Learning about money is fun and easy.
MeeMo is a progression based platform that uses lessons and compelling visuals to teach children the basics about money.
MeeMo is the start of a money learning adventure.
MeeMo has bite-sized lessons to help kids learn about money every day. MeeMo teaches children to stay on track towards their goals whether it's for a new bike or to track spending.
PROBLEM
In an increasingly cashless society, kids are being left behind.
OPPORUNITY
Create a platform for kids to bank giving them autonomy and understanding of how money works in this digital age.
MY ROLE
This was a group project for my Innovation class. I was responsible for the concept, UX research, story development and UX and UI design.
MeeMo turns each transaction into a
teachable moment.
DESIGN SOLUTION
MeeMo is the first of its kind application that lets children monitor their spending.
MeeMo is a product of PayPal. Once a MeeMo gift card is activated the learning begins. The platform is lesson based and has real-time notifications about spending.
MeeMo is interactive and fun.
Learn about money through goal setting
MeeMo is just like breaking down a complicated math problem into building blocks. By setting a goals kids can begin the journey of creating good money habits.
Use an interactive map to track goal progress.
Each child has their own avatar that takes them on a journey to set goals. As the child gets closer to their goal the farther along the map they move.
Each lesson is a learning opportunity.
Every transaction within the MeeMo App will engage children to think about their spending habits.
Meet Goals
Once a child meets a goal your MeeMo character gets excited. Through gamification, MeeMo helps kids learn. With MeeMo the journey always continues, one
goal at a time.
DESIGN PROCESS
Problem space/goals
Money on our Mind
To begin this project my team and I begin research on the financial landscape in America and common money mindsets. We also took a look at how kids are being taught financial habits and what if any finance platforms currently existed. As I dig deep into research I found the five money mindsets where particularly interesting.
Money Mindsets
1. The Perfectionist- This group makes up 19 % of Americans and have clear financial goals in mind.
2. The Dreamers- While dreamers have some idea of their goals and how to achieve them— they just haven’t yet worked out all the details.
3. The Procrastinators- People in this group have either a budget or a savings plan but not both.
4.The Wanderers- People in this group float from bill to bill and usually lack a strategic approach to money management.
We aren't good with our money.
As we continued with research our main assumption was proven right. Most American are terrible with money. More than half of the U.S. adults admit they do not have a budget. Out of that number 77 million Americans don’t pay all their bills on time. This led my group to ask the question: who is teaching the kids about money?
User Interviews
Talking about finances can be an extremely touchy topic. I decided to talk to 5 parents from different socioeconomic backgrounds within my network. When I wrote the script I kept the questions both specific and open-ended to invite people to elaborate on their relationship with money. It was important for me to be as unbiased as possible so I could go into interviews without assumptions on how parents should teach their kids financial responsibility.
Meeting Finn
From all the interview data I was able to craft a persona for our target. One of the most interesting insights I gained from my interviews with parents was that the main goal of most parents was to teach their child that money was a tool to help you move through the world but should be something you’re tied too. All the parents I interviewed also expressed that they wanted their children to be philanthropic is some way.
Creating Disruption and Understanding our Platform
The financial banking industry is plagued with scandal and mistrust. As a group we shared our own opinions on banking experiences and knew if we were going to tackle this industry a big part of the design had to include creating trust with the users.
We saw an opportunity to partner with PayPal. PayPal offered us a secure platform, brand values and helped us cut away from the legal red tape a traditional bank would have. Through the PayPal we could create a safe and secure way for kids to bank and give them the autonomy and a basic understanding of financial responsibility in a digital age.
Goals
From all the research our group created a set of primary goals that would guide our designs. We split our goals in three ways, technical needs, banking needs, and platform focal points.
Tech
-
Needed strong exisiting infrastruture
-
Needed to be similar to our inspiration for the project, Digi Pigi, IP.
Banking
Focal Point
-
Had low barrier to entry for kids and parent( could be a free platform)
-
Seemed trustworthy and altruistic
-
Needed less regulation
DESIGN PROCESS
Problem space/goals
Money on our Mind
My team and I begin research on the financial landscape in America and common money mindsets. We also looked at how kids are being taught financial habits and what, if any financial platforms currently existed. As I dig deep into research I found the five money mindsets where particularly interesting.
Money Mindsets
1. The Perfectionist- This group makes up 19 % of Americans and have clear financial goals in mind.
2. The Dreamers- While dreamers have some idea of their goals and how to achieve them— they just haven’t yet worked out all the details.
3. The Procrastinators- People in this group have either a budget or a savings plan but not both.
4.The Wanderers- People in this group float from bill to bill and usually lack a strategic approach to money management.
We aren't good with our money.
As we continued with research our main assumption was proven right. Most Americans are terrible with money. More than half of the U.S. adults admit they do not have a budget. This led my group to ask the question: who is teaching the kids about money?
User Interviews
Talking about finances can be an extremely touchy topic. I decided to talk to 5 parents from different socioeconomic backgrounds within my network. When I wrote the script I kept the questions both specific and open-ended to invite people to elaborate on their relationship with money.
Meeting Finn
From all the interview data I was able to craft a persona for our target. One of the most interesting insights I gained from my interviews was that most parents wanted to teach their children that money was a tool. It's something to help you move through the world but it should not be something you’re tied too.
Creating Disruption and Understanding our Platform
The financial banking industry is plagued with scandal and mistrust. As a group we shared our own opinions on banking experiences and knew if we were going to tackle this industry a big part of the design had to include creating trust with the users.
We saw an opportunity to partner with PayPal. PayPal offered us a secure platform and brand values. Through PayPal, we could create a safe and secure way for kids to bank and give them the autonomy and a basic understanding of financial responsibility in a digital age.
Goals
Entering the design phase, I worked with my group to understand how the story would work with the design. We started by visualizing and prioritizating platform functionalities with key storylines. Due to time limitations, we decided to tell MeeMo's story through Finn's user journey.
Banking
Tech
Focal Point
-
Needed strong existing infrastructure
-
Needed to be similar to our inspiration for the project, Digi Pigi, IP.
-
Had low barrier to entry for families( could be a free platform)
-
Seemed trustworthy and altruistic
-
Needed less regulation
-
Kid-based
-
Needed to be a flexible platform to be built beyond a screen
-
Character and story driven
"That money is a tool, and is not a purpose - and if you have plenty, you should be generous in sharing your tools with those whose access to it has been limited."
Michelle, mother of two
Design Decisions
/ Branding and UX UI Design
/ Ipad Screens
MeeMo is something I am proud of and is a product I would love to see in the world. With that said there is still work to be done.
/Buildout story world and characters
I will need to continue to flush out use cases of when and why the application should be used. It would definitely be beneficial to add depth to the design and continue test out concepts.
/Bring MeeMo to the classroom with Google Chromebooks
56 percent of students use Google Chromebooks in classrooms. I would like to create future versions of MeeMo to be integrated into classrooms to help teach financial literacy.
/Building a platform beyond an application
Seeing MeeMo live outside of a screen would be a place I would like to ideate in. Moving forward I would love to is see MeeMo out in the wild.
Future Steps
Reflections
The initial concept of this idea came from research I did for a different project. I remember as a child growing up in rural N.C. watching my Grandpa saving 2 dollar bills and half dollars. When I received my first piggy bank all I wanted was a Dream Barbie House. This project was exciting because I wanted to create an experience like I had as a kid for children now.
As a black designer, this product especially was important because I want to create products like this for other black people. I understand something like this could create a huge impact in our community.
Team
Joe Baumgardner- CBM
Alyson Gaiser- Strategist
Brittani Kelzenberg- Art Director
Mike Rodriguez- Art Director
Allie Carr- Copywriter
Kelly Prudente- Experience Designer
