- Financial advice can become over-simplified.
- User inputs may be inaccurate or aspirational.
- Living situations vary widely across cities, families and commitments.
Case study 03 · Financial planner
First salary,
real-life plan.
KiraStart MY helps Malaysian students, interns, and fresh graduates understand what is actually left after statutory deductions and everyday commitments.
RoleProduct, UI & frontend
StackHTML · CSS · JavaScript
AudienceYoung Malaysians
PrivacyLocal-only storage
Problem
A first salary looks larger than the amount a new graduate can actually use.
EPF, SOCSO, EIS, tax, rent, transport, PTPTN, and family commitments are usually considered in separate places. That makes it difficult to see whether a new job offer supports a workable first year.
Solution
I combined the scattered decisions into one guided, five-minute planning flow.
Real take-home estimate
The planner starts with salary and simplified Malaysian statutory deductions rather than treating gross pay as spendable income.
Pressure-tested choices
Rent, daily costs, PTPTN, transport, and savings goals are shown together so trade-offs become visible.
Actionable timeline
The result turns monthly breathing room into recommendations and concrete milestones across the next 36 months.
My role
I designed the product strategy, information flow, interface, calculation model, and responsive frontend.
I also wrote the Malaysia-specific guidance, linked official sources, implemented local draft saving, designed positive and negative financial states, and tested the complete planner flow on desktop and mobile.
Decisions
The experience is designed to advise without pretending to replace official calculations or professional help.
Guidance before detail
Three short steps keep the number of fields manageable and explain why each input matters.
Honest outcomes
The result can show healthy breathing room or a monthly gap; recommendations change with the user's actual position.
Private by default
Plans are calculated and optionally saved in the browser. No salary or spending data is sent to a server.
Example scenario
A reproducible starting plan shows the product value before a visitor enters their own numbers.
Fresh graduate · RM3,500 gross salary
Rent and utilities RM900 · food RM650 · transport RM250 · bills RM120 · family/insurance RM150 · lifestyle RM250 · PTPTN RM150.
Result · RM586 monthly breathing room
Estimated take-home RM3,056 · plan health 85/100 · 19% available for saving or flexibility.
Next moves
Automate about RM410 after payday · wait before adding a car instalment · reach a RM5,000 emergency fund in about 8 months from RM500 current savings.
Outcome
36
months of visible milestones turn an abstract monthly surplus into a sequence of achievable next moves.
What I learned
Financial planning interfaces need emotional range. A useful result should encourage a strong plan, but it must also explain an unaffordable plan clearly and without judgement.
Next
Rule accuracy
Version statutory tables by year and add official payroll examples as automated fixtures.
Scenario comparison
Let users compare job offers, rental choices, or car commitments side by side.
Access
Add Bahasa Malaysia and Chinese interfaces plus exportable plan summaries.