Money&Me · Shipped 2024
Company
Outcome
Unfortunately, the project is still new, so I cannot share any details about the tangible benefits that employers and employees have began seeing yet.
Contributions
User research and testing
User experience
Design system
Context
Gamifying financial wellbeing for workplace engagement
Companies are becoming increasingly aware of how wellbeing can affect an employees productivity at work. To help engage employees in their financial wellbeing, we created Money&Me, a gamified approach to gaining knowledge with their finances.
Users are able to complete topics to win medals and competitions whilst also increasing their financial wellbeing.
Highlights
Designed for diverse learning styles, from speed runners to deep learners.
Challenge
Turning avoidance into action
Financial wellbeing directly impacts workplace productivity, yet employees notoriously avoid engaging with it. PWC research shows poor financial health reduces effectiveness and increases workplace absence. The challenge: create a compelling platform that employees actually want to use while delivering business value.
Platform needed to be delivered to client in time for new school year
Helping users understand key terms was a key targets
Outcome
Live and serving employees
The platform is live with multiple employers, and early adoption data is being collected. While it's too soon to share quantifiable impact, the successful launch under a tight 12-week deadline proved the viability of gamified financial wellbeing in workplace settings.
Leading design principles
Meeting users at their knowledge level and adapting complexity
Encouraging users to remain on the digital journey but offering an alternative
Supporting different player types from speed runners to deep learners
The process
Learning from gamification leaders
To create a platform employees would return to, we studied successful gamification models like Duolingo and Khan Academy. We needed to understand who engages with gamified learning and how to deliver information effectively for different user types.
The following are small parts of the journey we went on to create the app
Personas
Five player archetypes
We identified five distinct player types to ensure the platform worked for different learning styles. The experience needed to be non-linear, allowing users to research specific topics or explore for fun without forcing a single path.
The five player types were:
Ideal player
• Sees each part of content;
• Doesn’t jump straight to knowledge checkers and engages with gamification/community;
• Reads articles
Speed runner
• Jumps straight into knowledge checkers;
• Doesn’t see content;
• Only answers knowledge checkers to find the correct results
The learner
• Doesn’t answer tests;
• Only looks at content;
• Misses gamification, no medals/badges
Timed out
• Reads content and answers knowledge checker to earn medals;
• Doesn’t renew test result when updated content is posted;
• Out of date knowledge
Ghost
• Visits site and earns medals and badges;
• Doesn’t return when new content is posted, meaning they’re missing new medals/badges;
User testing
Simplifying navigation post-launch
Scope creep
With the tight deadline, client requests were mishandled and the site grew massively just before launch, when there was no longer time to review the information architecture.
Reduce cognitive load
Based on feedback, we restructured the navigation to reduce cognitive load and improve information architecture.
Post-launch user testing revealed that 10 navigation items overwhelmed users, with ambiguous labels forcing them to hunt for features rather than finding them intuitively. The tight deadline had led to scope creep, client requests added pages without time to revisit the information architecture. Based on user feedback, we restructured the navigation to reduce cognitive load, consolidating items and clarifying labels to improve findability.
Financial fitness assessment
Meeting users where they are
Users struggle to self-assess their financial knowledge accurately, leading to mismatched content difficulty. We identified four knowledge profiles - from Novice to Expert - and created a Financial Fitness Assessment that evaluates both knowledge level and learning personality. This helps users start at the right level and engage with appropriate content complexity.
Novice
Ignorance
Cultured
Expert
The need for simplicity
Breaking down complexity
Financial topics easily overwhelm users when too much information appears at once. Through testing, we learned that breaking content into smaller, focused steps, even if it meant more clicks, significantly improved engagement and comprehension. Each step now presents one concept at a time, supported by images and demonstration videos, allowing users to absorb information without cognitive overload.
All information, straightaway
More digestible information
More steps, user may become less engaged