JellyBean Savings
Kids Digital Banking App
JellyBean Savings is a digital finance platform designed to specifically introduce kids under 12 to the concepts of money management, budgeting, saving and responsible spending.
The goal is to help them develop financial literacy and saving skills, laying a strong foundation for their future financial success.
Role
Product Designer
Duration
3 Days
Type
Design Competition
Tools
Figma
Photoshop
// UNDERSTAND THE CHALLENGE
→ Why we need a digital bank for kids?
Before I began with design thinking process, I started with white paper research. I identified key insights from a research articles on the topic of “Why digital banking is an essential financial literacy skill for kids” by CUInsight:
Research shows That
“ Piggy banks, once a traditional and popular tool for teaching kids about saving for many centuries, are becoming less relevant & practical in today’s financial landscape. ”
“ Introducing digital banking to kids will help ensure that the next generation has a strong foundation for managing their finances. ”
In summary:
Early Exposure to Financial Concept
Kids can learn financial education from a young age.
Practical Money Management Skills
Kids can gain hands-on experience with managing their money in a safe and controlled environment.
Parental Guidance
Parents can guide and teach their kids about financial education.
Form a Good Saving Habit
Kids can visualize their financial goals and celebrate milestones, while parents can track their kid's savings progress in real-time.
// The Problem
→ Saving awareness still lacking in Malaysia.
As reported by New Straits Times Malaysia, saving awareness remains low among Malaysian families. This can lead to people spending more than they can afford, resulting in the neglect of the habit of saving.
This can have a significant impact on their kids or the next younger generation, potentially preventing them from developing the habit of saving from a young age.
Report shows That
“ … were more interested in borrowing with banks when they needed money, rather than saving from a young age. ”
“ … most parents were placing their hopes on getting a loan to fund their children’s education. ”
Key challenges to tackle:
Lack of understanding of personal finance and the importance of saving money. This lack of financial knowledge can lead to poor financial decisions later in life.
Kids often have easy access to money, which can make it difficult for them to save. This can lead to overspending and lack of appreciation for the value of money.
Lack of motivation to stick to a savings plan as kids do not see the point of saving money. This can lead to not having any long-term financial goals or they may not understand the benefits of saving money.
How might we..
Develop a more engaging way to encourage kids to save money with the involvement of their parents?
// The Solution
→ Make it fun, make it engaging.
Saving and Learning Goals at a Glance
· Provide clear saving and learning goals
· Intuitive interface for saving equipped with accessible built-in calculator
· Fun learning process where kids can play games while learn at the same time. In the long run, they can establish a strong foundation in finance management in the future
Fueling Motivation with Rewards
· Incorporate a rewards system as a hook to keep kids motivated to learn and save
· Kids can redeem exciting rewards from their parents using the “Gems” they earn
· Parents can always edit the type of rewards they want to give their kids and adjust the requirements
Parent Involvement and Love
· Due to the consideration of certain kids that are too young to use the apps, parent involvement is a need
· Parent can monitor their kids’ account activity, manage spending, and set limits
· Parents can help kids set and edit goals, and even deliver redeemed rewards to keep them engaged
· Parents may need to assist with certain actions, such as depositing, withdrawing, or transferring funds, which are all PIN-accessed and only manageable by parents
// User Flow
→ Connecting all the flows.
Goal 1: Saving and learning goals
Goal 2: Earning Rewards
Goal 3: Parental Guidance and Control
// Final Design
→ The final product.
// Design System
→ The style guide.
// RETROSPECTIVE
→ Project takeaways.
What I've learnt, and would have done differently next time..
Conduct Actual User Testing with Kids
If I have more time to fine tune the product, I would definitely invite or even recruit more real users: parents and their kids, to be part of the study, in the early prototyping phase.
This is to have a more comprehensive test on the functions of the apps, and also observation of the users’ behaviours on the apps.
More rounds of user testing can identify pain points, needs, and their goals in using a digital bank.
In-depth Digital Bank Competitor Study
Since digital bank for kids is a new concept, studying different type of digital bank, will help me to think critically.
I would love to do competitor charts (digital bank or finance-related) and analyse what would be most suitable to be used and adopted by kids.
As the design that I did are mostly based on primary research and my hypothesis, a detailed study on different type of banks that targeted on different group of users (kids vs adults vs senior citizen) can generate more insights.