My role: Planned and conducted user studies (created survey, interview, and diary studies questionnaires, recruited and interviewed study participants), created scenarios, analyzed data, brainstormed design solutions, conducted user testing, and collaborated with the team members to redesign interactive elements of the prototypes based on the feedback.
summary
Study Objectives:
This study explored how to empower Gen Z to manage their finances effectively by understanding their habits, needs, and learning preferences. The goal was to design a solution that helps them budget, save, and invest while increasing their financial literacy.
Methods Used:
Benchmarking: Analysis of financial and social media applications to identify gaps.
User Research: Interviews and diary studies with participants aged 18-25 to uncover financial behaviors, frustrations, and learning styles.
Thematic Analysis: Affinity mapping and qualitative analysis to identify key pain points and opportunities.
Usability Testing: Moderated remote usability testing with a think-aloud protocol and the System Usability Scale (SUS) was conducted to evaluate the interface's usability, focusing on its ease of use and effectiveness.
User Research: Interviews and diary studies with participants aged 18-25 to uncover financial behaviors, frustrations, and learning styles.
Thematic Analysis: Affinity mapping and qualitative analysis to identify key pain points and opportunities.
Usability Testing: Moderated remote usability testing with a think-aloud protocol and the System Usability Scale (SUS) was conducted to evaluate the interface's usability, focusing on its ease of use and effectiveness.
Login page of Cache mobile application
Solution & Impact:
The study led to the development of Cache, a mobile app prototype offering an all-in-one financial management and education platform. The app provides budgeting tools, investment guidance, financial news, and personalized learning experiences. Usability testing showed strong potential, with a SUS score of 76.88, indicating a well-accepted and effective design. Iterations improved information clarity and ease of use, making Cache a promising tool to bridge the financial literacy gap for Gen Z.
The Challenge
Studies show that knowledge and understanding of finances and the ability to effectively navigate planning and management of earnings, spending, budget(s), investments, and debt is the lowest among Gen Z compared to other generations. Despite this, there is a growing eagerness among Gen Z to increase their financial literacy, and some are already investing in the stock market, even with a limited understanding of how it works.
How might we empower Gen Z to navigate through and master financial management?
Objectives
• Understand the habits and needs of Gen Z in managing and learning how to manage their finances effectively.
• Identify solutions that will enable this generation to increase their financial literacy, allow them to make informed decisions, and plan their future.
• Identify solutions that will enable this generation to increase their financial literacy, allow them to make informed decisions, and plan their future.
Research and Design tools
Figma | Adobe CC (XD, Illustrator, Photoshop) | Google Forms | Zoom
Design Process
User Study
Benchmarking
To identify the market need, the team analyzed 12 financial and 2 social media applications popular among Gen Z for accessing financial information. (Figure 1).
Conclusion: No single application was available that helped with budget management and planning, met the need to seek and receive financial advice, and helped increase users' financial knowledge within one platform.
Figure 1: Benchmarking
Research Methods
I guided the team in employing two distinct research methods for data collection: interviews and diary studies.
Objectives:
•Uncover insights from Gen Z on how they manage finances
•Learn about their financial habits and how they are engaged with different applications to reach their goals
•Understand their frustrations, needs, and feelings about using different financial mobile applications
•Brainstorm on how we can help them increase financial literacy.
Participants, Procedure & Apparatus
11 interviews and 4 diary studies were conducted to collect data from participants aged between 18 and 25.
User interviews: I conducted interviews virtually via the Zoom platform. Each interview lasted from 35 to 50 minutes and was recorded for further analysis.
The interviews started with open-ended questions about participants' budget planning and financial tools. Then, hypothetical scenarios were presented to explore behaviors, concerns, frustrations, and their approach to certain imaginary situations. Finally, participants discussed their experiences with different financial applications.
Diary studies: For one week, participants in the diary studies completed a short questionnaire using Google Forms to provide general insights into their financial activities while excluding any personal or sensitive details. Each time they used a financial product for a specific task, they were instructed to complete the form. The objective was to evaluate task completion, identify informational needs, and assess satisfaction with the process and outcomes.
Personas & Storyboards
Research insights helped the team generate three personas whose goals and actions represent the needs of Gen Z (Figures 2, 3, & 4).
Conceptual storyboards were developed to spotlight the persona’s behavior when interacting with the design. These use cases helped define how tasks will be performed, the goals and motivations of users, and how to address those in the design (Figures 5, 6, & 7).
Figure 2: Persona 1 - Chris Soltan
persona 01: Chris, a 22-year-old full-time student, balances his studies with a part-time job at his school, just enough to cover his living expenses. However, there is little left for savings. Despite his interest in learning about the stock market and growing his savings, Chris has not had the resources to pursue these interests, as budgeting his finances is more important now. With his undergraduate studies nearing completion, Chris anticipates a future job with a higher salary and aims to be prepared for the transition.
GOALS
•Desires to learn strategies for budgeting effectively to save each month.
•Wants to learn about the stock market to make informed investment decisions and increase savings effectively.
•Desires to learn strategies for budgeting effectively to save each month.
•Wants to learn about the stock market to make informed investment decisions and increase savings effectively.
FRUSTRATIONS
•Has limited free time and avoids using apps that are not intuitive and require hours of dedicated learning to use effectively.
•Feels overwhelmed by the abundance of information about managing finances. He seeks straightforward resources that avoid excessive use of financial jargon.
•Has limited free time and avoids using apps that are not intuitive and require hours of dedicated learning to use effectively.
•Feels overwhelmed by the abundance of information about managing finances. He seeks straightforward resources that avoid excessive use of financial jargon.
persona 02: Anna is a 25-year-old software engineer who lives with her boyfriend. Proficient in managing household finances and budgeting, she has started stock market investments. Her passion for tracking the latest stock trends has turned investing into one of her hobbies. Anna dedicates considerable time to seeking sound financial advice and seeks assistance in expanding her investment portfolio.
GOALS
•Aims to transform her stocks into an additional source of income and thus seeks guidance from different sources to aid her in making optimal decisions for expanding her portfolio.
•Find trustworthy sources of information to facilitate informed decision-making tailored to her needs.
•Aims to transform her stocks into an additional source of income and thus seeks guidance from different sources to aid her in making optimal decisions for expanding her portfolio.
•Find trustworthy sources of information to facilitate informed decision-making tailored to her needs.
FRUSTRATIONS
•Switching between multiple apps to access all her financial information.
•Spending hours on the internet and sifting through information.
•Switching between multiple apps to access all her financial information.
•Spending hours on the internet and sifting through information.
Figure 3: Persona 2 - Anna Mortera
Figure 4: Persona 3 - Lizzie Shaefer
persona 03: Lizzie, who is 18 and just started college, loves her new life as a student. She enjoys making decisions and managing her money all on her own. Understanding the importance of money management, she feels uncertain about where to start. With no prior knowledge of finances, stocks, or cryptocurrency, she recognizes the importance of learning about managing her budget and finances. When she has questions about her finances, Lizzie consults with her parents.
GOALS
•Learn how to handle her money wisely and make smart financial decisions.
•Manage her finances conveniently while on the move as she likes doing most of her daily tasks on her phone.
•Learn how to handle her money wisely and make smart financial decisions.
•Manage her finances conveniently while on the move as she likes doing most of her daily tasks on her phone.
FRUSTRATIONS
•Feels overwhelmed by the abundance of information out there, and she's unsure about which sources she can rely on.
•Financial terms overwhelm and confuse her.
•Feels overwhelmed by the abundance of information out there, and she's unsure about which sources she can rely on.
•Financial terms overwhelm and confuse her.
scenario 01: Chris (Persona 1) has recently started his new job as a marketing specialist. Now he can finally start thinking of saving some money to invest in the stock market. He has been using Cache to manage his finances. He logs into his account, opens the learning tab, and starts the microlearning session. After completing today’s session, he has lost $80 virtual dollars, but his progress is noticeable. He has already completed several sessions and earned his first stock.
Then Chris checks the news section to see if he can find any articles about top-performing companies and whether he should sell or purchase stocks. It seems that the stock market overall is not performing well, so he decides to wait a few more days before he makes a move. The learning section of Cache helped him a lot to understand the key concepts, test his knowledge in the virtual game, and explore more about stocks. Now he feels more confident in his ability to make informed decisions in budgeting his finances and investing in the stock market.
Figure 5: Scenario 1 - Learning about finances and investing
Figure 6: Scenario 2 - Saving and investing in the stock market
scenario 02: Anna (Persona 2) has been investing in the stock market and buying cryptocurrency for a few years. She wants to grow her portfolio, so she has been following the news and reading articles to decide which companies are worth investing in. Searching for information and constantly checking stock market performance is time-consuming, and she likes some of the automated features of the app.
It is her lunch break, so she has time to check the stock market. Anna opens Cache to set up an automated stock purchase order. She sets the number of stocks and the amount she is willing to pay. Once the stock price meets her set criteria, the system will automatically purchase stocks for her. She likes that her investing account is directly connected to her bank’s savings account, so she is not worried about transferring funds to her investment account or guessing if she has enough funds. Anna then adds another company to her watch list to receive news and notifications. One of the colleagues just entered the room. She closes the app and greets him. She can now focus on her work and will still be able to get updates about market performance.
scenario 03: Lizzie (Persona 3) is a high school student who is still learning how to manage her finances and budget. Her parents recently opened a bank account for her. She learned from a friend about the Cache app and has been using it to manage her account and make sure there are enough funds in her checking account.
The holiday season is approaching, and she wants to buy a Christmas present for her mother. For the past several months, she has been putting funds aside toward a present. The savings goal feature of the app has been helpful for her to see how much and how long she needs to save. Lizzie opens Cache to check her spending history and her savings. She is very proud of herself. This month she spent less, and now she can transfer the funds to her savings account and buy the present she has been saving for. Using the app helps her stay on top of things, get notified when there are charges on her card, and plan how much she needs to save toward her goals.
Figure 7: Scenario 3 - Managing finances and budgeting
Data Analysis & Research Findings
The team started with affinity mapping using Figma to organize insights into themes based on their relationship. Thematic analysis technique was used to construct and interpret patterns and meanings from interviews and diary studies.
Figure 8.1: Affinity mapping (education, stocks, credit, security, and notifications)
Figure 8.2: Affinity mapping (interface, deposit, and recommendations)
Figure 8.3: Affinity mapping (accounts and money transfer)
Figure 8.4: Affinity mapping (spending, budgeting, and account balance)
Figure 9.1: Affinity mapping (trust and preferred source of information)
Figure 9.2: Affinity mapping (learning styles)
discovery 01: There are several financial topics Gen Z has no solid knowledge of. At the same time, they are interested in deepening their understanding of finances and learning more about effective budgeting, saving, and informed investing.
discovery 02: Gen Z exhibits three distinct learning styles:
• Visual learners (searching and reading articles, watching videos, etc.)
“I could read an article, but I wouldn't grasp it as well, as like having a more visual, kind of like a slideshow almost…” - participant
• Visual-kinetic learners (hands-on learning, following tutorials, video walkthroughs)
“I think it's easier to just be able to like see things and walk through them like in a video.” - participant
• Auditory learners (discussing/learning from family and friends or listening to podcasts)
“I would try to find information as much as I can, you know, from my friends, from people around, from my parents. Ask them how this will go. Obviously, they've been here longer than I have been. So just try to gather information…” - participant
discovery 03: Gen Z trusts more the advice they receive from friends and family than blog and social media posts.
discovery 04: There are multiple reasons why Gen Z lacks confidence in embracing financial independence and investing, including factors such as income, knowledge, and concerns about the perceived risks associated with investing.
Four major themes emerged from data analysis:
• Efficiency: the need to help the users effectively budget and track their expenses, save, and invest
• Knowledge: lack of deep financial knowledge and desire to learn
• Customization: the need to get information or complete a specific task based on their needs using an intuitive, personalized, and easy-to-use interface
• Security: have peace of mind that their accounts are safe and secure and they can easily access all their financial information as needed.
Design Implications
•Personalized & Adaptive Learning
Since Gen Z prefers varied learning styles, the app needed to support multiple formats, including videos, interactive tutorials, gamified microlearning sessions, and podcasts, ensuring an engaging and adaptable learning experience.
Since Gen Z prefers varied learning styles, the app needed to support multiple formats, including videos, interactive tutorials, gamified microlearning sessions, and podcasts, ensuring an engaging and adaptable learning experience.
•Simplified & Intuitive Tools
Users needed an easy-to-use budgeting system with clear categorization and minimal cognitive load.
The design should prioritize hierarchy improvements, ensuring primary financial actions are easily accessible.
Users needed an easy-to-use budgeting system with clear categorization and minimal cognitive load.
The design should prioritize hierarchy improvements, ensuring primary financial actions are easily accessible.
•Trust & Social Influence Integration
Given that Gen Z values financial advice from friends and family over social media, the platform needed to facilitate peer-driven financial learning and community-driven insights to build trust.
Given that Gen Z values financial advice from friends and family over social media, the platform needed to facilitate peer-driven financial learning and community-driven insights to build trust.
•Reduced Cognitive Load
The interface should be simple, showing only essential information first, with additional details available through expandable views.
It should be important to easily distinguish primary vs. secondary actions, aiding quick decision-making.
The interface should be simple, showing only essential information first, with additional details available through expandable views.
It should be important to easily distinguish primary vs. secondary actions, aiding quick decision-making.
•Customizability & Accessibility
To accommodate diverse user preferences, the app should allow for adjustable font sizes, color themes, and personalized financial dashboards.
To accommodate diverse user preferences, the app should allow for adjustable font sizes, color themes, and personalized financial dashboards.
•Seamless Task Integration
Key financial tasks (budgeting, investing, and learning) should be interconnected, allowing users to move smoothly between planning, tracking, and financial education within a single platform.
Key financial tasks (budgeting, investing, and learning) should be interconnected, allowing users to move smoothly between planning, tracking, and financial education within a single platform.
•Security & Transparency
Due to concerns about financial safety, the design should emphasize clear security features, data encryption, and transparent account management.
Users should be given greater control over notifications, privacy settings, and account linking to ensure confidence in managing finances.
Due to concerns about financial safety, the design should emphasize clear security features, data encryption, and transparent account management.
Users should be given greater control over notifications, privacy settings, and account linking to ensure confidence in managing finances.
IDEATION
Brainstorming
98 ideas were captured by practicing classic brainstorming. During the second round of brainstorming, the ideas were ranked based:
a) importance of the idea for the users
b) feasibility
c) impact.
Efficiency, familiarity, personalized approach, learning, and security were identified as major concepts that need to be addressed in the design (Figure 10).
Figure 10: Idea grouping and categorization
We focused on the following tasks when designing the prototype:
• Provide a secure platform to access all accounts and financial profiles easily
• Help efficiently manage and keep track of expenses
• Teach and show how to (tutorials, demos, etc.)
• Present an intuitive and personalized interface
• Provide financial news, advice, projections, and tips.
• Help efficiently manage and keep track of expenses
• Teach and show how to (tutorials, demos, etc.)
• Present an intuitive and personalized interface
• Provide financial news, advice, projections, and tips.
Task Analysis
Three primary task groups were identified - budgeting, investing, and learning more about finances.
The subtasks were structured by hierarchy, order, and demand.
Figure 11: Task analysis
CONCEPTUAL DESIGN & PROTOTYPING
Interface & Interaction Design Principles
The following interaction and design principles were followed to develop the prototypes:
• Aesthetics and minimalist design – present a clean, minimalist, and functional interface.
• Visibility and clear feedback – guide the users, so they know what possible actions are available.
• Customizability – allow the user to set notifications and access only information that is relevant to them.
• Familiarity – ensure their previous experience with similar apps and their understanding of how such systems function can be applied to the new application.
• Forcing function and error prevention – streamline tasks for the user while preventing errors.
• Predictability – enable the user to predict the outcome of future actions based on previous interactions.
• Generalizability and user control – extend interaction knowledge to new situations.
• Task migratability – give the user the option to either perform certain tasks manually or let the automated system take over.
• Substitutivity – give users the option to choose between saving or investing a percentage, a share, or a specific dollar amount.
• Reduce memory load – notifications, reminders, clear instructions, and familiar labels to decrease the user’s memory load.
Wireframes & Prototypes
Digital lavender, Gen Z green, and blue-violet were chosen as primary colors, with deeper versions of blue and green as secondary colors for high-fidelity prototypes. Josefin Sans, Yrsa, and Mukta fonts and easily recognizable icons provided a clean and minimalist interface.
Figure 12: Branding colors and typography
Budgeting screens: The user is presented with a screen that shows their budget, linked cards, and recent truncations that can be edited easily to add additional tags or change what the system automatically tagged.
Figure 13.1: Budgeting wireframes
Figure 13.2: Budgeting high-fidelity prototype
Exploring/learning screens: To create a game-like system that encourages users to return and learn more, the system supports two forms of learning – reading articles or microlearning, where the user can earn virtual currency and turn it into actual shares of stocks.
Figure 14.1: Exploring/learning wireframes
Figure 14.2: Investing high-fidelity prototype
Investing screens: The user can apply their recently acquired knowledge and invest in the stock market. They can watch/follow stocks they are interested in, read recent news, learn more about what is happening in the stock market, and easily buy and sell shares of stocks.
Figure 15.1: Investing wireframes
Figure 15.2: Exploring/learning high-fidelity prototype
EVALUATION
Usability Goals
During the prototype testing phase, Cache was evaluated to assess:
• How easily users can learn to use the app
• Whether the system provides the correct functionality for the users to carry out desired actions
• How efficient and effective it is in carrying out tasks without wasting time and effort
• How memorable the system is
• And how safe it is to use it (in this case, perceived safety).
• Whether the system provides the correct functionality for the users to carry out desired actions
• How efficient and effective it is in carrying out tasks without wasting time and effort
• How memorable the system is
• And how safe it is to use it (in this case, perceived safety).
Evaluation Methods & Procedures
A mix of qualitative and quantitative methods was used during 8 usability testing sessions.
Testing took place via Zoom, with participants utilizing their web browsers or phones to complete the tasks.
Qual methods
Moderated remote usability testing with a think-aloud protocol.
GOALS
• Understand how real users interact with the design.
• Identify usability issues and inform design decisions.
HOW
• Participants were asked to complete tasks in their environment using their own devices.
• Moderators observed the process and asked questions during and after completing tasks.
• Participants were instructed to verbalize their thoughts while browsing the interface or performing tasks.
Observe and identify WHAT:
• Uncover the participant’s mental model of a process
• Test how particular screens are aligned with the user’s mental models
• Get information about users’ personal preferences and habits.
Quant Method
System Usability Scale (SUS)
GOALS
• Assess the usability of the design solutions.
• Assess the perception of usability (overall satisfaction ratings).
HOW
• After each testing session, participants were given the SUS questionnaire to complete.
• Google Forms were used to collect responses.
Measure WHAT:
• Effectiveness – Is the system doing what it is supposed to do? Can the users successfully achieve their goals?
• Efficiency – Are the users completing tasks successfully with no waste of time and effort? How much effort and resources are needed to achieve their goals?
• Satisfaction – How satisfied were the users with their experience?
Results & Reflections
The following groups of issues were identified:
• Information visualization & attention (e.g. cluttered visual interface, hierarchy problem between primary and secondary information display, information disclosure or ambiguity, etc.)
• Perception, cognition, & reasoning (e.g. cognitive overload, mismatch of design intentions and user perceptions, user onboarding, and information reading and scanning patterns)
• Personal preferences & digital accessibility.
Figure 16: SUS Questionnaire
Based on the responses of 8 usability testing participants, the SUS score was 76.88 which means the usability of the design was good and acceptable (Figure 17).
However, to get a more precise score, the design needs to be tested and evaluated by more participants.
Figure 17: SUS results
Design Iterations
Several features of the design were reevaluated and improved for a better user experience.
issue 01: Visual clutter
Support a clean, yet informative and functional interface, remove tags from the home screen, and display the most relevant information.
The tags feature on the home page was changed to display only the most important tag with a numerical bubble next to it to show how many other tags apply to that transaction, cleaning the interface from too much information.
Figure 18: Issue 1 - Visual clutter
issue 02: Information visualization & cognition
Visually aid cognition, simplify and enhance recognition (including bolding text), and display supplementary information for ease of comprehension.
Supplementary information was added to the Investments screen to aid understanding, such as how much they have gained or lost in one day, and highlighting the number of shares owned.
issue 03: Progressive disclosure
Support progressive disclosure of information, making a clear path of how the user adds tags to a transaction.
Gradually disclosing the information and creating a path for the user to customize the tags and assign a color.
Figure 20: Issue 3 - Progressive disclosure
Figure 21: Issue 4 - Hierarchy problem between primary and secondary information display
issue 04: Hierarchy problem between primary and secondary information display and action
Eliminate hierarchy problems, prioritize content, and support less thinking.
The Budget page was redesigned to establish a hierarchy of primary and secondary actions. The layout was redesigned to present precise amounts rather than percentages, providing users with a clear understanding of how much they have in each category.
issue 05: User onboarding
Provide explanation and guidance and inform what symbols mean.
The onboarding page for the Microlearning section was redesigned to provide additional information and help guide and inform the user. The introduction of the needed information helped users understand the activity better and return to the page as needed.
Figure 22: Issue 5 - User onboarding
Figure 23: Issue 6 - Memory load
issue 06: Memory load
Reduce recall and the need to remember things; minimize memory load by allowing the users to reference back any time during the activity.
issue 07: Accessibility and customizability
Support accessibility and allow font formatting to change the default font size and interface color to meet the user's personal preferences.
Customizability allows the user to enable/disable colors for labels and increase the overall text size. These changes were made to enhance the user experience and improve accessibility.
Figure 24: Issue 7 - Accessibility and customizability
Figure 25: Issue 8 - Mismatch of design intentions and user perceptions
issue 08: Mismatch of design intentions and user perceptions
Eliminate confusion around possible color coding and prevent information distortion and ambiguity.
Background colors were standardized, eliminating confusion around assumed color coding.
issue 09: Scrolling & attention; scanning & reading patterns
Support how users divide their fixations across the page and eliminate unnecessary scrolling; fix font styling to attract attention to important content and help the user easily locate relevant information.
Unnecessary scrolling was eliminated, simplifying user experience and preventing errors. Article topics were prioritized (instead of how long it takes to read them) which allowed users to easily identify topics.
Figure 26: Issue 9 - Scrolling & attention; scanning & reading patterns
Final Prototypes
Prototype video
CONCLUSION
Cache presents an innovative digital platform that provides a secure one-stop-shop to easily plan and manage financial life and increase knowledge about finances. With an intuitive and personalized interface, the mobile application enables Gen Z to access all accounts and budgets, keep track of expenses, plan, save, and invest while also providing financial news, tips, and advice on topics of interest.
Overall, usability testing revealed that the Cache is:
• Easy to learn and use
• Provides correct functionality to carry out desired actions
• Supports users in completing tasks with no additional time and effort
• The system supports what was identified as essential - easily manage finances and increase financial knowledge in one platform.
Lessons Learned
When developing and testing Cache, several iteration considerations needed to be taken into account, such as identifying which tasks to test, balancing between discoverability and cluttered interface, simplifying functionality, and understanding unique user preferences. A significant challenge was to decide at what point the suggestions and feedback represented personal preferences versus actual usability issues. There were also limitations to the testing process, such as limited access to the desired user population, uneven gender distribution of participants, and limitations of the testing tools.
Moving forward and taking lessons learned from this experience, several improvements can enhance future design projects. If I were to revisit the project, expanding efforts to engage a broader and more diverse user base could provide richer insights. Moreover, integrating the design into real-world scenarios, such as users completing tasks on their phones in varied conditions (e.g., while walking or in different lighting environments), would facilitate a more thorough assessment of Cache's performance and user experience.
