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UX RESEARCH AND DESIGN
MOBILE APP
COURSE PROJECT

Helping Students Boost           
         their Financial Well-being

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

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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

Reddit
Google Search
Third party apps
Youtube
Instagram

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.

LET'S CONNECT

Get in touch for opportunities or just to say hi!

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