From Idea to Full-Stack Web App
Why I Built a Finance App for “Regular People” Like Me:
As a product designer and naturally curious person, I’m always exploring new ways to learn, experiment, and grow. Over the past year, I’ve been diving deep into the intersection of design and AI — experimenting with how these two worlds can work together to create meaningful, human-centered products.
The idea for Cashual came from a personal need: I wanted a simple, visual way to understand where my money was going without relying on spreadsheets or complex finance apps. I decided to challenge myself — to design and build something that would combine my product thinking, UX/UI skills, and growing interest in AI.
Cashual started as a learning experiment and evolved into a real, working tool. It was built to be:
- Lightweight and frictionless — a tool anyone could use without setup fatigue.
- Visual and intuitive — using clear layouts and feedback loops to make data less intimidating.
- AI-assisted — helping users make sense of their spending by generating insights automatically.
I wanted to prove that designers today aren’t limited by technical barriers — with AI, we can ideate, design, and even ship real products.
In the end, Cashual became a simple yet powerful way to understand my finances — intuitive, visual, and guided by AI to make every transaction make sense. 💙
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2 reviews
Thanks for the inspiring experiment with AI-powered product/app design.
The design is aimed to solve real-world problem of managing personal finance. The core features are user-centred, easy to understand and use. The prototype works well. The AI chat works exceptionally fast and presents answers according to questions smoothly.
The transaction view works. And consider to tweak the layout of "Add transaction" view to match with the rest of the views in the App. This would improve the overall user experience of the App.
All in all, you have achieved a great design + implementation for the AI-powered App. Awesome! And would love to read your sharing on your experiences in creating the App with AI-tools if you have time. Thanks in advance for sharing.
Well, look at you Paulo, cashually building the next award-winning app 😏
🤖: “In the last month, your total income was $35 and your total expenses were $40. This means your savings for the month were -$5, resulting in a savings rate of -14.3%.”
👱♂️: “am I cooked chat?”
🤖: “I'm not sure what you mean by "am I cooked chat?". Could you please clarify your question?”
I guess the app is optimized for mobile because when the transaction modal popped up, it was too far of a stretch on the screen. Then, seeing my negative net balance in bold red was terrifying for me. As it should be aha, a shocking therapy that's needed by an impulsive spender like myself.
Great work on the core functionality! The AI could benefit from recognizing broader language patterns, and if you're planning desktop support, the layout might need some attention.
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