Project Overview
TrackMyGOALS was developed as a free, easy-to-use tool for Australian consumers to set, plan, track and manage multiple savings goals and visualise their progress towards achieving them - all on their mobile device.
Project Commissioner
Project Creator
Team
webqem team
Project Brief
One in five Aussies live from payday to payday according to a survey by NAB that means that emergency or unexpected expenses are paid out of savings account or on the credit card. The outcome is that many Aussies find it hard to actually save for things whether it be for house deposit, a holiday or simply the future.
With this in mind ASIC have released the TrackMyGOALS app as part of their overall MoneySmart program which is dedicated to providing financial information and tools for Australian consumers and investors. It has been based on the good habits of successful savers to demonstrate how all Australians can implement savings into their everyday routine.
ASIC's Miles Larby explains "The app is in response to information that Australians told us are the successful techniques that they use for saving. It's designed to promote action as well as providing information because we know that if we can help people to take steps towards achieving their savings goals that's much more useful. We also had received information, lots of feedback from user's to ASIC's MoneySmart website, that people often struggle just to make a start. They don't know how to get started on how to achieve their financial and savings goals. So this app is really designed to help people to take those steps on that journey."
Project Need
Following on from the success of the TrackMySPEND App (with over 300,000 lifetime downloads), ASIC wanted to develop an app that allowed users to gain quick feedback on their saving position.
Looking at the financial tools and trackers available in the mobile app space, webqem and ASIC identified that a quality tool to track personal saving was lacking. Most apps available were generally very basic and of poor quality.
Specifically designed for the Australian consumer, unlike any in the marketplace, ASIC wanted to create a tool that was suited to a mobile device - not just shoehorned into one.
The TrackMyGOALS app helps cultivate good savings habits and reach goals by:
*Creating realistic savings goals
*Prioritising goals to ensure they can be achieved
*Providing positive encouragement by tracking progress
The app appeals to a wide range of users from adults to children and amongst people who have never saved before. It can be used to track saving for a holiday, wedding, car, house, renovation, school fees or anything else you can dream of.
PhoneGap allowed us to deliver TrackMyGOALs on iOS and Android platforms simultaneously using the latest web technologies. By utilising a shared code base we were able to achieve true parallel development and testing, allowing us to write code once and deploy to all of our target platforms.
User Experience
A key objective was to make the app 'engaging and easy-to-use'. This is usually a challenge for anything in the Financial category, especially an educational tool coming from a Government organisation. TrackMyGOALS was deliberately designed to stand out from the slew of the dry and drab ‘financial calculator’ type apps that the category was overrun with.
The interface had to look simple and enjoyable enough to warrant a download. Specifically employing a bright palette, and a very simple interface which put usability first, TrackMyGOALS became an App that is actually pleasing to use. The last thing that users want when they download a mobile app is a lengthy series of instructions. TrackMyGOALS was developed with an interface that was intuitive enough for users to pick up and start using it without having to consult the instructions.
The process of entering and managing expenses needed to be as simple, painless and intuitive as possible. In order to achieve this, webqem and ASIC went through many rounds of focus group testing in both wireframe and prototype stage to achieve the optimal userflow.
The app facilitates good saving habits by:
Helping to set realistic savings goal (budgeting feature allows for adding up all real costs)
Prioritise multiple goals to ensure goals can be achieved (ie if all your goals add up to entire salary, de-prioritise goals to make them achievable)
Positive encouragement through tracking savings progress against goal(s)
Motivates users to switch from credit to saving by showing financial benefits compared to debt financing.
Project Marketing
TrackMyGOALS was developed as a free tool for Australian consumers to track their everyday saving, against their own predefined limits and projections. The App was developed for both Android and iOS platforms, and developed to work on both phone and tablet devices.
This was done to ensure that the App had the widest possible reach across Australian consumers. The App was released on the Apple App store and Google Play store simultaneously. The official release was not hinged on a larges scale traditional marketing campaign, but relied on natural web and App Store traffic as well as word-of-mouth via social media and blogs
Since launch the ASIC's MoneySmart TrackMyGOALS app has had 20,000+ life time downloads and 300+ sessions per week. This was achieved purely via information posted on the Moneysmart website and word-of-mouth.
Customer Feedback
Yes This app is way better than anything else out there. It breaks down how much I would need today save to meet my goals it's perfect!!!! - missle armz Jul 2015
Easy and quick - 4 stars - James Quinn Nov 2014
Good, simple and easy - 4 stars - Aub Mace Sep 2014
Project Privacy
Both ASIC and webqem are committed to the responsible collection and use of personal information. All personal information is secure and private.
- Any personal info gathered is not disclosed to any third parties
- A link to MoneySmart's privacy statement is included in the App on the Settings page?
Tags
Government Services
The provision of timely government services has been transformed as applications are developed and implemented to either replace or complement previous methods. Be it the delivery of current and up to date critical information, compliance, community support and engagement, notification and registration apps are providing greater accessibility to government resources.
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