I was experimenting with Mint.com, a web-based money-management application. While I haven’t decided if it’s the type of tool I’d like to use, I was impressed by the clear, organized, and simple UI.
Anyone who uses online banking knows how perplexing web-based financial management can be. It’s also not surprising that some of the most intelligently designed web apps are in the financial sector. E*Trade and TurboTax are both great examples.
The Mint UI is a nice example a of clean Web 2.0-styled UI. Simple and structured, the design is clean and well organized – with great use of space, context and design. I like how the primary navigation options are presented in a logical sequence that clearly maps to the financial management thought process: I wanted to see my transactions > see trends > and then use that date to identify ways to save.
Mint.com also does a nice job with data visualizations. Charts and graphs are used frequently but never seem to overwhelm the page. They are presented in a purposeful manner. The spending trends page is excellent. I also like the date range sliders which are similar to those used on Google Finance.
This is one of the nicer UI I’ve seen recently.
