Learn, earn and bond
Breaking the generational cycle of poor financial literacy to empower a better financial future
Co-learn
Provide conversation starters based on the children's lesson content to help parents communicate with their children outside the app. This will encourage parents to create a comfortable environment for discussing money and finance with their children and sharing their advice.
Co-plan
Collaboration between parents and children in setting both short-term and long-term achievements can foster greater engagement in financial education while simultaneously promoting essential skills in money management.
Co-llaborate
Families can schedule consultations with experts from financial-related schools or non-profit organizations to receive valid financial information and advice to improve their overall financial well-being.
About project
My team and Deloitte have joined to tackle the critical issue of financial illiteracy in the United States by developing a financial education service that spans generations.
Team
Becky Hwang
Clear Chen
EnJung Yang
Joel Gambia
Timeline
Sep - Dec, 2022
(15 weeks)
My role
Set role and responsibility of each team member and led communication with instructors and sponsor
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Conducted 3 in-depth user interviews to validate key concept ideas
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Led to design the co-planning feature by creating user flows, wireframes, and a high-fidelity prototype
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Conducted usability testing and iterated on design solutions based on user feedback
Challenge prompt from Deilotte
“How might we introduce financial literacy to the education system to improve adult financial health?”
Research findings
Failure of financial health
Currently, in the US 43% of people are financially illiterate
which played a crucial segement in having poor financial
habit and inheritance of poor financial habits through out
generations.
We assumed that it is related to the 60% of adults having
credit card debts, which is approximately 800 billion dollars and
lack of preparing savings for 60% of non-retirees doesn’t
save their saving.
Safe society comes from financially stable individuals
It is important to have financial education because it impacts not only individuals' lives but is also closely related to societal stability.
Individuals and families can have the ability and opportunity to help themselves out and advance towards a better financial future.
People becoming more financially literate can bring stability to our communities.
It will lead to food security, educated workforce, a lower crime rate and a safer living space.
Money talk ≠
Financial education
From our quantitative survey with 80 participants,
we figured that sixteen is when financial literacy has the most significant impact and can be effectively implemented.
However, a lack of financial education during their upbringing may lead to future financial illiteracy as individuals grow older. Despite many people frequently discussing money with their families while growing up, these discussions often did not result in gaining educational information.
Fact check
1. Financial education is often considered a STEM program, which can make it more expensive for schools to implement
2. Many parents feel responsible for teaching their children about money and financial literacy, but they also feel uncomfortable or unsure about how or what to have these conversations with their kids
3. Teens, particularly those who are 18 years old and preparing to leave for college, often have a high demand for money
Questions we had to ask
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Learn how people generally feel about finance
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Understand who influenced individuals’ finance habits the most
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Discover what motivates individuals to learn about finance
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What hinders them to learn about finance
Words from people
To delve into the connection between parental financial education, affection, and the development of grown-up children, we conducted interviews with three groups 10 interviewees. We aimed to better understand how these factors intertwine and shape the lives of individuals as they transition into adulthood.
Parents
Young
adults
Experts
Parents,
they are lost too
Parents frequently encounter challenges when discussing finance, primarily due to uncertainties about where to start or a limited grasp of financial concepts. This intricacy surrounding financial matters can pose a significant hurdle for parents. Recognizing that parents wield the most influence in shaping their children's financial habits, it becomes paramount for them to actively engage in financial education alongside their children.
Everyone wants stable finance future
Finance often carries a reputation for being difficult and complex, which can intimidate people. Many individuals feel overwhelmed even when discussing finance because they believe it's a topic reserved for professionals. However, many people have begun to embrace learning about finance, primarily driven by their desire for a stable financial future to pass down to their children and family.
Revised prompt
“How might we encourage generational learning at home to foster good financial habits?”
Project goal
Build a product that involves parents and children together to build healthy financial habits and they achieve better finance future
Opportunity areas
Based on our interviews and clustering activities, we have identified four areas where we can provide support and assistance to users:
Ideal State
Young children gain more independence from parents in learning and setting goals while they grow up into teenagers when they can implement financial skills in real life.
Co-learn
Parents and children can learn together and initiate conversations about financial matters using the lesson content provided.
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Learning environment for the whole family
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Provide conversation starts for parents to educate children outside of the app
Co-plan
Parents and children can work together to plan and set short-term and long-term financial goals, which can help them learn how to effectively manage their money.
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Motivate users to engage
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Create a healthy habit by practicing saving for both short and long term goal
Co-llaborate
Expert involvement will be able to provide accurate and the most sophisticated financial information. Families can always seek advice from professionals.
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Provide secure and proper knowledge of finance
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Advice families with urgent financial issues
Takeaways
Empathy is a fuel for passion. The biggest takeaway from this project was learning about finance as someone who didn't know a lot about it. Being part of the target user group for my own project helped me better understand the needs of others in similar situations and empathize with them. This connection fueled my passion for the project and led to the discovery of pain points and insights.
Prioritize insights over processes. Despite investing weeks in research and development, our initial version of this case study was filled with unnecessary text that lacked a clear connection to the bigger picture. Our team focused on clustering activities to address this issue, which helped us identify and highlight only the critical points. Through this process, I recognized the importance of prioritizing insights over details.
