UX RESEARCH AND DESIGN
MOBILE APP
COURSE PROJECT
Making Financial Advising More
Accessible to Students
OVERVIEW
This project was initiated by Dr. Wayne Phoel, a finance research engineer at the University of Maryland as part of a course project. I worked with a team of 6 HCI students to conduct thorough research and suggest an optimal product concept aimed at improving graduate students' financial literacy, specifically for university students.
Oct - Dec 22
3 Months
A team of 6 students
UX Researcher and Designer
Qualitative UX research and analysis
User experience design
User interface design
DURATION
TEAM
MY ROLE
SKILLS
PROBLEM CONTEXT
Americans are considered financially unhealthy
of U.S. households face strains on income, expenditures, and wealth
70%
Spent as much as or more than they earned
Nearly Half
Americans are considered financially unhealthy
180 Million
Based on surveys done by Pew research and US financial health pulse
CHALLENGE
How can we assist grad students with debt to make smarter financial choices as they take their first step toward their independent financial journey?
SOLUTION
A university-backed app that helps students connect with the right financial advisor and a tailored community forum
Asking a few questions to personalize the experience
Customizing recommendations and content based on your needs
Explore advisors
Find your answers in community forum
RESULTS
Key Learnings
I gained an understanding of how diverse approaches to qualitative data analysis can yield insights from various perspectives for the given context.
Qualitative analysis approaches
I learned how to efficiently collaborate in a team environment while respecting and appreciating each other's viewpoints.
Team Collaboration
PROCESS
PROCESS MODEL
We used contextual design framework to dive deeper into the context
One-on-one Interviews
USER RESEARCH
Interpretation sessions
Affinity diagram
Experience models
ANALYSIS
Wall walk
Visioning
IDEATION
Wireframing
Design & Prototyping
DESIGN
Led 2 Interviews
Led design work
USER RESEARCH
QUALITATIVE USER RESEARCH
Interviewing 4 graduate students to understand their finance management habits and information seeking behaviour
Research Method
We opted for the semi-structured interview research method, enabling us to engage in natural conversations with participants and adjust discussions for more valuable insights.
Research Questions
How do students currently manage their finances related to loan/debt and what are the challenges they face?
What financial service/assistance is most valuable or important to students and where do they look for trustworthy information and advice?
RESEARCH DATA ANALYSIS
AFFINITY DIAGRAM
Affinity diagram revealed the need for assistance in managing and learning about financial matters
I need ways in which I can interact with reliable people to get the right financial information about my loans and debt
I need alternative resources that aren't just banks to teach me about my loan/debt.
I want a system to assist me in keeping track of my loan/debt and important financial decisions
PERSONA
Our ideal target user is new to financial products and wants to improvise, but often struggles to find the right resource
AGE:
26 years old, Male,
Grduate Student
TOM
"I want to learn more about credit cards, but I struggle to understand company's documentation"
-
Aims to understand credit card benefits for better payment choices.
-
Seeks ways to enhance his credit score.
Goals
-
Asking people who had similar experiences
-
Looking for opinions online chatting groups or social media
-
Asking for advice directly from bankers although, he doesn't believe they have his best interests in mind
Information Seeking Behaviour
-
Wishes that the credit card company's terms were clearer and fears unnecessary interest charges.
-
Worries that his lack of understanding about the credit card system may harm his credit scores.
Pain-Points
RELATIONSHIP MODEL
Analysis of the influence of external factors revealed that users prioritize reliability and personalization
Level 1 - Inner circle
I talk to my close friends and family every day and trust their personalized financial advice because they know me well.
Most Trust
Significant Other
Parents
Close friend group
Level 2 - Professionals, Acquaintances
I seek help from people who aren't close but have expertise or experience. I trust them for specific advice and reach out when needed, asking targeted questions.
Moderate Trust
Bank Representative
Financial Advisor
Real Estate Agents
Aquaintances/seniors from college
Level 3 - Social media, Platforms
I occasionally use social media and apps for financial help as they are accessible. While some communities provide useful advice, I prefer getting information directly from banks, considering the reliability of content on these platforms.
Less Trust
Google Search
Third party apps
Youtube
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Consolidating the final takeaways for our main research questions
Our target users want resources and ways to interact with reliable people to get the right financial information about loans/debt
Need for reliable Resources
Our target users value closed ones for their trust and personalization, experts/advisors for their expertise, and online communities for their accessibility and multiple perspectives/experiences.
Value of trust and accessibility
Our target users want a system to help them keep track of their leans/debt and get information about important decisions during the process.
Need a way to keep track
IDEATION
COLLABORATIVE ANALYSIS AND BRAINSTORMING
Organizing collaborative brainstorming sessions to ideate
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SOLUTION IDEATION
Turning insights into concepts
PROBLEM SPACE 1
While financial advisors are reliable and valuable, they are less accessible.
SOLUTION SPACE 1
Make Financial advisors more accessible.
PROBLEM SPACE 2
Online communities offer accessibility and diverse perspectives from individuals facing similar experiences, but credibility remains a concern.
SOLUTION SPACE 2
Provide access to a credible online community.
DESIGN
WIREFRAMING
We sketched out basic wireframes to make the concept clear
DESIGN DIRECTION
Visual Identity
HEADER TEXT
Clash Grotesk
BODY TEXT
General Sans
COLORS
HIGH FIDELITY DESIGNS
Design Solutions
01
On-boarding questions to personalize
Users will be asked a few questions regarding their goals and preferences. We’re not collecting detailed information as we encourage users to have actual conversations with professional financial advisors. These questions are only needed to personalize the content for users.
02
Personalized home page
The home page is personalized based on their goals and preferences. It shows recommended advisors and related forum posts to save the tie for searching the right information.
03
Explore advisors and book/chat
Users can explore advisors by searching or filtering. Advisor profile gives them all the necessary information about the advisor to start a chat or book an appointment.
04
Other Screens
PROTOTYPING
Final Prototype
FEEDBACK
User testing validated our solution
Participants believed this solution would help them.
5/5
Participants were able to finish all the tasks in reasonable time
4/5
5/5
Participants found it more reliable becuase of university verification
LEARNING AND TAKEAWAYS
Make the "most" out of limited research data
I learned that the most crucial thing while creating a design system is collaboration. Making sure to include both designers' and developers' perspectives, and finding a middle ground to make it easier for both parties is very important.
If the design system doesn't work for their users. then it can cause a lot of conflicts and delays in the design and implementations work.
Value of including stakeholders throughout the process
I learned that the most crucial thing while creating a design system is collaboration. Making sure to include both designers' and developers' perspectives, and finding a middle ground to make it easier for both parties is very important.
If the design system doesn't work for their users. then it can cause a lot of conflicts and delays in the design and implementations work.
