Internet Marketing Blog

Why Mint.com is Web 2.0 Defined

October 11, 2008 – 5:06 pm

Growing up in New York City in the 1980s, my friends and I had terminology for something that we considered cool or fascinating - “that’s mint!” we would say. Well, bringing new meaning to the term, mint.com is simply one of the best website interfaces that I have seen, from all key fronts that define excellent websites - branding, design layout, functionality and usability. Mint.com reflects Web 2.0 at its best! Here is why. This is something that you just have to experience.  More websites should leave that impression - that the user had an experience rather than just another website visit.  Of course, it takes masterful information architecture, user interface expertise and web 2.0 programming skill to do so!

Mint, like all great software, makes a complicated process seem easy. Managing your money through software like Quicken, Microsoft Money or directly via your online banking website, hardly compares to the effortless and intuitive interface of Mint. It simply works in a way that gives the user flexibility. In terms of managing your finances, that is a whole separate reason why you should use Mint, which I talk about in blog post on 401kid.com/blog.

Mint is free…for now. I am sure that they will find ways to offer premium services and through the analysis of your spending habits, start offering discounts and special offers around those trends.

High Conversion Website

Simplicity and minimalism is the feeling that you get from Mint’s interface, which is a consistent theme from the home page through to your detailed financial statements.

Usability

When you log in to Mint, the Dashboard gives you extremely useful information, such as where you stand with your monthly budgets, what your current account balances are. Downloading accounts and information from my various banks, including a company expense account, took less than 5 minutes.

Some key Web 2.0 features worth noting:

1. The budget line moves each day, to show you not only what the dollar amounts currently are for whatever budget categories you setup, but to show whether you are on or ahead of pace. They did not have this feature last time I logged in - pleasant surprise!
2. I can see my monthly income statement, to see whether I’m up or down, cash flow wise, each month.
3. Now I can create my own categories, which was limited before. Another great new feature and a hallmark of good web 2.0 development - listening to customers and constantly improving the software.
4. Key charges and upcoming recurring expenses show in the dashboard.
5. Customizable mobile and/or email alerts, such as “Notify me when this account goes under $1,000″ or “when I exceed my Shopping budget for the month”.

Branding

The branding is light and ‘minty’ fresh. They utilize the term “mint” well as part of the brand message “refreshing money management”, and “All the news that fit to mint” in the Mint blog, which also includes tips on how to better utilize Mint, financial education advice (mint.edu: know and grow your money) and content from partners such as fool.com.

Web 2.0 Execution

When I look at Mint.com, I cannot say enough. It is clear to see that someone (likely some VCs and the Founders themselves) invested wisely and someone else (likely the Founders with a group of highly competent web 2.0 warriors) executed well. Much respect to Mint.com, for the company’s vision, domain knowledge, initial execution and continuous evolution. May the rest of us take good notes. I know it’s not the 80s and that I’m not in high school anymore, but I just can’t help saying “This is one MINT website!”