barsha saikia
Creating a Money Management App for children
The Brief
Target Age : 8-15
How will kids earn money: Pocket Money, small errands at home, Shagun (We are India and India is big on Shaguns)
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Kids need to understand about - instant consumption, savings, sharing
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The app will reside on the parent's phone. Whenever kids get money or need to do accounting, they need to access parent's phone. Savings can be generic or tied to a goal. As we are talking beginners, kids can have a maximum of 2 goals. The app will guide them on how much they need to save to reach that goal. Every time they get the money, they need to divide the money between - spend now, save, share.
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Show them the value of small savings - e.g. if they save 50 rs every month, in 6 months they will have 300. Whereas rs 50 buys only ice cream, 300 can buy a good to
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Keywords
User Experience
Design
Wireframe
Visual Design
Design Process
Research Design
the UX Design Process
Understand problem
Research Design
Insights
Analysis
Scenario mapping
User Flows
Wireframing
Visual Design
Understanding the problem
Based on previous experience and knowledge, I started the project with a mind map of children and finance to start with my assumptions and preconceived notions about the topic.
Research Design
Main Stakeholders
Parents
Children
Hypothesis
Parents want to impart the value of money and financial education to children as early as they can.
Children have very little idea and motivation to save money.
Intent
To understand what value do parents give to children’s financial understanding and their phone usage.
To understand what are the views of children towards money and saving.
Questions
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What do they do when they get money?
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Where do they store?
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What are the things they mostly buy with their own money?
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Do they try to save money? What are the reasons they save?
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What motivates them to save?
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Do they talk about money to children?
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Do children come to them for financial advice/ tips?
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What are the major blocks in terms of motivating and helping children understand about finance?
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What are the apps they let their children use and why?
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What is the process of them using their phones?
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Important Findings
Parents
Parents want their children to value money but do not know how to impart the required knowledge.
Parents feel 8-9 years is a good age to discuss money with children.
Mostly parents let children use Youtube, educational apps and games.
The main cause of worry for parents are the children spending on unnecessary and ‘bad’ things.
Children
Children have very less sources for financial advice/ learnings in their day to day life.
Children found it justifiable to be paid for their chores, but not necessarily with direct money.
Most of the aspirations of children in terms of goals are toys, games and merchandise..
Children mostly save if it is not a very big amount and duration, otherwise they lose motivation.
Benchmarking
A study on 4 major children's money saving apps was made,
a comparative study was made to understand them better.
Analysis
Based on the findings and benchmarking, the following are the features that were shortlisted to be included in the app.
Features
Learning feature to educate when/ how to help children with money guidance
Children’s expense tracker
Lessons for children on value of money, long term savings in a story-telling manner.
Safety and protection feature for children.
Age wise segregation of features.
Learning feature to educate when/ how to help children with money guidance
Children’s expense tracker
Lessons for children on value of money, long term savings in a story-telling manner.
Safety and protection feature for children.
Age wise segregation of features.
Scenario Mapping
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Multiple children account
for same parent
Single child account
for parent
Child using the app for the first time and setting goal
Child using the app to update and manage his earenings
User Flows
First time Child using the App to set goal
Wire framing
Parent first time using app- Registration & Child profile
Child Setting goal for the first time
Child using app for tracking expenses
Final Product
Visual Design
Logo Design
True to the authentic Indian piggy bank for more relatability.
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Earthy colours, Clear message and connectivity with the user.
Final logo
Colour Pallet
The main app colours were chosen to be bright, happy colours since the app is for children and already such a serious topic like money saving.
Also the exact pallet was chosen because it showed a connection with Indian culture and celebrations to help build a bond with the users.
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Character Design & Theme
The metaphor of school is used in the story to show a direct relatability with growing up and habit building using nostalgia.
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The characters are designed as simple, cheery caricatures of an identify-able Indian.
Final UI
Welcome screen
Sign In page
Papa Homepage
Profile selection
Goal calculation
Kid's home page
Goal setting page
