Awaken Financial Services

Empowering Creatives to Take Control of Their Finances

Timeline: June-July 2024

Platform: Responsive Website

My Role: UX Designer, Product Manager

Introduction

Awaken Financial Services is dedicated to helping creatives and entrepreneurs take control of their financial futures. Their services include bookkeeping, consulting, and tax readiness, catering to individuals who often feel overwhelmed by financial management. This case study explores the design process behind creating an intuitive and engaging website that empowers users to access financial support with ease.

My Role

As the UX Designer and Product Manager, I was responsible for:

Conducting user research to understand the needs of creatives and entrepreneurs.
Designing wireframes and prototypes for a responsive website.
Collaborating with developers to ensure a seamless implementation.
Overseeing usability testing to refine the user experience.

Problem

Many creatives and entrepreneurs struggle with financial management due to a lack of accessible, and clear financial resources and guidance. The challenge was to understand the specific financial needs of creatives and identify which key services would help them manage their finances effectively. By gaining insights into their pain points and expectations, we aimed to design a website that not only provided essential financial services but also educated users on financial best practices.

Goals

To design a user-friendly, accessible, and visually appealing website that:

Clearly communicates the financial services offered.
Provides an intuitive and frictionless user experience.
Encourages users to take action and seek financial consulting.
Builds trust and confidence in financial management.

Limitations

Time was a major constraint for this project, with only one month scheduled for completion. Given the time limitations, only five participants were recruited for user interviews. Due to budget restrictions, a lower-tier subscription of Squarespace (the hosting platform) was used which contributed to design restrictions. Additionally, design limitations arose when adapting the designs from Figma to Squarespace.

Impact

The final design resulted in:

Increased user engagement, with a clear information hierarchy.
A responsive and accessible design, ensuring seamless experiences across devices.
An intuitive contact page and website section that streamlined user engagement with the company.
Minimum viable product that provided digital visibility for the company.

Research

The initial phase involved:

Conducted competitive analysis, SWOT analysis
Conduct user interviews
Defining user personas based on research into creative professionals and entrepreneurs.
Identifying key pain points and mapping out user journeys.
Sketching wireframes and creating low-fidelity prototypes.

User Interviews

To gain deeper insights into the challenges faced by creatives, I conducted interviews with five individuals from different creative fields and entrepreneurs , to better understand the following:

Financial Management Challenges

How creatives currently manage their finances (e.g., spreadsheets, apps, or professional services).
Pain points in tracking income, expenses, and taxes.
Challenges specific to irregular or fluctuating income2

Awareness and Use of Financial Services

Whether users have used financial consulting, bookkeeping, or tax preparation services before.
Barriers preventing users from seeking professional financial help.
Desired improvements in existing financial tools or services.

Key Financial Needs for Creatives

What features or support creatives need to manage their finances effectively.
Whether they prefer automated financial tools, personalized consulting, or a combination of both.
Level of financial literacy and the need for educational resources.

4. Emotional Relationship with Finances

Feelings of stress, confidence, or anxiety around financial management.
How financial uncertainty impacts their work and decision-making.
Trust and expectations from a financial service provider.

Primary Research Questions:

How do you currently manage your finances?

What are the biggest challenges you face in financial management?

Have you ever used a financial consulting or bookkeeping service before? Why or why not?

How comfortable are you with tax preparation and financial planning?

Research Results and Take Aways

All of participants experienced difficulty in tracking irregular income due to lack of time, motivation, frustration and/or lack of knowledge in using financial management platforms like Quickbooks. They find budgeting and financial planing stressful as well preparing for tax filing.

Participants who had more income or bigger businesses, such as Talent Managers, used financial services in the past. The freelancers with smaller business, like Photographers did not due to lack of funds.

1 out 5 were comfortable in both tax preparation and financial planning. 2 out of the 5 participants we comfortable with just tax preparation. But all five were uncomfortable with financial planning.

Key Pain Points

From the interviews, the most common pain points identified were:

Lack of financial literacy and education ( users would prefer simple, jargon free financial explanation).
Difficulty in tracking irregular income.
Overwhelming tax preparation process.
Frustration with complex accounting tools.
Fear of making financial mistakes due to lack of guidance.

I sought to understanding the emotional relationship creatives have with finances was key. Many users expressed anxiety around financial management.

Personas

Persona 1: The Freelance Artist

Name: Alex Rivera
Age: 29
Occupation: Freelance Illustrator & Graphic Designer
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Income: Varies ($3K - $6K per month)
Financial Pain Points:

Struggles with irregular income tracking
Overwhelmed by tax season
Wants simple, jargon-free financial education

Goals:

Learn how to manage inconsistent cash flow
Reduce tax-related stress
Find a bookkeeping system that’s easy to use

Tech & Tools:

Uses PayPal, Venmo, and CashApp for payments
Relies on spreadsheets for basic tracking

Solution:
Awaken Financial can provide Alex with simple bookkeeping solutions and personalized tax readiness services to help them stay financially organized.

Persona 2: The Entrepreneur

Name: Jordan Carter
Age: 35
Occupation: Owner of a Small Creative Agency
Location: Austin, TX
Income: $80K per year
Financial Pain Points:

Has multiple revenue streams to manage
Struggles with budgeting for business growth
Needs professional financial guidance

Goals:

Organize business finances efficiently
Make informed financial decisions for scaling
Avoid financial mistakes and penalties

Tech & Tools:

Uses QuickBooks, understands it for the most part, but sometimes finds it complex
Relies on contractors for work

Solution:
Awaken Financial’s consulting services will help Jordan gain financial clarity, while bookkeeping support will ensure smooth financial management.

80 % of the participants used financial platforms like Quickbooks to manage their finances while the other 20 % used spreadsheets.

Early Ideation

Based on the research, including user interview, pain points and personas, three essential services were highlited to meet the needs of the users. Bookeeping, Consulting and Tax Readiness.

Final Design

"Learn More" Button, Clear Call-to-Action (CTA): A prominent "Learn More" button invites visitors to explore Awaken Financial's offerings, guiding them toward taking actionable steps in their financial management journey

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(Click on picture to enlarge)

Slogan and value proposition: "Financial Solutions for Creatives and Entrepreneurs. It's time to thrive, not just in your craft – but in your financial journey."

This slogan conveys both empowerment and practical support, directly addressing the core pain points of the target audience, creatives and entrepreneurs, by offering tailored financial solutions.

The term "Financial Solutions" reassures users that the services offered are designed to simplify financial management, providing a structured way to handle bookkeeping, consulting, and tax readiness.
"It’s time to thrive" conveys a shift from merely surviving financially to gaining control and confidence over one's financial future.
"But in your financial journey" reframes finances as a journey rather than a burden, suggesting that Awaken Financial Services is there to guide and support them every step of the way.

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Mission Statement and value propostion: "Awaken Financial, we believe that every creative has the potential to excel financially. We will empower you to invest in your financial future with confidence and discipline."

This mission statement clearly conveys the value proposition by emphasizing empowerment, confidence, and financial discipline—all essential for addressing the financial struggles creatives and entrepreneurs face.

"Empowering creatives to take control of their finances." Tackles: Financial literacy gaps, complex tools, and fear of mistakes. Provides knowledge and tools, not just services. Simplifies financial management for overwhelmed users.
"Every creative has the potential to excel financially." Tackles: Fear of failure, self-doubt, and irregular income. Reinforces that financial success is achievable.
"We will empower you to invest in your financial future with confidence and discipline." Tackles: Tax stress, budgeting struggles, and need for guidance. Provides structure and support to ease financial anxiety.

The services page highlights the three core offerings—Bookkeeping, Consulting, and Tax Readiness. Each service is clearly defined to address specific pain points identified during user research, such as difficulty in tracking irregular income and overwhelming tax preparation processes. which also building trust and transparency. Key words are also used here such as " accounting", "practical advice" "finances" , "tax preparer" ; These SEO Strategies help make it easier for potential customers to find the site.

Clear keywords are used throughout the website to improve SEO. Keywords such as "Financial Solutions" and "Empowering Creatives and Entrepreneurs" are used to increase website traffic, particularly attracting target audience. Other Keywords like "Bookkeeping" "Tax" and "Consulting" are also use to advertise Awaken's services but to also attack key users in search of these services.

Client testimonials were included to add credibility and showcases the tangible benefits of Awaken Financial's Services (AFS). For example, clients have praised the company for organizing their finances and providing step-by-step guidance, which has been described as "life-changing.". They help differentiate AFS from competitors, ultimately encouraging conversions and fostering long-term relationships with clients.

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Key words are used thougout the website For Search Engine Optimization Purposes

Logo Branding: A Compass for Guidance

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A compass was designed the Awaken Financial Services logo to symbolize guidance, direction, and clarity in financial journeys. Just as a compass helps navigate through uncertain terrain, it reflects how Awaken Financial Services helps clients navigate the complexities of their finances, ensuring they stay on course toward their financial goals with confidence and support.

A rich, deep reddish-brown and green is used for the logo and throughout the website as part of the branding. The reddish-brown color is often associated with creativity, warmth, reliability, and strength. The green allures to finance and money. the combination of both colors are essential for targeting creatives and entrepreneurs.

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Development

I designed this responsive website ( adaptable to desktop, mobile and tablet) on Squarespace.

Future Steps

Conduct User Testing – Given the urgency of launching this website, there was very little time to test the website with other users. Although untested with targeted audience, this minimal viable product was essential for the company's digital presence and functions. It will be important in the near future to gather feedback from creatives and entrepreneurs to identify other usability pain points and areas for improvement.
Iterate on Design – Refine the website based on user insights to enhance clarity, navigation, and overall user experience.
Enhance Financial Tools – Introduce interactive features like budgeting calculators and financial planning guides.
Update platform- There were some design restrictions using Squarespace. Due to budget limitations, a lower-tier subscription was chosen, which further added to these constraints. In the future, a platform like Webflow could be used to better support design iterations and adaptations.
Optimize for Engagement – Implement analytics to track user behavior and refine content to increase conversions and engagement.