Mobbin

Mobbin’s U.S. Finance app library

I led Mobbin’s U.S. Finance app library. I researched apps customers wanted to compare, chose the experiences to cover, and captured two apps a week.

Role
UX Content Specialist
UX Designer · MobLift
My scope
Led U.S. Finance app library
Contributed to coverage priorities
Team
Lynette Yap, Rick Lee, Natasha Tan, Jazzy Bui, and Corinne.Lynette led Finance+ overall.
Part of a 30-person team.
Tools
  • Figma
  • Mobbin
  • Notion
  • MobLift

Mobbin internal tool

Why Finance+ existed

Finance teams needed detailed competitive research on U.S. apps. Finance+ gave useful apps and flows a dedicated home when they weren’t a fit for Mobbin’s general inspiration library.

MobbinFinance+

Customer requests

Lynette passed on most customer requests, and Rick shared some too. In Notion, I checked request counts to help prioritize apps.

Some apps I covered

Select a screen to explore the app.

More from my coverage

Wealthfront, Cash App, Public, Bright Money, Uphold, Fundrise, and Lemonade Insurance.

Choosing what to capture

I combined customer requests with apps I found on Design Twitter, in the App Store, and on blogs. I used the apps and unlocked access before choosing what to document.

Research apps

Wealthfront

Requests in Notion helped set priorities. Design Twitter, the App Store, and blogs also led me to apps worth exploring.

Use the app

Welcome
Welcome
Sign in
Sign in
Accounts
Accounts

I used the app myself and unlocked access to its experiences. That meant following the steps, not judging it from a single screen.

Capture each step

Amount
Amount
Review
Review
Done
Done

I captured the app’s experiences step by step so a flow was complete. I avoided duplicate screens and aimed to capture relevant UI elements on the first pass.

Organizing flows and labeling UI

I organized captures into flows and labeled the UI across each screen. Machine-learning and mapping tools helped with the annotations. I also annotated captures from freelancers and teammates.

PayPal

Request money

Complete flow

Every step, every screen

The flow gives a researcher the complete sequence. UI labels make the elements within each screen searchable.

PayPal

Request money

Tap through the flow, then inspect its UI.

Inspect a screen

PayPal request money: Amount

Selected element

Amount, currency, note, actions, keyboard: I labeled the elements across the whole screen, then cleaned up the annotations.

Open in Mobbin

PayPal: prioritizing crypto

PayPal had repetitive, outdated, and off-app screens. I focused on buying, selling, and sending crypto because I saw PayPal emphasizing those experiences.

PayPal

Buy crypto

Select a screen to inspect its UI

Elements on this screen

Enter amount

  • Amount input
  • One-time selector
  • Rate disclosure
  • Number pad
Open in Mobbin

What I left out

Currency exchange: I couldn’t complete buying one currency, converting it, and sending it. I excluded the broken flow.

What made the cut

Research value mattered alongside design quality. A useful competitor could be worth covering even when its UX was less exemplary.

Expanding requested coverage

The library grew around the competitors customers wanted to research. My contribution was the U.S. coverage: researching apps, choosing useful flows, publishing captures, and checking when they needed updating.

Next case study

MobLift

An internal tool I built because capturing apps was slow and cumbersome.