Wealth Grows Here, Life Thrives Here.
Community Financial Platform
MY ROLE
Product Manager
tools
Axure, Visio, PS
Institution
Cedar Holdings
time
2019
- Overview -
Problem Statement
In traditional community financial models, collaboration between property management and financial institutions is superficial, centered only on sales commissions.
Pain Points
Scenario Fragmentation: Financial products lack deep integration with community life scenarios (e.g., property fee payments, parking fee deductions), resulting in low perceived value by residents.
Low User Retention: Reliance on one-time transactions leads to a repurchase rate below 10%, with no accumulation of user asset data.
System Silos: Disconnected property management and financial backend systems cause complex profit-sharing logic and operational inefficiencies.
Impact
Coverage: 150 communities, 5 million dollars in transaction volume.
Efficiency: Profit-sharing settlement reduced from 30 to 3 days.
User Value: 45% repurchase rate (industry avg. 22%), 50 thousand dollars average AUM.
- Prototype -
- Research -
Background Research
Market Insights:
Market Size: The community finance market reached $1.59 trillion in 2017 and was projected to grow to $3.87 trillion by 2020, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 34% and a penetration rate remaining at 10%.
SWOT Analysis:

2. Project Value & Objectives
Launch a "Community Finance Supermarket" with scenario-based products (e.g., property fee deductions).
Build a cloud-based membership and profit-sharing system for data-driven marketing.
Integrate third-party financial institutions to offer full spectrum products.
Interview
To ensure the Community Finance platform aligns with real user needs, I conducted 10 in-depth interviews with:
3 Property Managers: Key stakeholders responsible for promoting financial products.
5 Residents: End-users of community finance services.
2 Financial Institution Representatives: Experts on financial product offerings.
Through affinity mapping, I categorized my findings into four core insights:
To drive adoption, simplified education, transparent systems, automated finance, and social-driven engagement are key. Integrating these insights will make Community Finance a trustworthy, high-retention ecosystem for modern residents.

Persona
To better guide our design and enable everyone on the team to empathize with our users, I further synthesized the interview results and came up with the following personas:

- Design -
Ideation
I began the design process by focusing on users' core pain points and mapping out potential solutions. Rather than jumping straight into visual design, I aimed to establish a functional framework that could be tested and iterated upon before refining the interface.

Wireframes & Prototype
I created wireframes to illustrate the core functionalities of the platform. At this stage, I prioritized clarity and usability over aesthetics to ensure the solution aligned with user needs.

After creating the wireframes, I shared them with interviewees to gather further insights on their expectations and identify areas for refinement. Their feedback helped me pinpoint usability gaps and enhance key features. With these insights, I proceeded to finalize the high-fidelity prototype, ensuring it aligns closely with user needs and expectations.

- Evaluation & Iteration -
User Testing Process
To validate the effectiveness of the platform, I conducted usability tests with residents and property managers. I focused on ease of navigation, financial comprehension, and trust perception to identify areas for refinement.
Measuring Success
I defined key success metrics to track user engagement:
Adoption Rate: Percentage of users actively utilizing financial features.
Transaction Retention: How often users return for recurring payments.
Trust Index: Level of confidence in investment-to-payment automation.
Results
Through iterative testing, I observed significant improvements:
65% of residents preferred community-endorsed financial products, reinforcing social-proof mechanisms.
Property managers saw a 30% increase in financial product adoption, validating the effectiveness of referral-based incentives.
Future Steps
As I continue refining Community Finance, I plan to enhance social-driven finance features and optimize user personalization. Future improvements include:
Expanding Community Recommendations: Strengthening peer-based investment validation through community engagement.
AI-Driven Investment Suggestions: Implementing behavior-based financial recommendations to improve decision-making.
Enhanced Payment Flexibility: Introducing micro-investments to support daily expense financing.
Financial Education Expansion: Establishing a Community Finance Academy to provide structured learning for residents and property managers.
Seamless Mobile Optimization: Ensuring smooth cross-device usability for a frictionless experience.