AlignMoney Finance App

AlignMoney is a personal finance super-app that unifies budgeting, savings, bills, debt management, calculators, AI insights, gamification, and couple-friendly tools into one seamless platform.

About the project

The goal for building this app was to simplify money management by combining budgeting, savings, debt tracking, and advanced calculators with AI insights, gamification, and couple-friendly tools. It consolidates what would typically require multiple apps into one seamless platform, making financial management simple, collaborative, and engaging.

Date:

Jul 30, 2025

Team:

Product Manager, Engineer, Senior Product Designer, UX Researcher,

Me: Product Design & UX Researcher

Services:

Product Design & UX Research

Problem

Managing personal finances often requires multiple apps for budgeting, bill tracking, debt management, and learning. Users found it overwhelming to switch between tools and lacked a single, intuitive platform to see the bigger picture of their financial health.

Solution

We designed AlignMoney, a personal finance super-app that consolidates these needs into one cohesive experience. The app combines budgeting, savings goals, bill tracking, debt repayment strategies, and financial calculators with modern features like AI insights, gamification, and collaborative tools for couples.

Key Features

  • Budgeting & Savings: Track spending, set savings goals, and monitor progress.

  • Debt Optimizer: Avalanche and snowball repayment strategies.

  • AI-Powered Insights: Personalized financial recommendations and health scoring.

  • Partnership Mode: Shared budgets and expense management for couples.

  • Gamification: Challenges, achievements, and rewards to encourage good financial habits.

  • Education: Micro-learning financial tips integrated into the experience.

The Moat (Competitive Advantage)

  • Split Expense Innovation
    Advanced expense splitting with contact management and automated balance tracking, seamlessly integrated into the main finance experience.

  • Couples-First Design
    Enables true collaborative financial planning with built-in partnership tools that go beyond simple account sharing.

  • Educational Integration
    Micro-learning modules teach users about personal finance while they manage money, fostering long-term engagement.

  • Comprehensive Calculator Suite
    Professional-grade financial planning tools, including precise state tax calculations, all in one app.

Design

Designed low-fidelity wireframes and developed interactive prototypes focused on intuitive, clear, and trustworthy interfaces. Emphasized accessibility, clear information hierarchy, and a balance between utility and engagement through gamified elements.

Collaboration

Collaborated with the product manager and engineers to ensure features were impactful and technically feasible. Facilitated design reviews and sprint planning sessions to refine complex elements like AI-powered insights and expense-splitting without compromising usability.

Testing

Conducted usability testing sessions to gather feedback on navigation flows, feature clarity, and overall trust in the app. Iterated on designs to simplify interactions, improve data visualization, and optimize onboarding, resulting in a product that was both powerful and approachable.

Process

Research

Conducted user interviews with individuals and couples to uncover how money is currently managed, what tools are used, and the main pain points. Identified that most people juggle multiple apps for budgeting, bills, and debt, while couples struggled with transparency and collaboration. Insights helped prioritize opportunities for improvement.

Competitive Analysis

Users currently rely on a mix of apps to manage personal and shared finances, each with different strengths:

  • Monarch Money – strong in budgeting, goal tracking, and net worth overview; lacks social features and advanced calculators.

  • Copilot Money – excels at expense tracking, budgets, and AI-powered categorization; limited in social features and financial education.

  • MoneyWiz – supports income/expense tracking, budgets, and reports; doesn’t support collaborative or social features.

  • Allo – provides holistic finance insights with value-aligned tagging and educational advice; weak on bill splitting and group features.

  • Splitwise – excellent for shared expenses and group debt balancing; doesn’t cover full personal finance, budgeting, or educational content.

Insights for AlignMoney

  • Most competitors focus on either personal finance tracking or social/educational features, not both.

  • There is a gap for a platform that combines AI insights, gamification, couples-first collaboration, and educational micro-learning in one unified app.

Next CASE STUDY →

The Elephant in the Room is a Shade of Brown

Problem

Managing personal finances often requires multiple apps for budgeting, bill tracking, debt management, and learning. Users found it overwhelming to switch between tools and lacked a single, intuitive platform to see the bigger picture of their financial health.

Solution

We designed AlignMoney, a personal finance super-app that consolidates these needs into one cohesive experience. The app combines budgeting, savings goals, bill tracking, debt repayment strategies, and financial calculators with modern features like AI insights, gamification, and collaborative tools for couples.