Oak

Oak is an iOS personal finance application designed to transform financial tracking from a stressful analytical task into a more reflective and engaging experience. Rather than relying on dense dashboards and charts, Oak visualizes financial health through a dynamic Money Tree that grows or decays in response to spending behavior.

Users can import transaction data from their bank, set savings goals, and replay their financial history through an interactive timeline to understand how daily decisions shape long-term outcomes.

I designed and developed Oak as part of a university HCI project, exploring whether metaphorical visualizations could better support reflection and encourage positive financial behaviors compared to traditional banking interfaces.

Key features

• 🌳 Interactive 3D Money Tree visualization
• 📈 Financial timeline replay
• 🎯 Savings goal management
• 🏦 CSV-based bank transaction import
• 📳 Haptic feedback and animated interactions
• 🧪 Think-aloud usability evaluation and controlled HCI experiment

Results A study with 10 participants found that users generally perceived the tree metaphor as intuitive, emotionally engaging, and effective at communicating financial well-being. However, participants also requested complementary analytical views, highlighting the importance of balancing emotional design with transparency and actionable insights.