Finansor
Finansor is designed to educate and guide post-secondary graduates on taking their first crack at wealth/investment planning in the Canadian economy. It provides learning modules according to the user's existing knowledge, and allows flexible schedule so that anyone can learn at their own pace anywhere anytime with great freedom.
My Role
UX/UI Researcher
Design Strategy
Project Type
Project Type
Capstone Project
(Independent)
Tools
Figma
Unsplash
Timeline
12 weeks
(Part-time)
Finansor - Design Process
Non-linear process
Problem Space
Secondary Research
Primary Research
"How Might We"
Persona
Experience Map
Users Stories
Focus Epics
Task Flow Diagram
Sketches
Low-Fi Prototype
Mid-Fi Prototype
Usability Testing
Visual Identity
High-Fi Prototype
I applied the Double Diamond Design method due to its great flexibility and allows ongoing revision / re-iteration striving for full-scale solutions
Problem Space Discovery
What could be the most impactful problem worth exploring?
Since 2020 the world had been experiencing unprecedented economic cycle. From the COVID pandemic to national conflicts, the global economy has taken a toll and many Canadians find their plans disrupted due to financial stress.
The Canadian government had taken steps to combat economic turmoil in attempts to restore life to pre-COVID normality. Post-secondary graduates, in particular, may be highly skilled but suffer financially amidst said environment due to following reasons:
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Rising cost of living
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Minimal or zero income
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Unorganized spending habits
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Lack of personal wealth management knowledge
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Larger wealth required to sustain longer life expectancy
In my 5 years of financial advisory experience, I have helped retail customers progress and achieve their financial goals. Therefore, I learnt first-hand that financial planning for young Canadians is a national concern which also applies personally. Given my expertise, I wanted to find a solution that will set fresh-grads up for long term financial success unlike many before them who needed the help but had challenge finding the right resource.
Secondary Research
In this problem space, what have I found and how bad is the situation?
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Canadians feel they are financially retirement-ready, requiring in average $1.7million to be comfortable at old age
Young Canadian's overall hopefulness for the future decreased 15% from 2016 to 2021 due to economic challenges
CAD $28,000
Post-secondary graduates carry student debts for 2-3 years, averaging
From above research, I observed that young Canadians have many aspirations, most of which require support from financial growth but lack the help they need to achieve said goals. Statistics above briefly established current landscape for our target audience and gave me a direction for my solution.
From my professional experience, in order to achieve long term financial growth, long term investing time horizon and corresponding knowledge are required. Thus, I have the following hypothesis and assumptions as foundation of my case study.
Hypothesis
New-grads have income earning potential & long time horizon to invest but investing knowledge is lacking. Therefore, my preliminary direction was a financial education platform to fill the last piece of puzzle they need leading to long term financial success.
Assumption
1.
New-grads were not taught wealth planning from school or from parents
2.
New-grads has no budget in place and spend what is available
3.
Resource are scarce and accessibility is a challenge for most who need help
Now that I have established my hypothesis & assumptions, let's look at some conversations with selected candidates who fit the target users base and find out what is most important for them when it comes their financial future!
Primary Research
User Interviews - What are they worried most and how could be it better?
To find the focus theme of my solution, I have spoken with 3 individuals who recently graduated from university/college and are new investor. They all share that they have future plans that require financial growth and extensive financial knowledge, but don't know who or where to find the help due to varies reasons. Below are what they have told me:
What people say
"My parents have invested before and lost money. Truth be told, I am scared to make the same mistake and jeopardize my future"
"I grew up in a poor family and no one knows how to properly handle wealth. Fortunately I had a trusted advisor who helps me manage my finance. I have full confident in advice he gives"
"In hindsight, I wish I started putting aside money earlier so that my money could grow quicker. I could be in Europe travelling right now if it wasn't for all my other spending. If only I knew sooner..."
"I don't know where or how to begin learning about investment"
"I want to self-manage my personal finance without asking anyone else"
"I want to be able to afford ______"
Gathering all responds from the interviewees, I have concluded all findings into 3 themes which are:
Source Credibility Investment Education Financial Freedom
After completing Affinity mapping, "Investment Education" seems to be the major concern where users have the most pain points; therefore will be my focus Epic going forward.
Persona & Experience Mapping
Who can represent a larger audience?
Subsequently, I was able to compile a Persona who encases most (if not all) pain points, motivation and behaviors my target users' may have regarding investment education. Meet my Persona - Jolene, the intimidated investor!
Age: 23
Gender: Female
Occupation: Event Coordinator
Income: CAD $45K annually
Location: Toronto, ON
Jolene Chopra
Intimidated Investor
"I need a place where I can learn all about investment planning so that I can secure the future I aspire"
Biography
Jolene has recently graduated from university and secured a job shortly after at her current employer. She has no previous investing experience but would like to start planning for her future. She has many plans but is unsure where to begin.
Pain Points
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Jolene doesn't know who/where to turn to for investment advice.
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Investment was never taught anywhere and therefore is brand new to Jolene
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Risk-averse and afraid of losing money
Motivation
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Varies goals which require financial planning such as early retirement, annual travel plan and occasional treats (eg. high-end items)
Behaviors
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Search for investing tips from YouTube/ Tiktok
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Listen to friends and family for investment tips
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Consulted bankers but did not follow up because of busy schedule
Personality
Introvert | Joyful | Intellectual | Studious
Experience Mapping
Scenario: Jolene (refer to Persona) is trying to start her TFSA investment for the first time
Goals: Have regular investment set up
Frustration: Jolene doesn't know where to begin looking
With the help of a Persona & Experience Map comes the essence of this case study - a core How Might We question is defined which will then address current pain points & guide how I created my preliminary solution - an investment education platform accessible to those looking to expand their investment knowledge for a better future.
How might we guide post-secondary graduates (age 20-30) to approach investment planning in order to set them up for long term financial success?
Task Selection
Focusing on key Epic "Investment Education"
After defining the HMW question, I have created the chart below showing 10 user stories under this epic. I outlined the task for each user story and decided to select the top story as my primary task flow to design.
Once isolating this primary task flow, I developed a task flow by imagining Jolene (Persona) interacting with my investment education platform. Shown below are Jolene's start-to-finish progress in order to learn investment knowledge.
Task Flow Diagram
No steps are too small while constructing design thinking
One personal learning from every task flow plotting session is that there is always smaller steps to optimize the entire flow
Sketches & UI Inspiration
Focusing on key Epic "Investment Education"
Solution Sketches
Exploratory Sketches
Although it is tempting to simply visualize a mental solution layouts, breaking things down with pen and paper helped by making things tangible and did surface issues that would otherwise be neglected. For instance, I would have left out learning modules progress bar if no sketches were created. For future reference, I will need to constantly remind myself of this lesson so I don't make the same mistake which would have had huge impact on "visibility of system status" heuristic.
From Sketches to Mid-Fi Prototype
Perspectives on the actual solution
Although it is tempting to simply visualize a mental solution layouts, breaking things down with pen and paper helped by making things tangible and did surface issues that would otherwise be neglected.
For instance, I would have left out learning modules progress bar if no sketches were created. For future reference, I will need to constantly remind myself of this lesson so I don't make the same mistake which would have had huge impact on "visibility of system status" heuristic.
Usability Testing
Room for improvement - What adjustment were implemented after testing #1?
Creating 1st mid-fi prototype and running usability tests with 5 candidates provided valuable insight on where changes could be better - more intuitive and user-friendly as shown below few examples of adjustments.
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Worked on spacing & text size of questionnaire to create depth
Added instruction and progress bar to keep user informed on what to do next
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Implemented icon and color to indicate learning module completion progress
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Limited unorganized freedom to access advanced modules as users are encouraged to build solid knowledge foundation before proceeding to higher level as with any education framework
At this stage, I was confident on the direction this solution has taken from the feedback I received from both User Interviews & Usability Testing. This is where I believe this investment education platform is what my target users need.
Visual Identity
Implementing UI elements and inspiration
Branding is the first impression of any solution and is what would capture users’ attention. Our brand needs to convey core values that resonate with targeted users.
In this following section, let's explore some of my UI intervention. First, I have compiled certain keywords that reflects how I want the users to feel when using this education platform.
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Empowering
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Flexible
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Exciting
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Welcoming
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Professional
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Hopeful
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Freedom
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Growth-oriented
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Limitless
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Relevant
To put these feelings into perspective, the users should be:
More self-paced but not required
More exciting than dull
More professional than playful but not too serious
More aspired than stressed
Brand Name, Typeface, Logo, Color & Moodboard
The name Finansor came from the portmanteau of “Finance” + “Professor”, intended to be a digital solution to teach new-grads everything they want to know in personal finance - resonating well with my HMW question & this problem space.
Logo & Wordmark Creation:
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Lightbulb as base to signify ideas and knowledge
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Graduation cap is a representation of learning and aspiration
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Light fuse has incorporated the “$” indicating money related topics
Color Palette & Moodboard Creation:
Primary color theme revolves around different shades of blues, hoping to convey the message "The sky is the limit", just as learning and knowledge is flexible and limitless as long as users desire to keep learning. Moodboard inspiration has taken influence from pictures of clear blue skies and openness to reinforce the idea.
High-Fi Prototype
Putting it all together - a real solution to financial success in time
And so - the final solution is born!
Combining all of above effort, I am proud to present Finansor as the next generation's coach to financial freedom!
Responsive Design
How does Finansor look across different platforms and devices?
Check out my marketing website for Finansor with links below!
After thoughts
What are the key learning from this project?
Overall, this is a precious learning experience. It feels great to have the opportunity to voice a personal concern which also affects majority of the young Canadian generation and my social circle.
Firstly, findings from research and interviews still surprised me despite I help customers everyday in my profession. This truly brings the meaning of human-centric design to the next level.
I have also learnt to accept help & feedback from not only users but also my fellow UX designers as they provide some of the most constructive design feedback and reminds me of the fun in collaboration.
