Ruben Joseph | Product designer

Ruben Joseph

The

Coffee

Design

The

Coffee

Design

A banking app that helps you navigate the cost of living crisis

RESEARCH

BANKING

MOBILE APP

“With energy bills, grocery prices on the rise, and the UK economy facing recessionary pressures, the question arises: How can we effectively navigate this cost-of-living crisis? ”

Disclaimer: All views expressed here are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the respective company or person. Some design elements and names have been changed from the original to protect privacy.

CONTEXT

The ‘cost of living crisis’ refers to the fall in ‘real’ disposable incomes that the UK has experienced since late 2022. It mainly affects young people in and people in the low-medium income groups. People in this category can only make fewer bad financial decisions before it affects their life in a significant way. This condition is set to worsen due to the ongoing financial crisis. But there is a problem.

According to a report by the Money Advice Service, only 52% of individuals in the 18-24 age group in Britain demonstrate good financial literacy. So what about the rest ?

“With energy bills, grocery prices on the rise, and the UK economy facing recessionary pressures, the question arises: How can we effectively navigate this cost-of-living crisis? ”

CONTEXT

According to a report by the Money Advice Service, only 52% of individuals in the 18-24 age group in Britain demonstrate good financial literacy. So what about the rest ?

“With energy bills, grocery prices on the rise, and the UK economy facing recessionary pressures, the question arises: How can we effectively navigate this cost-of-living crisis? ”

CONTEXT

According to a report by the Money Advice Service, only 52% of individuals in the 18-24 age group in Britain demonstrate good financial literacy. So what about the rest ?

“Research, strategise and design an experience to help Britons navigate the cost of living crisis, focusing on increasing financial literacy.”

PROBLEM & APPROACH

MOJOR INSIGHTS

We conducted background research, interviews, and surveys to gather qualitative and quantitative data from users. Once we had all that info in hand, it was time to roll up our sleeves and dive into the data, searching for those golden nuggets of insight that could fuel our research. From the insights we found, it became glaringly obvious that there's a gap in the market just waiting to be filled.

51%

of the population finds it difficult to manage the money they have.

83%

respondents said the never got financial education from school/Uni

84%

of the 18-24 year olds have thought about investing but don't not how to

17%

max out their credit cards and go into unassigned overdraft regularly

“The banking world's complex nature has left competitors lagging behind in terms of technology as markets shift and evolve”

COMPETITORS

“The competitors are a mix of modern internet banks and traditional brick and mortar banks.”

“Who are the users of this application and how we can enrich and elevate their dat to day lives?”

USER PERSONA

“THE SAVER”

London, 22 y.o

Lisa is a software engineer originally from Birmingham. She moved to London last year as she got a job at an IT company as a developer. She likes to budget and spend her money carefully.

MOTIVATION

Save, budget, transfer and invest the money she has so that she can have more financial freedom.

GOALS

To save enough money so that she don't have to worry about money in future

“THE SPENDER”

Manchester, 20 y.o

Mathew is a University student who studies biotechnology. He recently moved away from home with his girlfriend and is staying at place rented near the university.

MOTIVATION

Get easy credit so that he can spend on clothes and the latest gadget.

GOALS

Trying to make a quick buck through investing in crypto and share trading. This money will help pay bills and overdrafts.

“IT’S TEDIOUS”

London, 25 y.o

Lily is a editor at a book publishing firm in Kingston. She rents out an apartment which is within walking distance to her office. She works long hours and finds money tedious to deal with.

MOTIVATION

Has to be simple and easy to use, she finds banking to be hard to understand be of all the financial jargon.

GOALS

To deal with all her financial transactions easily and also remind her to save as she often forgets to do all these things.

“FINANCIAL GURU”

London, 26 y.o

Tony is data scientist. He has been working for 5 years now. He just moved to a new company last month. He is very organised and likes to invest his time to grow his wealth.

MOTIVATION

Have all the feature packed application which his capable of handling his pro user needs.

GOALS

To manage his existing wealth, aid him wealth creation and help with asset management.

DISCOVERY

After thoroughly analyzing user insights through empathy maps, user journey maps, and personas, we progressed to the ideation phase, where we explored three potential directions. Ultimately, we opted for the banking app solution, aligning closely with our research findings and user needs.