product design case studies

early money habits

Defining the Problem

The client approached me with a request for UI content to promote their product: a 5-session Zoom course designed to teach children ages 10-12 about money. Their ultimate goal was to reach children early to form a good, basic understanding of finances in order to build these good habits early in life. Based on this criteria, I began with the following problem statement: 

“Parents need a 3rd party expert to teach their child(ren) about money between ages 10-12 in order to  give them a good start on lifetime financial habits.”

Research

The client provided some basic data:

  • “The age group of 10-12 year olds is a prime age to begin teaching this subject.”

    I confirmed with further research that this audience is beginning to ask questions about the household finances, have purchase desires of their own, and that “their cognitive development focuses on external events, logic and reasoning…”

The client also provided research claiming that:

  • “…many adults who now struggle with finances lacked this crucial early education in their lives, particularly women.”

This prompted me to particularly focus on reaching not just kids, but feminine-identifying children to better cultivate that interest. (Sources can be found at the bottom of the page.)

What kind of product would help kids become interested in learning about finance?

  • 🥸 Be silly and include humor

  • 🎲 Play games

  • 👨‍👩‍👦 Have a parent present to keep the kids focused and engaged

  • 🍕Give rewards, cautiously (older kids know when they are being bribed)

  • 🎉 Celebrate small gains

Additionally, when it came to marketing to adolescent girls, my key takeaways were: 

  • 📝 Create compelling content

  • 💪 Champion A Cause

  • ❌🩷 Avoid pink

  • 👩🏽 Use female representation in photos and iconography

  • 💬 🎉 Use stories/personas of women

takeaways

interviews

My next step was to conduct a series of short interviews across two specific groups:

  1. Parents of kids ages 10-12 who are currently going through this process,

  2. Adults who did not have access to this kind of education at that age to determine what their needs were at the time, also what did/did not work for them in the long run.

Results

parents

  • Parent-led financial education seems to have the best effect for a child

  • Huge results in children who experience personal, hands-on involvement, especially with an organization like Girl Scouts where a non-monetized reward is given (badge) plus the understanding that the money you’re making directly affects your local troop.

adults

  • All participants learned some about the procedure of personal finances at a much older age, very little from parents or family members. 

  • Their interest level was minimal to start. Could possibly have been cultivated more by age-appropriate situational games to add context.

  • Some interviewees expressed discomfort based on a bad relationship with math in general. Possibly include basic math refreshers and/or early on assessment of participating kid’s math levels and comfort. Provide quick review of math technique when doing any calculations.

competetive analysis

I looked at 3 other major financial education products for comparison on their color and design schemes, what they offered and the various details such as course length, cost, etc.

Brainstorm and Conceptualize

What should I include in this product based on my research?

Must

  • Description of course, length, cost, topics

  • Reviews

  • FAQ’S

  • Signup Capability

should

  • Value/Data

  • Instructor Information

  • Results

could

  • Safety Information

  • Parent Involvement Expectations

  • Contact Information

won’t

  • Ads

low fidelity wireframe prototypes

testing and edits

After initial testing, stakeholders expressed an interest in more content, so I deepened the content on the results and FAQ pages. In addition to some tweaks to clarify the navigation and CTA layout.  Feedback from test users was that they loved having the instructors featured, and delighted by the addition of the silly favorite food facts about them. Other positive feedback from testers was that the signup process was extremely easy.

final version

Taking the concept of a lemonade stand as an age-appropriate financial endeavor, I based my color scheme off of the bright and cheerful colors of lemons, and complementary colors that were WCAG approved. I also created a fun graphic set based off of lemons to accompany and illustrate all of the information.

high-fidelity mockup

results

After the edits were implemented, the final version received rave reviews from stakeholders and users alike. Several parents were excited at the idea of the product and wanted to partake, successfully solving the initial problem statement. 

sources

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Drawings