Clarify is a personal finance platform designed to help users understand their money, connect fragmented financial accounts and make clearer decisions with less stress. The product brings banking, spending, goals, investments and AI-powered insights into one calm, easy-to-read experience.
Product DesignUX/UI DesignFinTechWeb + MobileAI InsightsDesign System
ClarifyDashboard
Net Worth
$84,320
↑ +$1,240 this month · +1.5%
Savings
$24,100
Investments
$41,820
Spending
$3,240
Goals
68% done
◈
Clarify AI: You're on track for your house deposit goal. Reducing dining out by $200/mo would get you there 3 months earlier.
Product
Clarify — Personal Finance Platform
Role
UX/UI Designer · Product Strategy · Interface System
Platform
Web + iOS Mobile
Focus
Research, Product Strategy, UX/UI Design, Design System
00 Product Direction
Key product decisions that shaped Clarify
Clarify was not designed as another finance dashboard. The product direction was to create a calmer decision-making layer on top of fragmented financial data — giving users a simple way to understand where they are, what has changed and what to do next.
Decision
Why it mattered
Design response
Dashboard as the core experience
Users needed clarity before depth
Make net worth, goals, spending and AI insights visible immediately
Goal-first onboarding
Users are hesitant to share financial data without a clear value exchange
Ask what they want to achieve before asking them to connect accounts
Plain-language AI guidance
Financial jargon increases avoidance and reduces trust
Write insights as specific, calm, human-readable recommendations
Trust-led visual system
Money products can easily feel stressful or punitive
Use dark surfaces, restrained colour and clear hierarchy to create confidence
01
Product Problem & Research
Context · Behaviour · Opportunity
01 Product Challenge
Financial apps show data. Clarify turns it into direction.
Many finance products are built around accounts, charts and transactions. Clarify is built around user understanding. The challenge was to bring banking, spending, savings, investments and goals into one product without overwhelming users or making financial decisions feel more stressful.
The product strategy focused on one core idea: users do not need more financial data — they need a clear narrative about what their money is doing and what action makes sense next. Every screen was designed to reduce interpretation effort and help users move from avoidance to confident action.
Trust
Build confidence before asking users to connect sensitive financial data
Clarity
Reduce the mental load of checking multiple accounts and platforms
Action
Translate raw numbers into practical next steps users can understand
Habit
Create a reason for users to return without relying on anxiety-based alerts
02 Research Insights
What we heard in the research
Research focused on how people currently make sense of money across banking, budgeting, investing and savings tools. Competitive review included Monzo, Frollo, Acorns and YNAB, with the strongest patterns grouped into three product opportunities.
01
"I don't know what I should be doing"
Users don't lack data — they lack direction. Seeing a $3,000 savings balance means nothing without context: is that good? Should I be investing it? What should I do next?
02
Fragmentation kills engagement
The average user manages 3.2 financial apps. The mental effort of switching between them, mentally aggregating the data, causes avoidance. The pain of not knowing is easier than the pain of checking.
03
Trust is the biggest design problem
Users are deeply suspicious of AI-driven financial advice. They want the insight without feeling manipulated. The design had to make AI feel like a transparent tool — not a black box pushing products.
02
Understanding the Users
Needs · Behaviours · Barriers
03 Key User Groups
Two financial mindsets. One clear experience.
Clarify was shaped around two high-value user mindsets: people who earn well but avoid financial decisions, and people who are financially engaged but tired of switching between disconnected tools.
🧑💻
Jake, 29
The Anxious Accumulator
"I know I should be doing something with my money. I just don't know what, and thinking about it stresses me out."
Software Engineer
$95k/yr
Very high
Low
Goals
Know if he's "on track"
Start investing without stress
Save for a house deposit
Frustrations
Too many apps to manage
Advice feels generic
Doesn't trust AI with money
👩💼
Sarah, 36
The Active Investor
"I have accounts everywhere — super, shares, savings, a mortgage. I just want to see everything in one place and understand how it's all working together."
Marketing Manager
$130k/yr
High
Medium
Goals
Unified view of all finances
Understand net worth growth
Plan for early retirement
Frustrations
Mental load of 4+ apps
Can't see the full picture
Misses tax optimisation
04 Behaviour Pattern — Jake
What users say versus what they feel
The research pattern showed a clear gap between stated intent and actual behaviour. Users often knew they should take action, but uncertainty, embarrassment and fear of making the wrong decision pushed them back into avoidance.
Says
"I should probably sort out my super"
"I'll look at it properly on the weekend"
"I don't really understand investing"
"I'm saving — I just don't know how much"
Thinks
What if I'm already behind?
Financial advisors are for rich people
What if I make the wrong move?
Maybe I'll look at it when I earn more
Does
Checks bank balance occasionally
Ignores super statements
Googles "how much should I have saved at 29"
Closes financial apps without acting
Feels
Anxious when thinking about money
Embarrassed he doesn't know more
Relieved when he avoids the topic
Frustrated by his own inaction
03
User Journey
From awareness to habit
05 Journey — From Avoidance to Confidence
Mapping the moments that matter
The journey highlighted where users are most likely to drop off: before connecting accounts, after seeing too much data at once, and when advice feels generic. These moments shaped the onboarding, dashboard and AI insight model.
Awareness
Sign Up
First Use
Regular Use
Advocacy
Actions
Googles money anxiety
Sees ad / friend referral
Visits website
Downloads app
Connects bank accounts
Sets up profile
Sees full dashboard
Reads AI insights
Sets first goal
Weekly check-ins
Acts on AI nudges
Tracks goal progress
Recommends to friend
Upgrades to premium
Emotion
Curious but sceptical
Anxious about sharing data
Relief — finally clear
Confident, engaged
Proud, empowered
Pain Points
Doesn't trust FinTech apps
Too many options, unclear
⚠ Drop-off: data privacy fears
Friction in bank connection
Overwhelmed by data
Doesn't know what to do next
Notification fatigue
Generic advice feels useless
Unsure about premium value
Opportunities
Empathy-led messaging
"No jargon" positioning
Transparent data policy
Instant value on first screen
AI "next best action" prompt
Contextual goal setup
Personalised weekly digest
Proactive milestone celebration
Clear premium value prop
06 Information Architecture
Structure before screens
The IA for Clarify was designed around a single principle: the user should never have to navigate to understand their financial health. The dashboard surfaces everything critical. Navigation is for depth, not discovery.
Clarify App
Dashboard
Net worth overview
AI insight card
Goal progress
Spending snapshot
Money
All accounts
Transactions
Spending categories
Budgets
Invest
Portfolio overview
Performance
Super tracker
Recommendations
Goals
Active goals
Create new goal
Milestones
Projections
Clarify AI
Weekly digest
Ask a question
Action history
Preferences
04
Product Screens
Dashboard · Goals · AI · Investing
07 Core Product Screens
Core screens designed around trust and clarity.
Each screen solves a specific product problem: helping users understand their financial position, identify priorities, track goals and receive AI guidance without feeling judged or overwhelmed.
Net Worth
$84,320
↑ +$1,240 this month
Savings ↑
Invest ↑
Goals
◈ You're 68% toward your house deposit. On track for Dec 2026.
DashboardCore Screen
Groceries$680
Dining$420 ↑
Transport$180
◈ Dining is 40% over budget. Cutting back $200/mo saves $2,400/yr.
Spending AnalysisMoney Tab
House Deposit
68%
$34k of $50k · On track
Emergency Fund
40%
$4k of $10k · 8 months behind
+ Add New Goal
GoalsGoals Tab
Clarify AI · This Week
Your net worth grew $1,240 this month — your best month in 6 months.
Dining spend is 40% over budget. Reducing by $200 gets you to your goal 3 months earlier.
You have $2,100 idle in your savings. Consider moving to your investment portfolio.
AI InsightsClarify AI
Portfolio
$41,820
+12.4% YTD
Super
$38,200
+8.2% YTD
VAS — Aus Shares ETF
+2.4%
NDQ — NASDAQ 100
+4.1%
InvestmentsInvest Tab
Clarify
Your money. Finally clear.
What are you trying to achieve with your money?
Buy a house
Start investing
Reduce debt
Retire early
Continue →
OnboardingFirst Run
05
Interface System
Visual language · Components · Product logic
08 Visual Language
Calm confidence. Not finance anxiety.
The visual language was designed to counteract the anxiety that financial apps typically trigger. Dark backgrounds reduce cognitive load. Green signals growth — not just success. The Lora serif adds editorial warmth to a category dominated by cold, clinical aesthetics.
Obsidian
#0D1117 · Base
Signal Green
#00D084 · Primary
Card Dark
#1C2433 · Surfaces
Ocean Blue
#3B82F6 · Investments
Amber
#F59E0B · Warning
Rose
#F43F5E · Alert
Typography System
Display
Lora Serif
Your money. Clear.
Headline
Sora 600
Net Worth Overview
Body
Sora 300
You're on track for your house deposit. Reducing dining spend by $200/mo would get you there 3 months earlier.
Label / Data
DM Mono
Net Worth · Savings · Investments · Goals
Core Component Library
◈
AI Insight Card
Contextual, colour-coded AI nudges — green for growth, amber for warnings, blue for opportunities. Always actionable, never alarming.
▲
Net Worth Module
Single-number clarity with sparkline trend. Designed around the principle: one number should tell the whole story at a glance.
◎
Goal Progress Card
Progress bar with projected date and current status. Milestone celebration triggers at 25%, 50%, 75%, 100%.
▬
Category Spend Bar
Budget vs actual with colour shift to rose when over threshold. Designed so overruns are visible without being punishing.
□
Account Card
Connected account tile with live balance, institution logo and type badge. Supports bank, super, investment and loan accounts.
⊕
Onboarding Flow
Goal-first onboarding — users select their financial intent before connecting any accounts. Builds context before the product asks for trust.
06
AI-Assisted Design Workflow
Exploration · Copy · Synthesis · Motion
09 AI-Assisted Workflow
Using AI to speed up exploration, not replace design judgment.
AI tools were used to speed up synthesis, visual exploration, UX copy and motion ideation. The strategic decisions — product positioning, trust model, information architecture, screen hierarchy and tone of voice — remained designer-led.
01 · Discovery
Research Synthesis
Claude · ChatGPT
Used AI to support synthesis, identify repeated behavioural patterns and organise early insight hypotheses for review
02 · Ideation
Visual Exploration
Midjourney
Used AI to explore mood, layout and interface directions quickly before refining the final visual language through design judgment
03 · Content
UX Copy & Microcopy
Claude
Used Claude to draft and refine insight cards, onboarding prompts, empty states and error messages while maintaining a calm, consistent product voice
04 · Motion
Motion Exploration
Runway
Explored dashboard transitions and goal milestone interactions to make progress feel encouraging without adding unnecessary visual noise
Time saved
AI reduced repetitive synthesis and copy iteration work, allowing more time to be spent on product decisions, hierarchy, interaction logic and visual refinement.
Quality gain
AI made it easier to test different microcopy tones quickly. The final voice was kept calm, specific and non-patronising, especially around sensitive financial feedback.
What AI didn't do
AI did not determine the design strategy, the trust model, the IA structure, the visual language decisions or any UX rationale. Every strategic choice was human-led, AI-accelerated.
The future model
The value of the workflow was not speed for its own sake. It created more room for evaluation, refinement and design judgment — the parts of the process where senior designers create the most impact.
10 Key UX Decisions
Every decision had a reason
Good UX is a series of deliberate trade-offs. Each decision below was shaped by the research insights and tested against the personas.
Decision
Problem it solved
UX rationale
Goal-first onboarding
Users don't trust apps that ask for data immediately
Establish intent before asking for access — users share more when they understand the value exchange
Dark mode as primary
Finance apps trigger anxiety; high contrast feels clinical
Dark surfaces reduce visual noise and cognitive load — creating calm rather than urgency
AI insights in plain language
Financial jargon creates avoidance in non-expert users
Every AI output is written at a year-9 reading level — specific, actionable, never alarming
Net worth as the hero number
Users couldn't see the full picture across multiple accounts
One number that aggregates everything — gives instant context that 3 separate app balances never could
Colour-coded AI cards
All insights felt equal — users didn't know what to prioritise
Green = growth, amber = warning, blue = opportunity. Triage built into the visual language
Transparent AI sourcing
Trust was the #1 barrier — users feared manipulation
Every AI recommendation shows "based on your last 90 days of data" — removing the black-box feeling
07
Success Measures
Retention · Trust · Activation · Engagement
11 Product Success Measures
Designing for outcomes that could be measured
Because this product is built around trust and behaviour change, success would need to be measured through activation, comprehension, return usage and confidence — not just visual polish or feature completion.
Activation
Measure how many users complete onboarding and connect at least one financial account
Trust before data access
First Insight
Measure how quickly users reach a clear, useful takeaway after entering the product
Immediate value
Comprehension
Measure whether users understand their current financial position without extra explanation
Clarity over complexity
Return Use
Measure whether weekly digest, goals and progress updates create a healthy return habit
Habit without anxiety
AI Trust
Measure whether users understand why an AI recommendation appeared and feel confident acting on it
Transparent guidance
Goal Progress
Measure whether users create goals, return to them and adjust behaviour based on product guidance
Behaviour change
12 Design Takeaways
What shaped the final direction
Designer's Note
The most important design decision in Clarify had nothing to do with colour, typography or layout. It was the decision to start with emotional truth — that people avoid their finances not because they're lazy, but because the experience of engaging with money is genuinely stressful — and design backwards from there.
The AI integration in this project also changed how I think about creative work. AI didn't make this project better by generating outputs. It made it better by freeing up time for the decisions that actually require human judgment — the trust model, the tone of voice, the architecture of information, the emotional arc of a user's first session. That's where the value is. Not in how fast you can produce a wireframe.
The future of design isn't about being better at Figma. It's about being better at questions, sharper at strategy, and fluent enough in AI tools to deploy them at exactly the right moment — and know when not to.