Edgy Developments

Nothing makes you appreciate a well-built web application more than building one yourself.

I thought it might be useful to start posting some of the web apps I use myself and find particularly inspiring. One that I’ve started using recently is Mint, a personal finance application. There’s so much to like about it:

• Beautiful interface: It’s easy on the eyes, and uses various web 2.0 techniques to make the user experience more enjoyable. Perhaps the most visually impressive aspect of Mint is the interactive spending pie chart. You start with a pie that has a slice for each major spending category, but when you click on a particular slice, it divides into subcategories and expands out. Stunning, and probably better appreciated if you check it out yourself.
• Simplicity: It is not Microsoft Money or Quicken, nor does it aspire to be like these juggernauts of personal finance. Mint is not for everyone. I’m sure there are innumerable features that Mint doesn’t have, but it does what it’s intended to do quite well–automatically gathering your various account transactions and tagging them, and then letting you track your spending and do budgeting if you like.
• Free: Mint employs an advertising-based business model where users are presented with ways to save money through affiliated businesses, such as interest-bearing checking accounts or lower-interest credit cards. So the ads are both very targeted (Mint know what interest rates you’re currently getting), and show dollar amounts that you stand to save if you take advantage of them.