Product Design, UX/UI Design
Role: Lead Designer
Timeline: Jan - April 2026, 4 Months
Concept Invoicing App
Overview
The Challenges
Freelancers, small business owners, and project-based professionals often manage invoices across disconnected tools, email threads, spreadsheets, payment apps, and memory. These fragmented workflows create confusion, increase manual effort, and make it harder for users to confidently understand what has been sent, what has been paid, and what still needs attention. It also causes these challenges:
- Users struggle to track invoices across platforms
- Many rely on memory or payment history instead of systems
- Invoicing is described as “anxiety-inducing” and uncertain
Early research showed that invoicing was not only inefficient for many users but also emotionally stressful.
The Goal
Design an invoicing experience that helps users create, send, organize, and track invoices in one place, with stronger clarity, simpler workflows, and better visibility into payment status.
- Create, send, and track invoices in one place
- Clearly understand the payment status
- Reduce manual work and cognitive load
Kickoff and Research
Kickoff
I began the project with a research phase focused on empathizing with users and defining the problem space. I found qualitative research methods to be very useful. The research consisted of initial user interviews to get a better understanding of the problem, competitive analysis, and hypothesis and problem statement construction. I started by planning and conducting user interviews.
User Interview Insights
The Participants
- Freelancers (designers, photographers)
- Small business owners
- Project-based professionals
Key Insights
1. Invoicing is emotionally stressful
Users described invoicing as uncertain, nerve-racking, and anxiety-inducing, especially when payment timing is unclear or when tracking depends on memory.
2. Tracking is fragmented
Many users rely on email, payment apps, spreadsheets, or memory to confirm whether an invoice has been sent or paid, which creates confusion and increases the chance of mistakes.
3. Manual work creates friction
Users often have to gather details from multiple places, manually enter services, and rebuild invoice information every time they send one.
4. Users need faster visibility into invoice status
At a glance, users want to see who the invoice is for, what it covers, and whether it is pending, paid, or overdue.
Users described invoicing as uncertain, nerve-racking, and anxiety-inducing, especially when payment timing is unclear or when tracking depends on memory.
2. Tracking is fragmented
Many users rely on email, payment apps, spreadsheets, or memory to confirm whether an invoice has been sent or paid, which creates confusion and increases the chance of mistakes.
3. Manual work creates friction
Users often have to gather details from multiple places, manually enter services, and rebuild invoice information every time they send one.
4. Users need faster visibility into invoice status
At a glance, users want to see who the invoice is for, what it covers, and whether it is pending, paid, or overdue.
Competitive Analysis
Direct Competitors
- Stripe
- QuickBooks
- Pixieset
- Shopify Invoicing
Indirect Competitors
- Excel
- Illustrator
- Banking Apps (Venmo/Zelle)
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Key Findings
Strengths
Strong payment systems (Stripe, Shopify)
End-to-end workflows (QuickBooks)
Weaknesses
Overly complex dashboards
Poor invoice organization
Limited customizationHeavy reliance on manual workflows
Opportunity Areas
Simplify invoice creation
Centralize tracking
Improve clarity of status
Reduce reliance on multiple tools
Strong payment systems (Stripe, Shopify)
End-to-end workflows (QuickBooks)
Weaknesses
Overly complex dashboards
Poor invoice organization
Limited customizationHeavy reliance on manual workflows
Opportunity Areas
Simplify invoice creation
Centralize tracking
Improve clarity of status
Reduce reliance on multiple tools
User Personas
Primary
Name: Zuri Davis
Age: 23
Occupation: Freelance Designer
Age: 23
Occupation: Freelance Designer
Hunter sends four to five invoices per month to both individuals and businesses. for multiple different clients. Invoicing for her is another way to represent her brand and professionalism. Creating invoices requires manually designing and entering services. Zuri prefers tools that work well on mobile and allow her to send invoices quickly without technical issues getting in the way of being paid.
Secondary
Name: Juan Gómez
Age: 23
Occupation: Small Business Owner
Age: 23
Occupation: Small Business Owner
Juan runs a small apparel brand and sends invoices one to two times per month, often tied to custom orders or product drops. When sending an invoice, David feels nervous because payment sometimes is not guaranteed, or delayed. WIth the amount of invoices he may lose track of late or unpaid invoices. Although he primarily uses a computer, he prefers to manage his business from his phone due to him being busy and on the move.
Supplementary
Name: Makeda Desta
Age: 26
Occupation: Project-Based Professional
Age: 26
Occupation: Project-Based Professional
Yasmin works on commercial projects that involve multiple people, clients, and timesheets. Tracking effort hours requires manual imports, and there is no clear way to see whether projects are approaching or exceeding budget. She tends to feel anxious because her invoices involve large sums of money, so accuracy and transparency are critical. Makeda values notifications that show when invoices are received, opened, or commented on, especially when working across teams and important clients
User Journey
I then using the Google User Flow template provided in the course I created a user flow of what a basic Start to finish journey would be on the "happy path". This helped me understand the way a user could interact with the product, along with envisioning the user navigating through user goals.
Statements
Once I had empathized with the user I was able to begin defining the problem and the goal of the product.
Problem Statement
A freelancer needs a clear way to create, preview, and track invoices in one place, because relying on memory and disconnected tools leads to anxiety and errors.
Hypothesis
If users can manage invoices in one centralized system with clear status updates, then they will feel more confident and reduce errors when tracking payments.
Goal Statement
Design a solution that helps users create, send, and track invoices with clarity and confidence across mobile and web.
Ideate & Prototype
Sketches
Wireframe
After the paper sketches I took the parts that best matched the user goals and began creating digital wireframes in Figma. After I was able to layout the structure of the different screens of the user flow I then began finalizing the low fidelity prototype. The low fidelity prototype was to plan a potential user flow with the goal to:
- Simplifying creation flow
- Create an intuitive experience
- A clear navigation
Insights & Iterations
Usability Test
After developing the low-fidelity prototype, I conducted a moderated usability study to evaluate whether users could successfully create, send, locate, edit, and review invoices. This testing phase took place before final high-fidelity refinements and was used to identify friction points that needed to be addressed in the next iteration.
Overall, participants were able to complete most of the core tasks successfully. All three participants were able to create and send an invoice, and all reported that monitoring invoice progress felt easy or very easy. Most participants also understood invoice status clearly and felt comfortable using the interface.However, the study also revealed important usability issues. Participants needed more clarity around recipient details, delivery method, invoice organization, required fields, and feature meaning. Some actions, such as the link option, were not self-explanatory, and some users wanted stronger support for real-world invoicing needs beyond the basic send and track flow.
Overall, participants were able to complete most of the core tasks successfully. All three participants were able to create and send an invoice, and all reported that monitoring invoice progress felt easy or very easy. Most participants also understood invoice status clearly and felt comfortable using the interface.However, the study also revealed important usability issues. Participants needed more clarity around recipient details, delivery method, invoice organization, required fields, and feature meaning. Some actions, such as the link option, were not self-explanatory, and some users wanted stronger support for real-world invoicing needs beyond the basic send and track flow.
Usability Insights
- Users need explicit confirmation and visibility into the delivery method and recipient details at the point of sending, because uncertainty around whether an invoice is being sent via email or phone reduces trust and increases hesitation during a critical action
- Users require clear affordances and contextual explanation for secondary actions like “link,” because unclear functionality creates friction and discourages use of potentially valuable sharing methods
- Users need structured organization systems such as filtering, categorization, or search, because difficulty managing large volumes of invoices leads to cognitive overload and reduces efficiency when locating specific records
- Users expect invoicing tools to support extended workflows such as partial payments, delayed payments, and invoice editing, because real-world billing scenarios are more complex than basic send and track actions
- Users need stronger visual and semantic differentiation between invoice states such as paid, pending, and overdue, because clear status recognition is critical for quick decision-making and financial tracking
- Users rely on concise, unambiguous language and intuitive iconography to understand actions and system states, because unclear labels and symbols increase errors and slow down task completion
Iterations
Ambiguous Actions
I found that most users were slightly confused about what some functions did, such as the Link button
Invoice Organizations
Users wanted to be able to organize their past invoices and be able to categorize them in different ways beyond what the product already provides within the different status.
Visual Distinction
Some users were lost when it came to different statuses. In order to improve it I want to make sure in the iteration to make each status as clear as possible
Recipient Details
Users requested more specific details regarding the recipient of the invoices. I want to make sure that the design clarifies the recipient and delivery details in the send flow.
Iconography & UX Writing
Users found that some of the icons and labels were not accurate to what the product function was. This disconnect means that the ux writing and iconography need improving.
Additional Payment Options
A majority of users brought up how many of their clients do partial or delayed payments. This should be listed as an option for payment methods.
Hi Fidelity & Features
Hi Fidelity Prototype
After the usability tests and colllecting insights, I was able to produce iterations and specialized improvements when moving the low fidelity prototype into the high fidelity prototype. I was able to create a unified and dynamic UI, as well as a potential user flow with different interactions and animations. The key features were:
Centralized Dashboard
A single dashboard helps users quickly understand invoice activity, including what is pending, paid, or past due. The home is the central hub for users to beable to navigate to any page they need to get to quickly
Simplified Invoice Creation Flow
Templates and reusable structures reduce repetitive entry and make sending invoices faster for repeat workflows. Additional dropdowns recipient information, and payment information were updated to provide users with potential solutions to certain edge cases.
Stronger Status Visibility and User Interface
Invoice states are designed to be easier to distinguish at a glance, improving financial tracking and quicker decision-making. The designated colors, with the shading helps with accessibility and easier descernment between varied payment statuses. Iconography and language were updated to improve user interaction.
Organization and Categorization of Past Invoices
The tracking page offering more filter options to make the list of invoices more accessible and less overwhelming for users. From the results of the usability study, offering the ability to delete, archive and mark as done allows users to declutter their history of past invoices.
Impact & Next Steps
Impact
Expected Impact
- Reduced time spent creating invoices
- Increased confidence when sending invoices
- Improved clarity around payment tracking and invoice status
- Better organization for users managing multiple invoices
Next Steps
- Continue refining the high-fidelity prototype using usability findings
- Validate the revised designs in another round of testing
- Expand responsive web workflows
- Explore advanced invoicing features and integrations
Reflections
This project strengthened my understanding of the full UX design process, from empathize and define through ideation, prototyping, and testing. One of the most impactful parts of this experience was conducting user interviews and usability testing, which shifted my perspective on design. It reinforced that strong user experience decisions are grounded in real user behavior, patterns, and evidence, not assumptions.
I also learned that invoicing and financial tools do not need to be complex to be effective. Users consistently want experiences that are fast, intuitive, and trustworthy, especially when money is involved. Designing for this meant focusing on clarity, reducing friction, and building confidence throughout the workflow.
Moving forward, I would expand the product by exploring features such as integrated payments, timesheet tracking, and improved notifications. Overall, this project provided a strong foundation, and I am excited to apply these learnings to real-world product design challenges.
I also learned that invoicing and financial tools do not need to be complex to be effective. Users consistently want experiences that are fast, intuitive, and trustworthy, especially when money is involved. Designing for this meant focusing on clarity, reducing friction, and building confidence throughout the workflow.
Moving forward, I would expand the product by exploring features such as integrated payments, timesheet tracking, and improved notifications. Overall, this project provided a strong foundation, and I am excited to apply these learnings to real-world product design challenges.