SubBuddy: Designing a Smart Subscription Tracker for Efficient Spending Management

The rise of digital subscription services like Netflix and Spotify has introduced challenges for users trying to manage their finances. These challenges often stem from the difficulty of keeping track of multiple subscriptions, which can lead to mistakes. Although several solutions have been implemented, they lack integration, user-friendly interfaces, automation, and personalized financial insights. In this study, the SubBuddy application is presented as a smart subscription management solution. The application was designed using the Design Science Research (DSR) methodology and the User-Centered Design (UCD) approach. SubBuddy integrates AI-based features to track and analyze money spent on app subscriptions, provides an intuitive interface, and supports automatic reminders and spending visualizations to support better financial decisions. By using Figma as a medium for making applications, SubBuddy can provide evaluation results reaching a score of 76.08, categorized as "Good" through the System Usability Scale (SUS) evaluation method. Furthermore, the results of user feedback indicate a high level of satisfaction. However, users also suggested improvements, such as integration with popular payment platforms, a dark mode, and additional personalization features. These suggestions validate that SubBuddy has the potential to successfully help users manage digital subscriptions and promote healthier financial habits.