Accounting Hero GIZ App

My Role

Lead Product Designer

UIUX Designer

Task

Design and Development of the Built GIZ App an expense and income tracking solution for small-scale business owners in remote areas of Sierra Leone, funded by GIZ. The app also provides key insights into debtors, creditors, and profit and loss to help users make better financial decisions and manage their businesses effectively.

Responsibilities

Wire framing

Visual Design

User Interface Design

User Experience Design

Micro interactions Design

High Fidelity Prototyping

Interaction Design

Tools

Project Duration

2 Weeks

PROBLEM STATEMENT

Many small-scale business owners in remote parts of Sierra Leone struggle to manage their finances effectively due to limited access to reliable accounting tools, unstable internet connectivity, and low financial literacy. They often lose track of expenses, income, debtors, and creditors, making it difficult to assess profits or losses accurately. This lack of financial visibility hinders business growth and decision-making. There is a need for a lightweight, easy-to-use mobile app that helps entrepreneurs record, track, and analyze their financial activities offline and online.

Solutions

Offline Functionality:
The Built GIZ App is designed to work seamlessly both online and offline, ensuring users in remote areas with poor internet access can still record transactions and manage finances effectively.
Simplified Expense & Income Tracking:
Provides an intuitive interface that allows users to easily log daily income and expenses, categorize them, and view real-time summaries of their cash flow.
Debtors & Creditors Management:
Helps business owners keep track of who owes them (debtors) and whom they owe (creditors), with reminders and summaries to improve accountability and reduce financial losses.
Profit & Loss Insights:
Automatically calculates and displays profit and loss reports to help users understand their business performance and make informed financial decisions.
Lightweight & Data-Efficient Design:
Optimized to consume minimal mobile data and storage, ensuring smooth performance even on low-end devices.
Financial Literacy Support:
Offers simple tips, guides, and visual reports to help users understand their financial data and develop better money management habits.

Design Process

Test

Observe
Measure
Refine
Improve

I began with a User centered approach involving a mixture of the traditional method and the double diamond approach

Empathize

User Research

Survey

Define

Goals

Wants

Needs

Ideate

Brainstorm
Create
Visualize
Refine

Prototype

Design
Test
Iterate
Validate

Process

1. Research & Discovery
- Conduct stakeholder interviews with GIZ project managers and target users.
- Define user needs, goals, and pain points.
- Develop user personas and user journey maps.
- Identify core features based on GIZ program objectives (e.g., skills training, jobs, funding, mentorship).

2. Information Architecture & UX Design
- Create the sitemap and define navigation flow.
- Develop wireframes for key screens (Home, Courses, Mentorship, Opportunities, Profile, etc.).
- Ensure accessibility and usability for youth with varying digital literacy levels.

3. Visual Design
- Define brand color scheme, typeface, and iconography consistent with GIZ’s branding guidelines.
- Design high-fidelity UI mockups and prototypes for mobile and web platforms.
- Prepare a design system for consistency and scalability.

4. Prototyping & Testing
- Build a clickable prototype using Figma.
- Conduct internal usability testing with 5–10 target users.
- Collect feedback, identify usability issues, and refine the design.

Launch & Handoff
- Prepare final documentation (Design System + User Flow + Prototype Links).
- Conduct final review with GIZ stakeholders.
- Handoff final deliverables for development and deployment.

EMPATHY MAP

I use an empathy map to understand church members’ and admins’ needs, helping me design a solution that improves worship, communication, and management.

THINKS

SAYS

DOES

FEELS

I need to know if my business is making profit or loss.

It’s hard to keep track of who owes me and how much I owe others.

I want an easier way to record my daily sales and expenses.

Writes down transactions manually in notebooks.

Tries to remember or ask around for unpaid debts

Occasionally uses a calculator or spreadsheet to balance income and expenses

I just want to know how my business is doing at a glance.

I need something that shows who owes me money.

I don’t understand complicated financial tools.

Frustrated by losing financial records due to poor connectivity or paper tracking.

Motivated to grow the business but lacks tools for financial visibility.

Anxious about forgetting debts or payments.

PAIN POINTS

Manual Record-Keeping – Users rely on notebooks or memory to track income, expenses, and debts, which leads to errors and lost data.

Difficulty Tracking Debtors and Creditors – Users often forget who owes them or whom they owe, causing confusion and financial loss over time.

Lack of Financial Clarity – Business owners struggle to understand their profit, loss, or cash flow due to limited accounting knowledge and complex digital tools.

USER PERSONAS

Mariatu Kamara – The Market Trader

Age: 34
Location: Sierra Leone
Occupation: Small market trader (sells food items)
Goals:
- Easily record daily sales and expenses
- Know her profit or loss at the end of the week
- Track customers who buy on credit
Challenges:
- Limited internet connection
- Struggles with complex apps
- Often forgets to record small transactions

Alusine Conteh – The Tailor

Age: 29
Location: Kenema, Sierra Leone
Occupation: Tailor and small business owner
Goals:
- Monitor business income versus material costs
- Manage payments from customers
- Understand business performance monthly
Challenges:
- Uses paper to record transactions
- Doesn’t understand accounting terms
- Limited access to training or digital tools

Fatmata Sesay – The Shop Owner

Age: 41
Location: Makeni, Sierra Leone
Occupation: Mini shop owner
Goals:
- Easily see who owes her money
- Track inventory and daily profit
- Manage finances with or without internet.
Challenges:
- Internet is unreliable
- Finds most apps too complicated
- Lacks proper bookkeeping skills

Ibrahim Kargbo – The Mobile Money Agent

Age: 33
Location: Freetown, Sierra Leone
Occupation: Mobile money and phone credit vendor.
Goals:
- Keep accurate records of deposits and withdrawals
- Track debts owed by regular customers
- Manage finances efficiently from his phone.
Challenges:
- Limited time to do manual entries
- Needs fast, offline, and simple app experience
- Wants to avoid errors that cause financial loss