- Spearheaded the launch of ModernCart, a WooCommerce plugin, enhancing cart usability and increasing mobile cart completion rates by 22% through improved layout hierarchy and CTA placement.
- Reworked the WooCommerce Cart Abandonment Recovery UX by streamlining reminder flows, crafting high-conversion email templates, and increasing recovery rates by 15–20% via A/B testing insights.
- Developed UI flows for CartFlows AI, cutting setup time by 40% and clarifying onboarding. Partnered with product and engineering to define logic, design prototypes, and simplify decisions for non-design users.

Tired of spending hours manually tracking your expenses instead of focusing on your business?

For many small business owners, managing expenses can feel like a full-time job. Hours are spent organizing receipts, entering data into spreadsheets, and trying to stay on top of finances — time that could be used to grow their businesses. This manual process not only eats up valuable time but also increases the risk of errors, missed entries, and financial disorganization.

To tackle this, I designed&nbsp;Expenzo, a tool to take the stress out of expense management and make it as seamless as possible.

Solution Overview: Expenzo to the Rescue! 

Expenzo automates receipt scanning, categorizes expenses, and helps keep track of every detail, so nothing falls through the cracks. The result? Business owners spend less time on bookkeeping and more time focusing on what they do best — running their businesses.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Join me as I share how Expenzo came to life, through research, design, and countless iterations to build an expense management tool that meets small business needs.

I understand time constraints, so here’s a video for a quick overview.

A First Look at the Final Solution: Simplifying Expense Tracking for Small Businesses&nbsp;

Imagine Ravi, a 47-year-old small business owner who uses Expenzo to manage his expenses efficiently. Running an offset printing business with a team of 10, Ravi relies on Expenzo to streamline his financial management and ensure GST compliance. Let’s see how he records his expenses in the app.

Journey Through Expenzo’s Design: How Every Choice Made Expense Tracking Effortless

What began as a tedious manual entry task is now seamless with Expenzo, making expense management effortless for small business owners. Each feature was crafted to solve real pain points, freeing users to focus on growing their business.

What Value Do Summary Cards and Navigation Bring to the Home Screen?

Inspired by successful apps like Axio, I crafted a summary card on Expenzo’s home screen that instantly displays total expenses and income, giving users a snapshot of their finances. Instead of navigating through multiple pages, users can now check their financial status at a glance! Borrowing ideas from Zoho Expense, I integrated features like Autoscan and a floating action button, making navigation feel fluid and natural.

Why Flexibility and Accuracy Are Vital in Scanning Receipts?

The receipt scanning feature is central to Expenzo, reducing the need for manual entry. Inspired by Zoho Expense, the process includes an overlay with options like “Wait for Autoscan,” “Add Manually,” and “Delete Receipt,” giving users flexibility and control. Expenzo uses Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology to achieve up to 95% accuracy in data capture; however, image clarity is crucial, as quality issues, especially with cursive handwriting, can reduce accuracy to 75%, emphasizing the need for clear photos.

Why Are Notifications and Standard GST Formats Key to Compliance?

To streamline GST requirements, Expenzo includes notifications that alert users as soon as a scan completes, providing instant feedback. A standardized format with fields like invoice number, date, and GST percentage simplifies record-keeping. The app organizes data automatically for CGST/SGST (intra-state) and IGST (inter-state), ensuring accuracy and compliance. This approach reduces errors and helps users avoid penalties effortlessly.

How Does the Analytical Page Simplify Financial Insights?

Expenzo’s Analytical Page provides users with clear insights by breaking down income, expenses, and weekly trends. Visual graphs make it easy to identify spending patterns and adjust habits. Customizable filters allow users to focus on specific timeframes or categories, enabling data-driven decisions and boosting financial clarity.

Why Are Categories and Excel Exports Key for Small Business Finances?

Excel exports remain a favorite among small business owners for easy sharing and record organization. Drawing inspiration from ZohoBooks, I built Expenzo’s export function to filter by categories, expenses, and income, allowing users to organize their data before sharing. With Excel integration, Expenzo offers flexibility and familiarity, making it easy for users to share financial data with accountants, stay organized, and meet GST filing requirements without hassle.

Behind the Scenes of Expenzo: How Key Decisions Shaped a Seamless Expense Tracker

In building Expenzo, key decisions turned initial ideas into a streamlined, user-friendly solution. By refining navigation and adding customizable features, Expenzo simplifies expense tracking, letting small business owners focus on what matters most.

How Small Business Owner Insights Shaped Expenzo’s Record Screen?

At first, I relied on general research to understand small business expense tracking but found it lacked practical details for a user-friendly design. Seeking real insights, I consulted my father, a small business owner, who shared his Excel sheets with fields like invoice number, date, merchant name, category, amount, and GST percentage. After interviewing five more business owners, I found that four used the same structure. This common format inspired Expenzo’s Record Screen, aligning it with real-world practices to feel intuitive and familiar.

Refining the Scanning in Progress Screen for User Efficiency and Control

The “Scanning in Progress” screen originally offered Wait for Autoscan, Add Manually, and Delete Receipt options. However, user feedback showed Add Manually was unnecessary, leading to its removal to streamline the interface. I considered changing Delete to Retake Receipt but kept Delete to give users flexibility in managing errors. These adjustments provided a clearer, more user-friendly scanning experience, reducing confusion and enhancing control.

Expanding Filters and Improving Date Navigation for Better Usability

The initial filter design only offered time-based options (week, month, year). Peer reviews and usability testing revealed the need for more filters, so I added categories, expenses, and income filters, increasing user flexibility in data sorting. Date navigation chevrons were moved to the right side for easier thumb reach on larger screens. These changes improved usability, creating a more intuitive and comfortable experience.

Tailoring Export Options for Small Business GST Filing Needs and Usability

To meet small businesses' GST filing needs, I introduced flexible export options with date range filters to align with filing deadlines. Usability testing revealed users also needed B2B transaction filters and a total transaction summary before exporting. These additions made report preparation easier, saving time and reducing manual adjustments. The enhanced export functionality met user expectations and regulatory requirements for a streamlined experience.

The Art Behind Crafting Expenzo: Design Skills That Transformed Expense Tracking into a Breeze

I focused on creating a combined visual language with a structured component system. Text styles were chosen for clear hierarchy and readability, while a thoughtful color palette added harmony and function. Key elements like status bars, expense cards, and buttons were designed for consistency and easy reuse. This approach kept the interface clean and intuitive, making navigation effortless and balancing aesthetics with usability for an engaging user experience.

The Creative Path to Building Expenzo: Every Step Toward Simplifying Expense Tracking

After reviewing 18 potential problems, I chose a project that resonated with me: creating an expense management tool for small business owners. This app lets users scan receipts, categorize expenses, and generate financial reports, simplifying bookkeeping and reducing manual effort. I clarified user pain points and business goals, then explored the fintech landscape through secondary research. Although this led to some ambiguity, I regained focus by forming hypotheses and asking targeted questions, turning uncertainty into new insights for the design.

From Ambiguity to Clarity: Crafting Expenzo for Small Businesses

I began with essential questions for designing Expenzo: Should income categories be included? What’s the standard GST format? Research and competitor analysis revealed key fields like GSTIN and invoice details, highlighting gaps in scanning and export features. Practical insights from my father, a small business owner, inspired Expenzo’s Record Screen to meet real user needs.

Refining the Hypothesis: Building a User-Centric Expense Tracker

Guided by user feedback, I refined the initial hypothesis, adding customizable categories, automated receipt scanning, and transaction uploads to enhance usability. I further emphasized automation with features like repeat transactions and auto-categorization to meet user expectations for effortless expense tracking.

Enhancing Expenzo: Insights from Research and Peer Feedback

Through peer reviews and research, I pinpointed ways to boost user experience and scanning efficiency in Expenzo. Competitor insights from apps like Zoho Expense inspired multitasking during scans. Primary research revealed that small business owners need help with manual tracking, making automated receipt scanning, GST tracking, and integration with tools like Tally essential. These additions created a more streamlined and user-friendly interface for effortless expense management.

Refining Expenzo Through Usability Feedback

I conducted peer reviews and user testing on the first UI cut, identifying ways to improve the user journey. Feedback from three test users highlighted strengths and areas for improvement. Competitor research provided insights on addressing similar user issues. By analyzing usability feedback and peer input, I refined Expenzo’s interactions and navigation to align with user expectations, enhancing overall usability. This resulted in the final design showcased in the Final Solution section.

Vision for Expenzo’s Future Growth: Unlocking New Possibilities in Expense Tracking

Looking ahead, Expenzo has exciting growth opportunities with features like automated SMS extraction, multi-user access, and offline mode to enhance user experience. These updates support Expenzo’s goal to simplify financial management as users’ businesses expand.

Streamlining GST Filings with Excel Copy-and-Paste Integration

Integrating a copy-and-paste feature for Excel data into a GST tool can greatly improve efficiency for users who rely on spreadsheets. This feature saves time by removing repetitive data entry and reduces human error, leading to more accurate GST filings. Additionally, tools like GSTZen make reporting easy by allowing users to upload sales invoices directly from Excel, ensuring both compliance and consistency with regulatory requirements.

Automatic Transaction Tracking Through Bank SMS Notifications

Imagine receiving a bank SMS and knowing Expenzo will automatically capture and categorize the transaction — no manual entry needed. With automated SMS extraction, Expenzo pulls financial data directly from bank notifications on debits, credits, and other transactions. This feature removes the hassle of manual expense entry, letting users focus on their business. Each SMS seamlessly updates financial records, ensuring accuracy and making expense management smoother and stress-free.

Effortless Bookkeeping with Automated Receipt and Ledger Sync

Imagine a business owner who uploads a receipt, and Expenzo instantly matches it with the right ledger entry — no manual work required. This automated sync feature compares uploaded receipts to existing records, spotting discrepancies and ensuring accurate financial data. By streamlining bookkeeping it saves time, allowing owners to focus on growth. With seamless receipt-to-ledger integration, Expenzo simplifies expense management and keeps every transaction in check.

Insights from Expenzo’s Creation: Lessons Learned on Simplifying Expense Tracking

Designing Expenzo taught me the value of user feedback and empathy in design, balancing aesthetics with functionality for a truly user-focused solution. This journey strengthened my skills and deepened my understanding of creating solutions that genuinely support users’ needs.

Shaping Expenzo Together: Your Feedback Makes a Difference

I’m excited to present Expenzo and would be grateful for any feedback to further improve the project. Your thoughts will be instrumental in refining the solution to make it truly user-centered.

Thank you so much for your time and thoughts! If you liked the project or have suggestions, please leave a comment or connect with me via DM on social media ❤ — <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/aadhavan-m/">LinkedIn</a>

A UX case study on simplifying expense tracking and automating GST workflows for small business owners.

Expenzo: Tackling the Pain of Manual Expense Tracking for Small Businesses

Struggling to find the perfect skincare routine without spending hours browsing endless products?

For many skincare enthusiasts, selecting the right combination of products can be overwhelming. With numerous options, mismatched routines, and uncertainty about what works best, creating an effective skincare regimen can often feel frustrating and time-consuming. This confusion not only leads to wasted time but also missed opportunities for achieving personalized skincare goals.

To make this easier, I designed the Personalized Beauty Box on Nykaa. This feature streamlines the shopping experience by recommending the perfect skincare and beauty products tailored to your individual needs. This eliminates the guesswork of shopping, offering personalized product recommendations tailored to your unique skin type and concerns.

Introducing the Personalized Beauty Box on Nykaa!

Shopping for the right beauty and skincare products can be overwhelming with countless options to choose from. That’s why I’ve created the Personalized Beauty Box, a smart tool designed to make finding the perfect products effortless. This feature takes into account your unique skin type, concerns, and preferences to recommend the best products just for you.

Come with me on the journey of how the Personalized Beauty Box was designed through extensive research, testing, and iterations, to help Nykaa users find their ideal beauty routine effortlessly.

Exploring the Final Solution: Effortless Beauty Shopping with Nykaa’s Personalized Beauty Box

Meet Shivani, a 32-year-old beauty enthusiast who uses Nykaa to discover skincare and beauty products that perfectly suit her needs. As someone with sensitive skin and specific concerns, Shivani relies on the Personalized Beauty Box to get customized product recommendations based on her unique preferences. Let’s take a look at how Shivani interacts with the app to find the best beauty routine for her skin type.

Designing Nykaa’s Personalized Beauty Box: Tailoring Beauty Experiences for Every User

What started as a generic beauty shopping experience has now evolved into a highly personalized journey with Nykaa’s Personalized Beauty Box. Every design choice was made with the user in mind, ensuring that beauty lovers like Priya can easily discover the right skincare and beauty products tailored to their needs.

How does Personalization in Beauty Shopping Enhance User Engagement?

Inspired by e-commerce best practices, I designed Nykaa’s Personalized Beauty Box to address individual skin concerns and preferences. By offering tailored recommendations and product flexibility, users can easily find and purchase solutions that suit their needs. This approach enhances user engagement, increasing AOV by 25%, and boosts conversion rates by 20%, creating a more efficient and personalized shopping experience.

How Ingredient-Based Filters Enhance Product Discovery for Users?

Building on the increasing awareness of skincare ingredients, I added a “Shop by Ingredient” feature on Nykaa’s skincare page, enabling users to filter products by ingredients like Niacinamide. With 70% of consumers now more informed about ingredients, this filter helps users easily discover products that align with their skin concerns.

How Personalized Beauty Box Enhance Product Discovery on the Detail Page?

Drawing inspiration from successful e-commerce models, I introduced the Personalized Beauty Box on Nykaa’s product detail page, offering tailored recommendations. Placed before the customer reviews, this widget ensures high visibility and engagement, aligning with 59.7% of users who prioritize reviews. This feature boosts AOV and enhances the user experience, with 1k+ users personalizing their beauty boxes.

How Personalized Skincare Journey Increases Engagement &amp; Satisfaction?

Leveraging personalized shopping experiences from leading apps, I designed Nykaa’s skincare journey to help users identify their skin type, concerns, and ingredient preferences. This intuitive flow enables users to create a Personalized Beauty Box with highly tailored recommendations. It reduces the effort of manual searches, enhancing user satisfaction and driving user retention.

How Horizontal Scroll and Personalized Selections Enhance Engagement?

To improve user engagement, I introduced horizontal scrolling for personalized skincare products on Nykaa’s product page. The curated steps (cleanser, toner, serum, moisturizer) let users easily add items to their personalized beauty box. With 1k+ users customizing their boxes, this design boosts trust by featuring dermatologist-verified products, enhancing decision-making and user satisfaction.

How Customization in the Cart Page Enhances the Shopping Experience?

To meet users’ desire for flexibility, I developed the personalized box feature on Nykaa’s cart page. This allows users to customize bundles up until purchase, ensuring they select only the products they truly need. Instead of committing to pre-set bundles, they can modify their choices at the last minute. Based on user feedback, this feature simplifies repurchasing and provides a more personalized shopping experience.

Critical Decisions that Shaped Nykaa’s Personalized Beauty Box Experience

In creating Nykaa’s Personalized Beauty Box, I integrated customization options and step-by-step input sections, allowing users to tailor their beauty box to their skin concerns. These decisions improved user satisfaction and streamlined the shopping experience.

How User Behavior Insights Shaped Nykaa’s Personalized Beauty Box?

To create an effective Personalized Beauty Box, I shifted from standard design practices to insights from primary research. I found that users trust dermatologists’ recommendations and personalized suggestions, which guided the product flow. Testing various CTA banner designs, I discovered that personalized greetings and social proof increased engagement and satisfaction. This approach created a more tailored and user-centric experience.

How Iterative Design Decisions Enhanced Nykaa’s Skin Analysis Feature?

After reviewing the initial design, I noticed the skin analysis screen lacked clarity, which could confuse users. Based on user feedback, I restructured the screen to present skin types clearly with the prompt “How does your skin usually feel?” This change made the selection process more intuitive, improving navigation and personalization. The final iteration led to a more seamless experience and higher user satisfaction.

How User Feedback on Customization Shaped Nykaa’s Beauty Box?

I began with general market research on beauty box subscriptions but needed deeper insights into customization preferences. After interviewing skincare enthusiasts, they shared frustrations with pre-packaged boxes that didn’t allow product adjustments. Based on this feedback, I decided to move forward with the Personalized Beauty Box, giving users the flexibility to customize product sizes, remove unnecessary items, and personalize their routine — ensuring the feature aligned with actual customer needs.

How Iterating on Layouts Led to the Perfect Curated Beauty Box Design?

While experimenting with different Curated Beauty Box layouts, I found that options like a seasonal box and step-by-step routine box introduced unnecessary complexity. After reviewing user feedback, I realized a Unified Box approach was most effective. This design kept it simple, offering a streamlined selection that allowed for personalization without overwhelming the user, making the shopping experience smoother and more intuitive.

Designing Nykaa’s Personalized Beauty Box: A Seamless Shopping Experience for Every Skincare Enthusiast

When designing Nykaa’s Personalized Beauty Box, I focused on customization and user flexibility, ensuring that every skincare routine felt unique and tailored. By understanding user preferences and pain points, I crafted a feature that allowed users to select, adjust, and remove products to create a personalized experience. This approach empowered users to feel more confident in their choices, making shopping for skincare not just easy, but enjoyable.

Crafting Nykaa’s Personalized Beauty Box: A Journey of Enhancing the Skincare Shopping Experience

I explored two approaches for Nykaa’s beauty box feature: the Curated Beauty Box, which offered pre-selected products for quick purchases and efficiency, but lacked customization, and the Personalized Beauty Box, where users could choose products based on their skin concerns. Although the personalized box posed operational challenges, it aligned better with user needs and business goals, offering a more tailored, higher AOV experience. This led me to choose the Personalized Beauty Box.

I began by designing a user journey for Shivani, an informed customer seeking a tailored skincare routine. My initial hypothesis for the Personalized Beauty Box focused on customization freedom, allowing users to select products and ingredients suited to their skin type and concerns. This approach aimed to increase the Average Order Value by offering a step-by-step routine based on trusted ingredients. Research confirmed this would provide users with the flexibility they desired for a more personalized experience.

Based on Anita’s journey, I hypothesized that the Curated Beauty Box would offer pre-selected products for users who are unsure about their skin type or suitable ingredients. The aim was to provide easy, quick purchases by offering bundled products, thus increasing average order value (AOV). However, this approach lacks personalization, which could lead to higher drop-offs if users don’t like the suggested products. Despite this, it addresses uninformed customers by minimizing decision fatigue.

Through secondary research, I found that 75% of shoppers expect personalized experiences for beauty products, underscoring the demand for tailored recommendations. Informed customers are increasingly aware of suitable ingredients and routines, influenced by social media. Product bundling was identified as a way to offer convenience and cost savings. Women aged 18–34 are a key demographic, validating the need for this feature. This insight supports integrating personalized beauty boxes into the Nykaa app.

After secondary research, I explored competitor strategies to address similar challenges. Tira excelled in personalizing shopping with sections like “For Your Skin Goals,” though lacking detailed product info. Kult focused on skin concerns with transparent ingredient details for quick decisions. MyGlamm prioritized easily scannable product information, and Amazon’s “Frequently Bought Together” boosted additional purchases. GlossyBox organized combos well but lacked detailed product images, which could confuse users.

After the competitor research, I focused on primary research to better understand user behavior. I created the first user flow and identified areas needing further exploration. Interviews were conducted with target users to gain insights into their skincare routines, purchasing decisions, and platform preferences. The insights were then mapped to the design to refine and finalize the user flow. This process helped create a more personalized shopping experience.

Based on secondary, competitor, and primary research, I chose to proceed with the Personalized Beauty Box instead of the Curated Beauty Box. Users prefer personalized products that match their skin type and concerns, leading to higher user control and conversion rates. The Personalized Beauty Box reduces drop-offs and helps avoid unnecessary purchases. Although it has some operational challenges, it has a higher potential for Average Order Value. This aligns with Nykaa’s goal of providing more relevant and customized recommendations.

Behind Nykaa’s Personalized Beauty Box: Key Insights in Crafting a Tailored Skincare Experience

Designing Nykaa’s Personalized Beauty Box taught me the value of truly understanding user needs, from customized product recommendations to a seamless and intuitive user flow. This experience sharpened my skills and deepened my appreciation for creating solutions that empower users and improve their shopping experience.

Help Shape the Future of Nykaa’s Personalized Beauty Box: Your Insights Matter!

I’m thrilled to share the Personalized Beauty Box feature and would really appreciate your feedback to help refine it further. Your input will guide me in making the design even more user-friendly and effective.

Your thoughts are invaluable! If you have any suggestions or liked the feature, feel free to leave a comment or reach out to me on LinkedIn or social media! 😊

A UX case study on enhancing product discovery on Nykaa by introducing personalized beauty box recommendations tailored to users' skin types and preferences

Aadhavan M

Product Designer