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Mobile App UX • User Research & Prototyping

Unroll — Mindful Subscription Tracking & Expense Clarity

Designed from user research involving 50+ participants, Unroll provides financial visibility and timely renewal alerts without requiring sensitive bank credential integration.

My Role

User Research & Mobile UI/UX Design

Research Scope

50+ User Survey, Interviews & Persona Mapping

Platform

iOS / Mobile App Experience (Figma)

Figma Prototype

Open Figma Prototype ↗
Unroll — Mobile App Home & Renewal Feed
Unroll subscription tracking mobile app screen showing active subscriptions, monthly totals, and renewal alerts

Fig 4.1 — Unroll subscription dashboard prioritizing total monthly spend, renewal timeline, and trial alert statuses.

01. Background & Research Discovery

The average modern smartphone user subscribes to between 6 and 14 recurring digital services across entertainment (Netflix, Spotify), storage (iCloud, Google One), productivity tools, and health apps. While each service costs a modest recurring fee, cumulative costs silently drain monthly savings.

To uncover the true emotional and practical hurdles of subscription tracking, I conducted surveys and user interviews with over 50 digital consumers:

INSIGHT 01

Unintentional Trial Renewals

Participants consistently reported recurring charges from forgotten free trials because expiration notices were easily lost in email clutter.

INSIGHT 02

Banking Privacy Hesitation

Users expressed strong hesitation when asked to connect sensitive primary bank credentials to third-party budgeting apps, citing security and privacy concerns.

INSIGHT 03

Spreadsheet Fatigue

Users who attempted manual spreadsheet tracking routinely abandoned it within weeks due to the friction of logging recurring entries on mobile devices.

Unroll — Add Subscription & Quick Catalog
Unroll add subscription screen featuring quick presets for major services and customizable billing cycles

Fig 4.2 — 10-second subscription addition using pre-filled service icons, standard tiers, and reminder preferences.

02. Key Interaction Design Decisions

  • Zero Banking Integration Required: Completely eliminated financial credential anxiety. Users select services from a smart icon catalog with pre-filled default prices and standard renewal cycles.
  • Proactive 3-Day & 1-Day Trial Alerts: Configurable notifications that arrive with sufficient lead time to cancel before payment gateways execute automatic renewals.
  • Visual Monthly Burn vs. Annual Reality: Toggling between monthly and annual projections helps users recognize the real cumulative cost of dormant services.
  • 1-Tap Cancellation Direct Links: Each service card provides deep links directly to the service's account cancellation page, eliminating convoluted account setting searches.
Unroll — Subscription Details & Cancellation Guide
Unroll detailed subscription inspection view with direct cancel guide and payment history

Fig 4.3 — Detailed card view displaying historical spending and direct cancellation instructions.

03. Reflection & Design Lessons

Unroll strengthened my conviction that user privacy and convenience do not have to be mutually exclusive. By avoiding invasive automated bank scraping and instead focusing on frictionless manual logging and intelligent defaults, we created an experience that users genuinely trust and enjoy using.