FinanceIt
Led a team of four interns to design FinanceIt -- a mobile application increasing accessibility of financial aid resources to incoming college students.
IDEO PRODUCT DESIGN INTERNSHIP
DISCOVER, IDEATE, WIREFRAME
As an aspiring product designer, I have learned that an integral phase of the design thinking process relies upon empathy.
With empathy, designers and engineers form authentic connections with users and create more effective products and services that reflect the motivations, challenges, and desires of their target audience. In an effort to empathize with users and understand their needs and motivations, we conducted interviews and generated "How Might We" questions.
During the ideation process, we found themes from interviews/research and outlined potential features.
We each developed features, and I created the onboarding process, the FAFSA and CSS breakdowns, and a scholarship portal, in addition to the general UX/UI design of the application including navigation. Additionally, I formulated pillars of FinanceIt—notify, inform, equip, and community—which signify our core values and the intended goals of our mobile application.
THE CHALLENGE
Design a tool for students exploring education options after high school and considering how to pay for them.
The complex financial aid system makes it challenging to secure financial support. The average cost of tuition and fees for the 2021-2022 school year is $43,775 at private colleges, $28,238 for out-of state students at public schools and $11,631 for state residents at public colleges (U.S. News)
TESTING
The users navigated throughout the prototype and I took note of their insights and recommendations.
I customized the prototype allowing users to enter their own names during the onboarding process as well as add their pictures to the user profile.
Intended Goals
NOTIFY
Provide perspective students and parents with deadline notifications.
INFORM
Educate members with financial aid information and tips to finance their education.
COMMUNITY
Increase community knowledge with learning modules.
EQUIP
Help members attend higher education and promote generational wealth.
DESIGN + PROTOTYPE
I used prior knowledge of visual design, color theory, and typography to determine our color scheme, logos, and fonts.
As Lead Product Designer, I made myriad design choices regarding color scheme, logos, and fonts, and used Figma to design a working prototype with these design aspects. By creating FinanceIt on Figma, I learned and utilized new innovative features such as check boxes and animations.
Green and complementary grey tones were based on research of financial literacy, financial management,
and mobile banking platforms.
Because of the popularity of shades of green for finance apps and user feedback, I chose a shade of teal which promotes clarity, stress relief, and renovation. For the logo, I focused on our project goal—assisting students with financial process—and designed a logo with symbols related to education and finances.