WageWise App
Smarter Information Architecture for an Early Wage Access Application
INTRODUCTION
MY ROLE
Wage Wise simplifies financial management for employees with its early wage access platform.
Easily request a portion of your earned wages before payday, track earnings, set goals, automate savings, manage loans, and handle finances all in one digital hub.
As part of a student assignment at UX-land school, I worked in a team of two on an adaptive application, focusing on developing user-centric information architecture and usability. My responsibilities included defining scope, creating user flows, wireframes, and prototypes to improve navigation.
I also conducted user research and turned insights into design improvements for a simpler, better experience.
PROJECT SCOPE
A squad of designers, 4 Weeks (remote)
TOOLS
Figma,Zoom,Photoshop,Canva
The adoption of certain features needs to increase.
Insight 1
Design Decision (Hub-focused): Reorganized the Hub so core actions (Automate Saving, Goal Setting, Loan) are shown as distinct cards with clear labels and CTAs, and separated essentials from resources.
Insight 2
Design Decision: Used the Hub as the single place for feature discovery: grouped features into Financial essentials vs Learning & resources to make all options clear and accessible in one place.
All features & solutions must be clearly visible.
Insight 3
Users needed more motivation to stay engaged with their goals.
Design Decision (within Goal Setting): We added a time prediction (You’ll reach your goal by Aug 2024) along with supportive microcopy, so users can see how their regular contributions add up and feel motivated to stay on track.
Optimizing the information architecture through research and testing to improve access to core features.
Our Solution
This case study focused on the employee persona.
Interview & Affinity Diagram
The Process
We followed up with 15 participants to better understand their pain points.
Users need easy access to core features like goal setting and saving automation.
Users wish to see notifications in the app to stay informed about their shifts, next payday, available pays, and any important updates regarding their earnings.
They worry about the security of their financial information and personal data.
Users are experiencing a lack of educational resources on financial tasks.
Insight
While most apps deliver similar features (goal tracking, budgeting), they often lack clarity in structure and sustained motivation. This gap highlights an opportunity to stand out through a more structured hub and motivational design.
Analysing Market & Competitions
Early Wage Access apps share core features, but lack clarity in organisation.
Competitive benchmarking of Early Wage Access and other finance apps revealed that while most competitors offer similar features like on-demand pay and goal tracking, their organisation often lacks clarity. This highlighted an opportunity to differentiate through a more structured hub and motivational design.
Wagestream → Covers core Early Wage Access features (on-demand pay, saving, goal setting) within a central hub; clear but still complex in structure.
YNAB → Strong focus on goal setting and budgeting, use progress bars and timelines for motivation, but lack Early Wage Access capabilities.
Revolut → Smooth UX with powerful dashboards; centred on transactions and broader banking, not Ealy Wage Access.
Money Manager & Dyme → Good at expense categorisation and reporting , limited in motivational design and engagement.
Defining Persona & Goals
From key insights to 2 goal-oriented personas.
27, retail shift worker, busy & financially stretched
34, full-time employee, time-poor but goal-driven
His goal is to save consistently and stay engaged with long-term goals. He needs a clear, easy-to-navigate hub with motivational touchpoints like progress tracking and reminders.
Her goal is to access earned wages easily and manage expenses without stress. She needs a clear hub with core features and simple guidance to stay motivated.
Site Map
After performing card sorting and various iterations, we have reached this site map.
System Architecture
Consideration for our persona's context directed a user flow focusing on minimum steps and time.
I want to quickly access my earned wages when I need them
I want to stay motivated while saving for my goals
Usability Test & Iteration
Project Takeaways
A deeper understanding of ideas when placed within context, and not just in vacuums.
Being part of the team taught me the value of constant communication, especially in the early stages when we aligned on research findings and design direction.
As a UX designer, I learned the necessity of iteration and how to adapt to unexpected changes and client expectations, particularly when refining the information architecture and reorganising the Hub.
Through competitive benchmarking and user testing, I also discovered how small design decisions — such as clearer feature grouping or adding motivational elements can significantly improve user engagement.