Freenance
Freenance is a concept for a finance platform that helps freelancers track irregular income, organize expenses, and better understand taxes. The project focuses on reducing financial stress by making key tasks clearer and easier to manage.
Role: UX/UI Designer
Scope: Research, information architecture, user flows, wireframing, testing
Timeline: 2 weeks
-
Freelancers experience fluctuating monthly income, which complicates tracking reimbursements, deposits, fees, and expenses.
-
Many freelancers lack clarity around tax deductions and opportunities to save.
Problem Statement 1: Irregular income is hard to track.
Freelancers fluctuating monthly income, making it difficult to maintain and monitor a consistent account balance.
Problem Statement 2: Taxes are complex and confusing for freelancers.
Declaring taxes is already a complex process for most people. For freelancers, it becomes even more challenging due to factors such as overseas clients, delayed payments from previous tax years, and variable income sources.
.png)
Project Goals
-
Help users track income and expenses clearly
-
Make tax information easier to understand
-
Support everyday financial visibility for freelancers
Growth
Loyalty
Efficiency
UX Research
Context
Freelancing presents challenges that differ significantly from those of a corporate job. Beyond finding clients and maintaining professional networks, freelancers must navigate complex financial questions: How do I manage pension contributions? How do I handle taxes when working with overseas clients? How should I price my services?
Research Plan & Project Scope
UX Research Plan
The freenance UX research plan covers the entire process, from conducting interviews and recruiting participants to developing and testing a final prototype.
Process Overview
-
Conducting Interviews
-
Analyzing Results
-
Creating Research Personas
-
Defining Project Goals
-
Creating a Site Map
-
Developing Task Flows & User Flows
-
Designing Low-Fidelity Wireframes
-
Establishing Product Style
-
Designing High-Fidelity Wireframes
-
Prototyping & Testing
-
Iterations
-
Findings & Conclusions
Interviews
Network Mind-map
First Goals
-
Create an app or website that allows freelancers to record their income, manage expenses, and categorize those expenses.
-
Help users easily understand which types of expenses are tax-deductible for freelancers.
-
Provide clear explanations of different types of income and their tax implications.
-
Allow users to track their income regularly and in real time.
-
Identify the top 16 categories where freelancers spend the most money.
First Results
Pain Points
Word of mouth and industry connections remain the primary ways freelancers secure work. Attending meetings, post-work meetups, and industry events is time-consuming but often necessary. Many freelancers struggle to break into established professional circles, particularly in industries such as theatre and film.
Late payments are a major challenge, with freelancers often waiting 35–60 days to receive payment. Income inconsistency makes it difficult to budget, plan for taxes, and cover family expenses. Tax systems add another layer of complexity, especially for freelancers working internationally (for example, navigating differences between the Swiss and German tax systems).
Meet Alex & Robbin
UX Research Personas
Alex and Robin represent the average freelancer. Research showed that freelancers can be categorized into two major groups: those who are new to freelancing versus veterans, and those with established recurring clients versus those without
* Photos generated with AI
Information Architecture
Site Map
A site map shows where in a general overlook how the site is organized. It lays out in a visual way were the information of the site is. Usually it is conform by a tree organizational diagram.
-
Keep track of expenses
-
Organized the expenses in real time in categories users need
-
Offer pedagogical information on how to manage taxes
Task Flows & User flows
.png)
I mapped out the key user flows to understand how freelancers would complete essential tasks and where friction might occur.
The main focus was on linking a bank account and accessing tax-related information, as these are central to managing income and understanding financial obligations.
.png)
UI Design
Low-Fidelity Wireframes
The low-fidelity wireframes translate the site map and user flows into a first structured layout.
The focus was on organizing content, defining hierarchy, and shaping how users navigate the product.
Early on, I explored whether the product should be web-based or mobile-first, as this decision influences feature prioritization and interaction patterns.
Product Style
Bright colours with strong contrast were chosen to guide the visual design. A limited palette of three consistent colours was used to create a formal yet joyful aesthetic.
Thick lines were applied to icons and symbols, paired with a sans-serif typeface that communicates clearly and immediately.
.png)
High-Fidelity Wireframes & Prototyping
The high-fidelity wireframes demonstrate how the color palette is applied, how information is laid out, and how interactions function between screens. Together with prototyping, this stage is part of the UX process used to refine and iterate on the design before launch.
The final Freenance experience is clear, easy, and fast.
Findings
Most recurrent
•Hierarchy could be improved — sometimes it's unclear what the main action on the page is.
•Headings and labels could use more contrast
Middle range
•Icons are lacking in some flows, which makes certain tasks feel flat or to much text.
•Like the logo, the colours, and the feel, but the symbols are to big.
•The layout of the pages is clear but uninteresting, very big titles.
Less mentioned
•The video page is ugly.
•Could use more shadows or colours to generate layers in the menus so they are not that flat.
Iteration & Re-Design
The changes made after the final round of testing focused on style, color, and overall aesthetics. These refinements improved the flow and made the user experience smoother and more engaging. Freelancers responded positively and indicated they would be willing to continue using the product.
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)
Takeaways
Working on this case study has been a very rewarding experience. Constantly seeking feedback is a new skill I developed during this project.
The task flows and site map were especially valuable for revisiting the project’s structure and confirming design intentions.
Creating the wireframes was the most challenging part, as I tend to make assumptions and skip steps, which required extra attention to detail.
.png)
.png)
.png)
.png)