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Goal

An exercise in design research, User experience design, User interface design  and prototyping.

 

To understand and design interventions for the primary pain points of international students with a focus on their needs for financial wellbeing .

My Role 

UX Research,

UX / UI

Interaction  Design , Illustration , Style Guide

User Journey, Personas, Empathy map 

Information Archtecture,  User Flow

Tools

Figma 

Miro 

Figjam 

Project Team 

Solo  

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The Challenge 

Covid worsened the financial situation of all university going situations. 
  

In Germany the situation was like so : 

25% of 7, 199

student  participants of a study  said they were affected financially with detrimental consequences to their mental wellbeing 

While there was  monitory assistance provided by the German govt. many students did not meet the eligibility criteria .The loaned money needed to be paid back with an interest of 4%,  low but still an added expense for many students. 

90% of 30,000

International students who participated on  a survey   said they were affected financially by the pandemic 

Methodology 

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3 Case studies

10 Articles 

How Might We

Wellbeing Framework

Journey Mapping 

Personas 

15 Opportunities 

Generative interviews

8 particpants 

Affinity Mapping 

4 key insights 

Sketching 

Sketch Storming 

Brain Dumping 

Product Architecture 

User Flows 

Wire Framing 

Low -Fi - prototyping 

Mid -Fi 

High Fi 

Remote testing

Concept testing

Tree testing 

Task Analysis 

Post pandemic , there hasn't been any studies done on whether a change has occured in the financial wellbeing of international students.


This case study is an attempt to fill the gap and find possible solutions to resolve issues if any  that still plague the international student community.   

The Outcome 

A digital solution  that  allows users to have more control over their finances via helpful suggestions, customisation, extensive expense tracking   and predictions.

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Interact with the onboarding prototype here 
Primary Research 

After secondary / exploratory research I conducted qualitative generative  interviews to understand what is the financial wellbeing of students like in a

post-covid german university setting.  Recruitment was done via convenient sampling due to my inability to speak any other language besides english and my inability to reach many universities . I was able to only recruit student participants from 2 universities in the region .

Hence a total of 8 participants , 4 men and 4 womenall international students, within the age bracket of 25 -30 years were interviewed  remotely using webex and zoom

 

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Insights 

It was evident from the generative interviews that managing finances continues to be a problem for students that do have an impact on their over all wellbeing.

The four key insights were: 

Overwhelming Financial Stress

Most students are stressed and anxious about their finances and feel that they lack control over it . 

In response to this , they either care less or care excessively about it

"It is unstable because I can't see it .. I have no idea where I will be.. after 6 months I have no idea how I will manage it. "   

-User Quote, on managing finances ,  25

"I am not a person who has a calculated perspective about money... I look at my bank account and if it is less I restrict..... I do not have a reserve thing going on ... with finances my whole life I has not  been concrete and defined... I would rather focus on earning than managing it .. it just takes too much of your time... why not focus on making more money... because if I keep in managing it is an unnecessary anxiety you don’t need........"

-User Quote, on managing finances ,  27

"..I think it is stressful when I don’t do it regularly.. I have to go through my bank account and check what all I have paid where I have paid ..... so entering all that is stressful and also physical cash.. if I use it I have no track of that .. so I might enter the wrong things in the app... this is when I do it in a week or so...

-User Quote, on managing finances ,  23

Struggles with self control

Most students want to have self control but fail at it and end up spending  .

While some rationalise their spendings as it being a part of their student life, others feel guilt as this could mean that they would exceed their monthly budgets which could lead to addional worries for them.

"I accidently bought a bottle of whiskey which cost me 56 euros for the first six months I saved it and then I tasted it I mean I don’t know if I will be alive next month or not. So I just tasted it. Hahaha ""   

-User Quote, on impulsive buying  ,  28

"I buy , regret and then I accept it.".

-User Quote, on impulsive buying  ,  23

"Its hard to admit that I am the problem with managing the finances....so it’s a hard fact coming to terms with it.”

-User Quote, on impulsive buying  ,  30

"I have done impulsive purchases pair of shoes which I got.. I really liked it.. actually this time I wanted blutooth speaker it srrted really cheap I went from 30 .. I didn’t like it o got another 45 euros.... And then I ultimately got one for 90 euros I think I am happy now.. I know bluetooth speakers are kind of investments.. if you use them well they last for 5 to 6 years..

-User Quote, on impulsive buying  ,  25

Tensions between saving and socialising 

While some students feel that they cannot save just yet and would rather think about it later in their future life , others resort minimising their grocery spendings / eating lesser to compensate for participation in social activities .

Conflicted about these spendings, they  go through a constant inner dialogue with one self about whether or not they should make that expenditure . 

" ..I don’t want to to not  have the beautiful moments with friends.. I love that because it makes me happy and enjoying that time so I don’t mind spending 3 to 4 times a month .. atleast you need to enjoy otherwise it would keep you isolated that is not good at all " 

-User Quote, 28

"..i will have no savings until may but it an investment on me... "

-User Quote, 29

"..Usually I spend more money when I meet my friends because they are all doing jobs and they want to go to places and restaurants but I can’t afford however I don’t want to say.. “well I don’t have money ... so do it without me..” its such a bummer I try to ..."

-User Quote, 30 

Lack of Financial Literacy

All students feel that they have less/ limited knowledge about financial management  and hence do not venture out to other avenues/ methods  of  managing/ growing money

" ..I feel like we don’t talk about it a lot.. it is an interesting topic.. I wish more people talk about it.. for me its important because you can also learn from other people. 

-User Quote, on investments and financial management , 30

"..i don't know much about investments and credit , so i don't really  do any of that ..maybe when i learn more about it .. "

-User Quote, 26

"..Using credit cards is good but you have to learn how to use it better , im not sure everyone knows .. i'll have to learn it maybe from my mom.. haha ..."

-User Quote , 23

Synthesis

I used affinity mapping for the synthesis of the data collected  I used a Miro Board for this.  After arriving on preliminary themes , i refined them into a final four themes/ insights. 

These 4 themes helped me understand the current condition of  students wellbeing both financially and mentally.