NOMO FOMO

Overview

NOMO FOMO is an app designed to combat financial FOMO (fear of missing out) by allowing users to log the upsides of not giving into the everyday instant gratification purchases that impact their wallets.

This was an app that was designed as a part of project from the Mentorship program I did.  where we had to design an app to combat FOMO.

My Role

  • User Research
  • Visual Design
  • Prototyping
  • Interaction Design
  • User Testing
  • UX Writing

Process

Research

Understand the User

In this phase of the project, I had the goal of understanding the psychology of users in regards to their mindset, pain points, and the contributing factors towards that feeling of “being behind” or “not involved".

Guidelines

  • 4 interviews conducted
  • Open-ended questions that allow for flexible answering
  • Cant use the term FOMO so answers are not influenced
  • Must be the target audience of ages 16-40, and familiar with online trends

Interview Questions

  • Can you tell me about a time recently when you felt really connected to others?
  • Are there moments when you feel more aware of what other people are doing or achieving?
  • Have there been times when you felt pressure to do something because it seemed like everyone else was?


  • Can you describe a moment when you felt behind or out of sync with others?


  • Are there decisions you’ve made that felt exciting in the moment but different afterward?


  • When you’re unsure about a decision, what usually helps you feel more confident?
  • Are there moments when seeing other people’s lives affects how you see your own?

Analysis

Interview Synopsis

Financial
FOMO

Every interviewee reported feeling unable to be as involved in interests due to financial standing

Social Media
Comparison

Every person interviewed also reported social media as a breeding ground for comparison towards others lives

Decision
Insecurity

3 out of 4 interviewees faced some sort of decision insecurity when faced some sort of societal pressures

Feeling
behind in relationships

2 people reported feeling behind in regards to relationships in life

Emotional-
Impulisivity
Connection

All people interviewed described a moment where their in the moment emotional standing caused an impulsive moment

Insecurity
with moving forward

2 out of 4 people reported wanting to change their mindset around comparison but didnt know where to start

"Sometimes I feel left out if I see all my friends go on a trip and I know I cant because I have certain financial goals."
- Khadir

User Pain Points

  • Feeling conflicted about a decision that may result in not being involved in what others are doing
  • Comparing their behind the scenes to someone else’s highlight reel via social media
  • Being unsure of where to begin when wanting to make shift their mindset.
  • Feeling caged by financial standing because that impacted every other aspect of their life
  • Feeling pressured by external sources such as family, friends, and social media.

Defining the focus

I wanted to center the app around specifically combatting FOMO in the context of money and addressing the problem of everyday decision insecurity people face when not being able to purchase whatever product/experience others are involved in.

Problem Statement

Ideation

App Inspo

I started my Ideation phase by looking at apps that would involve tracking such as journaling, habit tracking or mood logging apps.
I used apps outside of finance for inspiration because most finance apps operate within the context of spreadsheets or strictly numbers as opposed to the emotions or mindsets behind purchases which is the direction I would need to implement to address the concerns of financial FOMO
Apps I used for inspiration were the How we feel app, Atoms, Bearable, and Journal

1st Prioritization List

After getting lots of ideas from looking at alreday existing apps, I had a plethora of feature ideas to add. So, I made a feature prioritization list to map everything out on paper to provide more definition and clarity for the direction and what to include
* JOMO is an acronym that stands for JOMO of missing out and refers to the positives of not being involved as opposed to focusing on the negatives of missing out.

Mapping Out Concept

Once I listed out features I thought of, there were two main ideas for an app that I thought could play the role of the main concept for the app with other features playing a background supportive role. Below is a simplified visual of how those two app ideas would work.
1.
Onboarding Assessment

Every interviewee reported feeling unable to be as involved in interests due to financial standing

2.
Bank Integration Tracking

Every person interviewed also reported social media as a breeding ground for comparison towards others lives

3.
Emotion Labeling of Expenses

3 out of 4 interviewees faced some sort of decision insecurity when faced some sort of societal pressures

4.
UX Flow of Questions about Emotions

2 people reported feeling behind in regards to relationships in life

5.
Weekly Insight Generation

All people interviewed described a moment where their in the moment emotional standing caused an impulsive moment

6.
Customized
Suggestion

2 out of 4 people reported wanting to change their mindset around comparison but didnt know where to start

This idea was based on the feature of “mood labeling of purchases”. The concept is an app that allowed users to manually log the emotion behind purchases they made.

The app would track purchase through bank account integration and provide stats around the users typical emotional behavior regarding spending.

And based upon their predominant emotions around spending, there would be suggestions on how to regulate that emotion in order to curve negative spending habits.
1.
Onboarding
2.
JOMO Log
3.
Flow of
Questions
4
JOMO Receipts
5.
Park-it Purchase
The 2nd idea was based on the feature of the “FOMO to JOMO prompt exercise

This app idea would involve users logging purchases they were tempted to make but didn't and logging the upsides of missing out via a series of questions geared towards getting users to focus on the positives of missing out as opposed to the negatives.

There would also be stats included to see how much they gained overtime. And there would be an option to “park” a purchase that they desire but don't want to be impulsive about their decision to buy and want to be more intentional with their spending decisions.

Final Decision

I decided to focus on the FOMO to JOMO app idea because it focused directly on combatting FOMO where as the mood labeling about seemed more geared towards combatting emotional spending. Also logging the joys of missing out serves as a constant reminder of your goals, helping to reassure your decision. This directly contributes towards combatting decision insecurity which is the pain point I wanted to address from my interviews.

Prioritization List 2

With my concept set and stone, I wanted to refine the feature inclusions. I had a strict time constraint that wouldn’t allow for as many features to be included so I just went with the bare bones the app would need.

Sketching Ideas

I sketched out some wireframes of three different flows within the app that would make up the general flows.

JOMO Log Flow

This section is where users log the joys of missing out an item such as what area of life they are growing in or how much money they saved. The app guides through a short flow of questions so that challenges users to reframe how they think about "missing out".

Clicks on log in button on the home page to log JOMO moments.
Click on gaps to trigger options.
Click on option that best describes the gain from missing out.
Answer how much money saved, what was gained, and click complete login.
Triggers Home page return where JOMO Log appears on the home page.

JOMO Receipts Page

This section features one long scrollable page of stats and data that allows users to see the different areas they have grown in, tracking progress, as well as the ability to share status or progress with others and a reflections section if they would like to journal about their thoughts or feelings on their standing.

Wireframe 1

Wireframe 2

Wireframe 3

Wireframe 4

This shows what percentage went towards each positive gained from resistance. Also shown is how many logins made in a months period.
This section how much money was saved in a months period by not reacting impulsively with purchases.
This section shows how many times you logged a certain upside of missing out.
This section shows the longest streak of logging JOMO moments. Also features a place to log reflections and share progress with an accountability partner.

*Notes on stats: The stats provided would be collected from th answers users give the JOMO login flow. Ex: If a user logins everyday for 30 days and out of those 30 logins, 10 times they log they gain financial stability that would be 33.3% towards financial stability.

The same is done for the section that calculates how much is saved in one month. If they log 3 times in one month, and logged they saved 100 by resisting one purchase, 200 on another, and 50 on another, the total saved for that month would be 350 dollars.

Park-it Page

This section allows users to "park" a purchase that they may really want and would like the ability to circle back to that way they dont feel like they are missing out on everything but just being more intentional.

Wireframe 1

Wireframe 2

Wireframe 3

Wireframe 4

You log what kind of expense you would like to park and can make a custom input as well.
Log what the item provides if the purchase were to be made.
Users sets when they would like a reminder of when to come back to the item.
Parked item shows up under currently parked items with option to view previosuly parked items

User Thoughts

I asked 5 people to test the sketch prototypes, so I can get an idea of how users would interact with app and understand the pros and cons of the design.

positive 1 : users found the app simple to navigate and found things easy to find.

"I wasnt confused at any point of where to go to do something in the app."
negative 1 : In between wireframes 3 and 4 of the JOMO Log flow, the questions actually repeat.

"I feel like the questions are redundant. I already answered once. Why am I being asked again, just in a different way?"
positive 2 : Users liked that theby could see stats in order to track progress and reflect on it.

" Love that I can see a record of how far I have come.
negative 2 : Users didnt like how cluttered the stats visual was in wireframe 1 of JOMO Receipts flow.

"It looks really cramped in this area up top."
positive 3 : Users really liked the feature to be able to "park" a purchase
‍
"I really like that I can park something because I would hate to feel as if I am not being able to enjoy anything so being able to revisit a purchase later is really nice."
negative 3: Users said there needed to be an intro page on the park it flow.
‍
" I would love an intro to what I am doing. Jumping straight into it is a little confusing on what I am doing and very jarring."

Design

Design Principles

Principle 1

Principle 2

Principle 3

Soft Structure - The overall feel of the app should be based upon structure that is approachable yet still  intentional without the “all or nothing” energy many habit apps may have.
Youthful - The app should feel have a light hearted, friendly, and youthful look to it to emphasize the idea of softness. Also would appeal to younger audiences who are more apprehensive towards rigidity.
Seamless - App should have fluidity that feels natural and intuitive

High Fidelity Prototypes

JOMO Log Flow

Changes I made:
‍
- Getting rid of the redundant questions, reducing overall frustration with the flow
- Adding intro screens to JOMO Flow that explain what JOMO is and the purpose of logging to begin with

JOMO Receipts

Changes I made:
‍
- Changing the design of the stats section at the top of the page to give a more refined and decluttered look.

Park-it Page

Changes I made:
‍
- Added an introductory page so it wouldnt be such a stark contrast between one button and whats to follow.

Usability Testing

I conducted some more moderated usability tests after the final prototype was made with a different set of 3 users. Here is the main feedback:

Goal Oriented Context:

- Users loved the flow of the app but would love if the entire app was made within the context of a specific goal.

One user quoted, "There isnt really a point to missing out on anything unless you have a specific goal you are working towards. It would make more sense if there was a feature to input a certain thing you have in mind such as car or vacation that you are actively working towards that would make it worthwhile to miss out on."

Celebratory Animation:

- 2 out of 3 users noted that they would love a celebratory animation such as confetti or fireworks after making a JOMO Log. It would make the moment seem more motivating and encouraging of good behavior.

Assessor Feedback:

When I was presenting my project as a part of my mentorship program, I received the extra feedback of needing to implement more to prevent users from going to the other extreme of being overly restrictive with finances and not allowing them to have any leisurely moments.

Due to time constraints to complete the project, I was unable to do additional revisions.

Final Thoughts + What I Learned

When I first saw the task wa sto create an app designed to combat, I thought it was an impossible thing because FOMO involves a persons psychological standing, understand a person's emotions, and helping them navigate making the cognitive switch through technology.

But technology isnt something I associate those very humanistic traits with initially. I associate technology with logic, numbers,and graphs.

This project help me learn that designing for humans is far more complex than designing for numbers—but it’s also far more necessary

Through this project, I learned that financial behavior isn’t driven by logic alone, but by emotion, mindset, and cognitive patterns.As our world becomes more psychologically aware, the technology we design must evolve with it and meet users where they are, not where spreadsheets assume they should be.

This project challenged me to think about how we can translate the human experience into a tech-based output.