GOOD AND BAD DEBT ARE DEEPLY PERSONAL

Users' definitions of good and bad debt does not align with industry standards. Instead, they judge debt based on personal values such as supporting family, investing in themselves, or achieving long term goals.

PEOPLE WANT GUIDANCE NOT CONTROL

Users appreciate automation that reduces effort, but they still want to make the final decisions. They prefer tools that empower them rather than tools that strictly dictate how they should manage their money.

PERSONALIZATION BUILDS TRUST

Users don't see themselves as the "average" borrower. They want personalized recommendations they can evaluate against their own financial situation and values before taking action.

EMOTIONS OFTEN OUTWEIGH OPTIMIZATION

When debt intersects with personally meaningful purchases or "sacred spending"*, emotions outweigh the mathematically optimal repayment strategy.

*Sacred spending: Purchases users are willing to go into debt for even if they are on a path to repayment

DESIGN PRINCIPLES & PROTOTYPES

  • Empower, don't control

  • Personalize every path

  • Teach through simple actions

  • Build confidence through clarity