User research and hypothesis
We delved into comprehensive user research to grasp the requirements and hurdles faced by our target users. CEO is a financial advisor and has a clientele from various backgrounds and industries, which we perceived as diverse and readily accessible for our initial quantitative research. We conducted a survey that consisted of 14 questions and survey sample consisted of 32 participants.
Our investigations revealed a common struggle among individuals in effectively managing their finances, largely due to challenges in monitoring their spending and savings, no motivation to persist in long term financial goals and lack of financial literacy.
Hypothesis: Implementing a combination of gamification elements, budgeting tool, relatable financial education, financial objectives, reminders, access to professional advice, and providing an overview of users' assets and liabilities within a mobile app will lead to improved financial literacy, increased engagement with financial management tasks, and greater overall financial well-being among users." This hypothesis suggests that integrating these features into an app will have positive effects on users' financial behaviours, knowledge, and outcomes. It implies that the app's multifaceted approach, combining gamification for engagement, budgeting tools for financial planning, relatable education for understanding, easy reminders for habit formation, professional advice for guidance, and asset/liability overview for holistic financial management, may contribute to users' improved financial situations and behaviour.
It was time to conduct another quantitative research and confirm statements.
Secondary data research
I conducted secondary data research, uncovering valuable insights into user motivation, the integration of gamification in experiences, and the significance of goal setting within various contexts. Secondary data research confirmed many of our hypothesis mentioned before and gave me some great insights that I will have to test in practice.
Envisioning a gamified experience
Gamification uses game-like elements like points, badges, and leaderboards to encourage users to complete desired actions. This technique has been adopted by many businesses as a way to increase customer engagement levels. By adding an element of fun or competition into ordinarily boring activities, customers are more likely to stay interested and continue using a product or service.
We decided to incorporate:
✓ Progress bars for objectives and education
✓ Bonus points for completing tasks, objectives, courses. Bonus points can be exchanged for rewards such as merchandise, stocks, crypto.
✓ Experience points are awarded for timely and positive actions, contributing to the user's experience level showcased in the experience badge.
✓ Adding friends and creating groups
✓ Leaderboard
✓ Money challenges to encourage users to either create or join challenges initiated by their peers and win the prize
✓ Quiz questions based on completed courses
