TL;DR
A solo project that transforms idle Venmo balances into automated micro-savings—giving users an on-app “piggy bank” for everyday treats and short-term goals.
OVERVIEW
Venmo, owned by PayPal, is one of the most widely used peer-to-peer payment apps in the U.S., trusted for splitting bills, paying friends, and handling daily transactions. Venmo Vault leverages that familiarity to reduce the friction of saving by embedding micro-savings tools directly into existing payment flows. By repurposing unused balances into effortless, automated savings, the feature helps users build momentum toward short-term goals without leaving the app.
Problem
Venmo users—especially young adults—struggle to save consistently due to irregular income, impulse spending, and busy lifestyles.
Traditional banking apps feel too formal, disconnected, or intimidating, leaving users disengaged from their savings goals.
Group savings (for trips, events, or shared goals) is cumbersome, often handled through workarounds like splitting payments or informal tracking in other apps.
Research Insight: "I’d like to save, but I don’t want another finance app to manage—it should be built into what I already use."
SOLUTION
Venmo Vault introduces built-in Venmo feature that allows users to create small, personalized savings goals (e.g., “Brunch Fund”) with the option to fund them via round-ups, transfers, or peer contributions—designed to make saving feel fun, not financial.
Project Type
End-to-End iOS Application
Role
UX/UI Designer, UX/UI Researcher, Interaction Designer, and Brand Designer
Platform
iOS
Timeline
6 Weeks
Tools
Figma, FigJam, Optimal, ChatGpt, Fathom, Calendy, Zoom, and Google Workspace
This project is a fictitious scenario, completed as a part of Designlab's UX Academy.
I started by exploring the fintech market and listening to Venmo users to uncover what makes saving feel effortless—and what gets in the way.
Market Scan
I began by analyzing Acorns, Cash App Savings, and Qapital to understand how automation and visibility are balanced in current savings tools. While all offered automation, none combined it with instant visibility in one integrated flow.
User Interviews
5 participants
45 min each
Remote interviews
Armed with the context of Venmo's competitors, I conducted five 45-minute interviews with a diverse group of Venmo users to explore how Venmo users save (or don’t), what motivates them, and where the process breaks down.
Competitors deliver automation, but often at the expense of visibility, transparency, and ease of setup—leaving room for Venmo Vault to excel.
So What?
People want saving to be effortless and automatic, but they also want to see their progress in real time. Existing tools make you choose one or the other.
Venmo Vault could combine the automation users liked from competitors with Venmo’s existing strengths — social engagement, integrated flows, and brand trust — to create a built-in savings feature that is effortless, visible, and rewarding.
Whats Next?
With this clarity, the next step was to frame the problem in human terms and define exactly who we were designing for.
“I just want it to feel like part of Venmo, not a separate thing I have to manage.”
With the research in hand, I distilled patterns into a clear problem statement and a focused definition of who we were designing for.
The Problem
Venmo users want to save for small goals without leaving their daily payment flow, but existing tools force them into extra apps, hidden menus, or complex setups—making saving feel like work instead of a win.
What We Set Out to Achieve
Integrate micro-savings seamlessly into Venmo’s existing payment flow
Make savings progress visible and motivating at a glance
Ensure setup is quick and effortless for first-time users
Maintain a sense of control and flexibility over automated transfers
Celebrate milestones—no matter how small—to encourage habit building
How we got there….
From Research to Definition
Insights from competitive analysis, interviews, and the affinity map revealed the same story:
People like automation but want to see progress
Savings setup should be almost instant
Integrating savings into existing flows makes it stick
Defining Who We’re Designing For
Three personas emerged from the research, representing the most common needs and behaviors.
Balancing Perspectives
After defining personas, I mapped User Needs, Business Goals, and Technical Feasibility in a Venn diagram to identify where they overlapped—our product opportunity space.
Designing for visibility, ease, and control
These personas and the opportunity space made the user’s goals tangible, ensuring every design decision addressed their real frustrations and motivations. They became the north star for ideation in the next phase.
With a clear problem and well-defined users, I began exploring how Venmo Vault could blend effortless automation with visible, rewarding savings—moving from concept sketches to structured flows and polished UI.
From Insights to Concepts
Guided by the design principles—Low Effort, High Visibility, Celebration, and Control—I began ideating ways to integrate savings directly into Venmo’s daily flow. Using group critiques, brainstorming workshops, mentor meetings, and digital sketches, I explored multiple entry points for vault creation, funding, and goal completion.
Evaluating Ideas
I applied the MoSCoW method to prioritize concepts by impact, feasibility, and alignment with user needs. The top concepts directly addressed key research findings:
Built-in round-up setup from a transaction confirmation screen
Progress bar & celebration moment directly in the main wallet view
One-tap goal creation for individual or group vaults
Mapping the Experience
To understand the end-to-end journey, I mapped user flows for the three primary interactions:
Create a Vault – Goal setting in under 30 seconds
Turn on Round-ups from a Transaction – Automation without leaving the payment flow
Complete & Close a Vault – Celebrate, then prompt next savings goal
User Flows to Low-Fidelity Screens
I translated the strongest flows into low-fidelity wireframes to test layout, copy, and interactions. Early testing allowed for quick iteration before refining visuals.
Left — Active Savings Vaults Screen UX Goals Addressed:
Clear progress tracking (Tyler & Caroline): The progress bars provide quick visual feedback, motivating users to see their savings grow.
Effortless access to goals (Angelica): All active vaults are displayed upfront, reducing navigation friction and eliminating hidden menus.
Trust and simplicity (Mary): Clean, uncluttered UI reassures less tech-savvy users and mirrors familiar Venmo design patterns.
Center — Contribution Methods Screen UX Goals Addressed:
Automated micro-savings (Bri & Tyler): The "Round Ups" and "Recurring" options allow for low-effort, consistent saving—ideal for users with irregular income.
Flexible control (Mary): Including a "Manual" option accommodates traditional savers who prefer hands-on management.
Transparency and education (All users): The "How we do the math" section demystifies calculations, reducing anxiety about hidden rules or fees.
Right — Group Savings Vault Setup UX Goals Addressed:
Simplified group saving (Caroline): Clear "Group" toggle and participant fields streamline multi-user saving, solving pain points with apps like Splitwise.
Personalized goal-setting (Angelica & Bri): Emoji-based goal naming makes saving feel approachable, emotional, and fun—helping tie motivation to specific outcomes.
Accountability and collaboration (All users): Built-in contribution options and visibility encourage participation and shared responsibility within groups.
Bringing the Experience to Life
Once flows were validated, I designed high-fidelity mockups that matched Venmo’s style, ensuring Vault felt like a natural extension of the app.
Left — Active Vaults Screen UI Alignment:
Feels native to Venmo: Uses the existing tab bar, blue CTA button, and card layout.
Progress bars match Venmo’s clean visual language—simple, no-frills, and familiar.
Custom goal names with emojis keep things playful, casual, and aligned with how users already label Venmo payments.
Center — Contribution Methods Screen UI alignment:
Icon-based layout mirrors Venmo’s illustration style—friendly and approachable without overwhelming users.
Clear, plain-language explanations support Venmo’s tone: helpful, not overly “financial.”
Each option (Round-Up, Recurring, Manual) is shown with equal weight and minimal friction—just like Venmo's payment flow.
Right — Vault Creation Flow Screen UI alignment:
Toggles and pill buttons follow Venmo’s native component styling, maintaining consistency with the app’s UI patterns.
Form layout is clean and predictable, making setup feel as easy as sending a payment.
Personalization options (emoji, custom name) fit seamlessly into Venmo’s casual brand voice.
Ready to validate in the real world
With flows, wireframes, and visuals in place, I moved into usability testing to see how real users responded to Venmo Vault’s experience.
With the key flows and high-fidelity designs in place, I set out to validate Venmo Vault with real users to ensure the experience was intuitive, motivating, and seamlessly integrated into Venmo’s flow.
Objectives
Validate ease of setup for savings vaults
Test clarity and discoverability of round-up feature
Assess if progress tracking and celebrations were motivating
Identify any friction points in completing or closing a vault
Methodology
Format: Remote moderated testing via Zoom
Participants: 6 Venmo users (mix of freelancers, parents, and students)
Prototype: High-fidelity Figma prototype
Tested tasks
What We Asked User to Do
Setup ease was a win!
Setup speed with a win- all participants created a vault with no errors.
Round-up Visability Issue
The round-up button was missed by 2 of 6 participants where it is located on the transaction screen
Celebration = Engagement
Celebration modal was positively received!
Iterating on Feedback
Opportunities for Improvement
Enhance Visibility: Improve visual hierarchy for the "Group Vault" toggle to eliminate initial hunting.
Polish Interaction Cues: Clarify informational vs. actionable screens to avoid assumptions about interactivity.
Proceed to Wider Rollout: With consistently positive ratings and low error rates, the design is validated for expansion.
Validating the Design
Usability testing confirmed Venmo Vault’s intuitive and user-friendly design:
10/10 ease-of-use ratings across all participants – flows for individual and group vaults were described as “logical” and “straightforward.”
Zero major pain points – only minor feedback to improve visibility of the “Group Vault” toggle.
Clear navigation and task completion – users easily understood contribution options, privacy settings, and end-to-end setup.
Confident and ready to launch
Usability testing confirmed Venmo Vault’s core flows were simple, rewarding, and discoverable. With refinements in place, the feature was ready for final polish and developer handoff.
What started as a pain point—‘saving feels like homework’—ended as a feature that celebrates progress and makes every dollar count.
