My College Finance

Video platform to teach college students about financial literacy

The Challenge

The founder already begun developing a video platform for his app. He wanted to know what users wanted to learn about financial literacy, how long were they willing to pursue it, and how much were they willing to spend for his product.

Research Process

  • Discovery

  • Interviews

  • Surveys

  • Competitive Analysis

  • Gather Insights

  • Recommended Next Steps

Interview Overview

Participants Demographics

  • 5 interviews

  • 2 males, 3 females

  • Ages between 46-57

  • Race: African-American/Black

Interview Insights

Tell us about your first big purchase.

  • 4 of the 5 participants first big purchase was a car

  • 1 participant first purchase was a home

  • 5 out of 5 participants were unsure of how to complete the purchase on their own.

What is your plan to ensure that your child is financially responsible?

  • Talking to them about their finances

  • Providing financial literacy tools (books, courses, etc.)

  • Build their credit early on

What do you imagine for your child five years from now when it comes to making financial decisions?

  • Financial responsible and independent of parents.

  • Have good credit with an understanding of how credit works

  • Money saved

Do you know of any resources that teaches financial literacy?

  • Resources that participants used was: YouTube videos, Junior Achievement, Dave Ramsey, Social Media platforms, and books.

Interview Insights

How much of a role did your school play in financial literacy?

How much of a role do you think school should play in financial literacy?

None of the 5 participants were educated about financial literacy in school.

80% of participants believe schools should be mandated to teach financial literacy.

Interview Questions and Insights

Aesthetically, how does this website make you feel?

"It's inviting, but to what, I don't know."

"The colors are inviting. I like the different colors that are on the first page, but as far as ‘practice makes progress’, I'm not sure what I’m going to get into when I see that first page."

After saving an assignment, is it obvious where to go to record your assignment?

"I guess I would click on the bottom page? I don't know."

"I guess I go into completed?

By looking at the landing page, is it obvious what this website is about?

"There’s nothing telling me anything, I just see a robot.”

"I’m guessing it’s more of an interaction kind of thing. I don’t know what it’s about.”

A woman and a young boy sitting on a beige couch, looking at a tablet. The woman has light skin, brown hair, and is wearing a sleeveless rust-colored shirt and multiple bracelets. The boy has light skin, red hair, and is wearing a light blue shirt and mustard-colored pants. The woman is affectionately petting the boy's head.

Usability Test - Landing Page Confusion

Users has a hard time figuring out what the website is about.

A digital illustration promoting practice and progress with text saying "Practice Makes Progress" and a character robot surrounded by icons of a speaker, chat bubble, speech bubble, and a clock, on a green and white background.
Green background with the text "OUR PRODUCT" in dark green letters on the right side. Overlapping blue and white text boxes contain text about reading aloud and its challenges, including accuracy, speed, duration, and words read, with some boxes partially cut off.

Ello used a combination of imagery and a short summary to clearly describe the website.

A girl with a dark ponytail lying on her stomach on a wooden table, looking at a tablet device propped up on a stand on the table. The tablet displays colorful educational content. The background includes a bright room with white blinds on the windows.
A cartoon elephant with big eyes, orange ears, and a small curl on its trunk, smiling and waving, with a yellow and beige background.

Google Read Along made it clear from the very beginning the purpose of the platform.

Screenshots of a children's reading app called Read Along, showing the app's main screen, language selection options, and feature descriptions for endless fun and magical assistance with colorful illustrations of children reading and a girl with a pink bow.

Usability Test - Unnecessary Click

  • Users were expecting to see a list of assignments.

  • Consider using this page as a dashboard to track progress and achievements

“I will expect to see different assignments that I could choose from.” -User

A digital illustration welcoming users to Read2Text, featuring a robot with a digital face, surrounded by speech bubbles, documents, and a clock, with a prominent green button labeled 'Go to Assignments' on a light green background.

Usability Test - Assignments Page

  • The user is confused about how it functions.

  • It’s not obvious nor have clear instructions about how it works.

  • Functionality forces the user to leave the platform and come back.

“What do I copy to paste?” -User

“Making users paste their own assignments is like making a child to produce their own homework. Also forces them to leave the platform.”
— The Inspire Agency
Screenshot of Read2Text online platform with a text box and a description stating it addresses challenges by providing an online platform for assigning verifiable fluency homework, allowing practice anytime anywhere.

Make the platform functional and fun. That will encourage users to keep using it. Design around your users, not your limitations.

-The Inspire Agency

Summary

Our research reveals that existing apps offering similar services predominantly cater to children. The few targeting adults typically focus on non-English speakers aiming to improve workplace success through English proficiency.

Further research is necessary to assess the size and viability of a market specifically targeting adult readers. If deemed too niche, it may not attract sufficient investor interest.

Identifying the precise demographic—whether younger or older adults—and understanding their specific needs and preferences will be crucial. Crafting a user experience that is both enjoyable and engaging for this audience will be instrumental in achieving profitability."

Next Steps

Thorough UX Research

Gather data to learn more about the specific userbase and their needs to incorporate into the design.

Future State UI Redesign

To show investors the full potential of your platform with their help. Some ideas to keep in mind: clear copy, dashboard, prewritten assignments, gamification, Easy to redo assignments, and the ability to share results via email.

Immediate UI Redesign

Work within your limitations to improve the experience to continue to gain users to show investors.

Test Again

Test the UI again for additional feedback.