FinGrow App
A FinTech gaming app prototype that teaches personal finance concepts to teenagers, created in a 5-week design sprint.
Team
Taylor DiLisi and Drew Sokolowski
Dates
5 weeks between June-July 2024
Personal finance is essential knowledge, particularly for teenagers who are starting to handle money. I participated in a modified design sprint over the course of 5-weeks to create a financial technology (FinTech) solution that would educate teenagers on personal finance topics.
Using the sprint process, our team created a high-fidelity app prototype. FinGrow is a virtual world where users can co complete educational activities while incentivizing participation. In this world, users can earn a mock currency called GrowthCash, which they can use to budget for and spend on their digital avatar.
The design sprint process was formulated by Jake Knapp and Google Ventures in order to ideate and test solutions to problems in a limited timeframe of 5 days. On each day of the work week, a design sprint team tackles one part of the process; each consisting of a series of intentionally-outlined activities. Our team used a modified Sprint 3.0 process over the course of five weeks, focusing on one phase per week, as outlined by Pattie Belle Hastings in The Sprint Handbook.
Pre-Sprint: Prior to the first week, our team met to discuss the goal for the sprint and take care of any organizational tasks.
Phase 1: Map and Sketch: Our team discussed the most important elements to include in a solution, and sketched potential solutions.
Phase 2: Decide and Storyboard: This phase consisted of a series of voting activities to choose the best solution. We then outlined user flows and created a storyboard for the app.
Phase 3: Prototype and Refine: Building on our work, the team created a high-fidelity app prototype.
Phase 4: Test and Collect: The prototype was tested with three users outside of our group to receive feedback.
Phase 5: Reflect and Report: In reviewing the process and our deliverables, we compiled a formal report outlining our sprint and our solution.
Sprint Overview
Problem Statement and Research
Adolescents need to learn about personal finance in order to implement good money habits into their lives on a regular basis. An overarching goal of our sprint was to take the topic of personal finance – one that may be considered “mundane” or of little interest to teenagers – and make it fun to learn. We focused on a FinTech solution, understanding that younger individuals spend a large fraction of their time on their phones and on social media.
Making an educational solution fun to teenagers would require a form of incentivization. Our team also considered “social currency,” and how this particular age group gravitates to using the same products and services as their peers. With our solution, we sought to not only reward users for interacting with the educational aspect, but also insert a social element that allows users to interact with their friends.
FinGrow is a combination of all of these concepts: an educational personal finance app that is fun to interact with, incentivized participation, and is a virtual space for socialization. The solution takes the ground originally laid by other virtual worlds such as Club Penguin and brings the idea into the current time.
A series of prescribed activities took place throughout the sprint. These activities are done to both reinforce progress and also to ensure that everyone’s perspectives are heard and valued.
In phase 1, we conducted lightning demos where each person research existing solutions and reported them back to the group. When ideating solutions, each member participated in a 4-step sketch activity, which helped to generate out-of-the-box ideas. The four steps include note taking, initial sketches, crazy 8s (where eight sketches are made within 8 minutes), and the final solution sketch that would be proposed in phase 2.
Sprint Activities
My solution sketch for the 4-part sketching activity, which was ultimately chosen.
When voting on our solution, the main priority was to ensure that each person’s perspective was valued. The activities were structured to make sure that a person’s charisma was not a variable as to why a specific solution was selected. Each member used voting dots to mark their favorite concepts in each of the solution sketches, prior to which no discussion on the sketches were given. We then conducted a speed critique, before proceeding to conduct “straw poll” voting with a limited number of dots. Our group's “decider” then voted on the final solution and a concept to include.
Our “heat map” voting, with the decider’s votes represented by stars
Building upon our voting process, each member of the group then created a 6-step user flow to demonstrate how the user will accomplish the final goal of learning and implementing personal finance topics. After these were completed, another round of voting took place in a similar fashion. Our decider chose a user flow and a concept to include, which then informed the 8-step storyboard we all created together.
6-step user flows with the deciding votes.
8-step storyboard. Some of the graphics were AI generated using Adobe Firefly.
In phase 3, our group created a high-fidelity app prototype using Figma, based upon the selected solution sketch, user flow, and storyboard. Each member was responsible for building out specific sections of the app. A trial run was then conducted amongst ourselves to determine any fixes that needed to be made before user testing.
City Square: The main feature of the app, FinGrow City is where the user can visit different locations to play different educational games.
Bank: Just one example of an activity in the City Square, users can check how much GrowthCash they’ve earned and pay their Credit Card bill.
Budgeting Assistant: This feature lets users budget their avatar’s use of GrowthCash.
Categories: A one-stop spot for all of the activities and video lessons organized by category. Users can also search for what they’re looking for.
Video Lessons: Users can watch short educational lessons and answer a quiz question before moving onto the next video.
Leaderboard Mountain: Compete against your friends to see who is the best at mastering financial topics.
Profile: Display your badges, showcase your friend list, or update your settings.
Each member conducted one user test with an individual outside of the group. In each test, the user’s interactions within the prototype were observed, and followed up with questions pertaining to their experience. Our group then met again to review the feedback and gather our learnings. Our final activity included writing a formal report, which we collaborated on together. I took the role of the group’s designer, and laid out the final report document.
User feedback from testing.
The result of this sprint is a high-fidelity app prototype. FinGrow’s main component is the virtual world, FinGrow City. There, users can visit different locations and play different educational games, for which they can earn GrowthCash and various badges. The budgeting feature allows users to create a budget for their avatar using the Growth Cash they have earned, reinforcing budgeting skills.
Inspired by short-form video content, the video lessons feature short clips of personal finance lessons. To reinforce learning, users must answer a brief quiz question at the end of each video to prove they have learned the concept. Because of the various activities and video lessons in the app, a category section organizes all of them by concept so they can be easily located.
The leaderboard mountain allows users to compete against their friends, and their position is determined by their demonstrated mastery of the concepts taught. Finally, the profile section allows users to alter their avatar’s outfit, see their friends, and showcase the badges they have earned.
The feedback from the user tests were overly positive, with participants noting the easy of readability and navigation. However, users noted that the color scheme could be improved upon, and that the app can be more game based.
Results and Outcomes
In reviewing the feedback from the user tests, our takeaways were to improve the color scheme and explain the interface of the app more effectively. Completing this design sprint highlighted the importance of valuing different perspectives, and maximizing time in the most effective way possible. Our group discovered that big problems oftentimes require simple solutions; those which can be efficiently created and tested. The design sprint condensed a creative process that could have taken months to complete within a shortened time frame.
Learnings and Reflection
Although the sprint has ended, the next steps would be to improve the prototype based on the feedback, as well as fully build out and design the prototype so that it can be developed and placed onto the market.