Centsei

Goal: Design an expense splitting app that helps students and young adults manage shared finances.

Problem Space

Managing shared expenses is emotionally and logistically challenging, especially for students and young adults. Existing solutions feel disorganized and unintuitive.

Key pain points include:

• Unintuitive interfaces
• Expenses scattered across texts, notes, and screenshots
• Social discomfort around reminding friends about payments

These challenges lead to delayed payments, financial stress, and strained friendships.

Target Users

• Primary: College students and roommates (18–24) who split expenses frequently
• Secondary: Young professionals (25–30) sharing rent and utilities
• Tertiary: Couples, travel groups, and student organizations

Design Process

Wireframes to High Fidelity

Design choices were based primarily on a need for a clean, easy-to-follow UI. An A/B test was conducted to determine whether the guiding text "Assign Items" was necessary, and it was determined that it added additional clarity to the page.

Core Features

Smart Contextual Nudges

Instead of blunt reminders like "You owe $15," Centsei uses friendly phrasing such as "Just a few payments left to clear the trip!" Notifications are timed intelligently, after payday or before group plans, to reduce tension and increase follow-through.

Tap-to-Claim & OCR Scanning

Users can scan receipts and instantly digitize expenses using OCR. Items can be dragged to specific people, allowing for precise, itemized splitting (no more evenly splitting a steak dinner with someone who ordered a salad).

Gamified Settlements

Centsei encourages positive behavior through streaks, trust scores, and group rewards. Paying on time becomes socially rewarding rather than stressful.