Transactions automated.
Accounting simplified.
A brand new transactions experience.
“solopreneurs”
- a new customer segment defined as having no other source of income besides this business, and has no employee.
HYPOTHESIS
By offering a tailored solution specifically designed for solopreneurs, we anticipate observing increased retention rates, improved Net Promoter Score (NPS), and enhanced engagement levels among solopreneur prospects.
OPPORTUNITY
In the latest initiative to cater to solopreneurs more effectively within QBO, there's a unique opportunity to reimagine the transaction experience by leveraging cutting-edge technology to automate user tasks.
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Alvin Tran - Designer
Smitha Papolu - Design manager
Dan Thrash - Content designer
Katie Shields - Project manager
Chelsia Tong - Project manager
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5 months
August 2023 – February 2024
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Description text goes here
Research
LEARNING GOAL
We aimed to increase shared context for how solopreneurs approach their transactions.
What existing behavior are they accustomed to? Where do they need help most? How can QuickBooks best lend a hand?
Research phases
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28 user interviews
18 web users, 10 mobile first users
Objective: get discovery insights into behaviors of potential users and their usage of transactions
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10 selected users testing the product for 7 weeks
1 hour interview every other week to get their thoughts on topics about transactions, insights, taxes, etc.
Take home worksheets to record and track their behaviors and usage of the product
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1,000 beta users with abundant feedback gathering mechanisms to get bugs and feedback.
Who are solopreneurs?
Novice Natalie
New to running a business alone and is looking for tools to assist with business accounting
Feels overwhelmed by the idea of bookkeeping and accounting
Feels compelled to be in the know
Feels empowered to take action with business money
Spreadsheet Sam
Uses spreadsheet to keep track of finances and is looking for a smarter way to automate accounting.
Feels familiar with manual transaction tracking
Feels confident about basic bookkeeping tasks
Feels nervous about having accurate numbers
Banking Britney
Uses other accounting softwares along with bank transactions to manage finances.
Feels confident with using online tools
Feels anxious about switching platforms
Feels underwhelmed by current product
one thing all solopreneurs have in common…
personal and business finances are intertwined
PROBLEM STATEMENT
I am a solopreneuer whose business and personal finances are intertwined
trying to get an understanding of my money movements and where I stand with my income and expenses
but I have no clue how to begin and I’m scared to get it wrong
because I am a novice and I’d much rather focus on what I love doing than running the business
Which makes me feel mentally exhausted, lost, and anxious—like I have to figure it out on my own, on top of everything else
Old QuickBooks
Transactions were separated by bank accounts, which meant there wasn't a way to see all transactions collectively. Understanding that solopreneurs prefer to oversee their finances comprehensively, this division doesn't align with their needs.
Reviewing transactions manually was a required step for all transactions imported into QuickBooks before including them into the user's records, reports, and insights. However, this process created friction, demanding precious time that we know solopreneurs lack and detracting from their focus on managing and growing their business.
Reviewed transactions are separated in a different view, thus creating a divide between their finances that don’t resonate with how solopreneurs view their money. This creates frustration and a disconnect between users and accounting.
Designs
Account usage
When users link their banks to QuickBooks, they are prompted to specify the primary use of their accounts. This information is utilized behind the scenes to enhance the machine learning model, prioritizing transaction categorization. This, in turn, assists users in categorizing and identifying tax-deductible transactions.
Transaction tile layout
Several explorations were created to determine the optimal arrangement of all transaction elements. User research was done to determine the hierarchy of information wanted from users.
Reusable component
Collaborated closely with the platform design team to build a reusable list component and surveyed different teams across the product to identify shared elements to incorporate into the component.
AUTOMATION
Transactions automated. Accounting simplified.
🔍 RESEARCH FINDING
Solopreneurs juggle their business and personal tasks in parallel. They seek a solution to manage finances holistically. Solopreneurs are also un-savvy during tax time and value guidance on accounting best practices.
Separate personal from business
QuickBooks streamlines user tasks by employing machine learning to forecast whether a transaction is business or personal, automatically assigning the correct categorization.
This distinction between personal and business transactions also assists solopreneurs in identifying deductions come tax season.
👁️ ICONS
Icons are used to indicate transaction type (business or personal). This provides users with a glanceable view of their transactions while scrolling.
👆 GESTURES
Swiping left of each transaction tile allows users to quickly change a transaction type if the auto-categorization was inaccurate.
Categorize automatically
Using a newly developed categorization model, QuickBooks automatically assigns categories to all transactions. This gives users back hours previously spent on manual categorization, allowing them to focus on business growth.
👆 GESTURES
Swiping right of each transaction tile pulls up the category picker, allowing users to quickly change the transaction’s category
BUSINESS VS PERSONAL
Wall vs fence
An analogy used when discussing the approach when handling business and personal transaction separation is wall vs fence.
Wall is the idea that business and personal transactions and their controls should be separated and isolated from each other. There shouldn’t be any free-flowing elements between the two.
Fence is the approach that while business and personal are separated, controls like categories should be shared. While this allows for flexibility, it might introduce complexity to users.
Testing
To validate our approach, user interviews were conducted to reveal users prefer the fence approach since their finances are so intertwined, solopreneurs want to have quick and easy ways to move between business and personal controls.
ALPHA
This approach was then implemented in the alpha build and was validated by our trial users. This was then refined for beta and public releases.
CATEGORY PICKER
Flexibility to adjust
🔍 RESEARCH FINDING
Solopreneurs have a tolerance for error in automation if the payoff is clear. They seek automation in tasks that don’t get in the way and don’t require extra work or effort.
Suggested categories
QuickBooks can’t always get it right. But the top 5 suggested categories accounting for 95% confidence score significantly reduce the need for users to scroll through extensive lists to identify the most suitable category for their transactions.
👁️ TOP OF LIST
Suggested categories located at the top of the category picker allows users to quickly browse and manually select the best category for their transaction
Stickied labels
Business and personal categories are displayed vertically within the same list. Sticky section labels enable users to easily identify and keep track of the transaction type section they are scrolling through.
👆 SCROLL MICRO-INTERACTION
As the user scroll, the micro-interaction of the approaching section label replacing the current one provides a visual delighter of the change in section
TRANSACTION DETAILS
Details. All in one place.
🔍 RESEARCH FINDING
Solopreneurs are accustomed to the extensive editing capabilities of spreadsheets and look for solutions that enable them to make adjustments on the fly.
Details overview
Transaction details page gives users a high level overview of details about their transaction, and provides access points for them to quickly make edits.
👁️ COLOR
Background color of each transaction signifies whether it is an expense (teal) or income (green)
👆 DRILLDOWN
Tapping on each section leads users into a subsequent page to make changes or take action
Modular menus
Drill down menus are modular which means they can be configured to appear from anywhere in the product.
SPLIT
Split trans/action.
🔍 RESEARCH FINDING
Solopreneurs finances are intertwined between business and personal. They seek a solution to split their transactions.
Split layout
The transaction split screen is divided into two sections: the "source of truth”, displaying details directly imported from banks, and the split sections, where users can add or remove splits.
Within each split, users have the flexibility to modify the transaction type and/or category.
Dynamic value adjustment
The values of other splits automatically adjust based on the input value of the active split, eliminating the need for users to perform manual calculations.
ANOMALY DETECTION
Always on the lookout
Using generative AI and machine learning model, QuickBooks is able to detect when a category is abnormally high and alert users to review. Putting users into an immersive and interactive mode, solopreneurs can take action and see changes reflect in real time.
Active mode is activated by clicking on an anomaly card which puts users into an immersive experience to focus their attention to the task.
Two values are shown in the expanded state
Monthly average to show the baseline normal amount
Anomaly month amount to highlight why the anomaly is detected
Filters are applied related to the anomaly to direct attention solely to transactions relevant to the active anomaly
Users can mark the anomaly as resolved after reviewing the transactions by clicking on the “Looks good” button which will dismiss the anomaly card from the carousel and help train model to adapt in the future.
