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

  1. 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%.

  1. 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 -

  1. 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.


  1. 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.