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Turn everyday movement into visible financial progress.
WalkFund explores how small daily behaviors can create more engaging and sustainable saving habits in walkable cities.
• Established a passive saving behavior through walking
• Reduced reliance on user intention and discipline
• Transformed everyday activity into a value-generating system
Role
Product Designer
Timeline
12 Weeks, 2025
Contribution
Prototyping, Interaction design, Usability testing, User research, Visual Design
Problem
Saving requires people to pause, plan, and remember.
Research？
People respond better to small, visible progress than to large financial goals.
Saving feels easier when it becomes part of existing routines.
Market Opportunity
Walk-to-earn apps drive consistent engagement, but rarely create meaningful financial growth.
Automation tools accumulate savings passively, but users rarely feel involved in the process.
Walking =
Behavior + System + Rewards
WalkFund explores how saving behaviors can become easier to sustain when connected to actions users already perform naturally.
Why are 1,000 steps = $1?
Walkable city residents average ~1,300 more daily steps — Walking Insight Report in NYC.
• Easy to understand
• Meaningful enough to create visible progress
In interviews, users were cautious about the connection between money and bank accounts. So, WalkFund relies on trusted systems like Apple Pay, Cash App, or PayPal to reduce adoption friction.
Core Product Features
Every step triggers saving
• 1000 steps = $1 saved (Adjustable)
• Automatic transfer
(Apple Pay/PayPal/Cash App)
A four-step setup. Saving becomes visible and emotional.
• Goal-based saving
• Progress feedback
Walk and explore. Connect life with the
local community.
• Rewards (local partners)
• Neighborhood exploration
Micro-Interactions
Night Mood
Completion
AI Chat
Testing
Since one constraint on user adoption is the close link with money, our prioritized goal of the test was to ensure that users can trust and understand the product.
Conducted usability testing with 18 participants using Useberry. Users responded positively to:
Users described the saving process as a lightweight daily ritual.
Challenge
Users struggled to find and start saving goals.
Result
Surfacing goal creation directly on the dashboard reduced task time from 74s to 15s.
Outcomes
WalkFund demonstrates how everyday habits like walking can support sustainable saving habits.
• Goal setup felt more connected to everyday life.
• Visible progress increased saving motivation.
• Users understood the walk-to-save concept immediately.
Imapct
By turning walking into a trigger for saving, the concept could help urban professionals build healthier lifestyles and stronger financial habits.
Reflection
Friction wasn’t a setback. It was the signal.
Early tests revealed friction and confusion, which helped us shape each iteration’s direction. This project reinforced a core point: clarity, simplicity, and a focus on key behaviors matter more than adding complexity.
