Doing money better: Supporting young adults in sustainable financial decision-making

Money is a key element in people’s overall well-being (Abey & Ford, 2008). Young adults are behaving very differently towards finances compared to previous generations (Williams et al, 2010). In addition, young adults have little trust on financial institutions and no one to turn to for actionable advice (Deloitte Millennial Survey, 2019). Adults in their twenties and thirties are struggling with money, feeling overwhelmed and lost (Foundation for Economic Education, 2018). A gap in the market was found, where no current solutions fostered long-term behaviors for young adults towards a secure financial future. I wanted to use my skills as a designer to solve this paradigm involving young adults and finances. The goal of this graduation project is to provide guidance and support for young adults in changing their current money habits so they can ensure their future well-being. This societal issue regarding young adults and money is a shared problem in countries all over the world. For a better understanding of the relationship young people have, the context was scoped down: the project was based in Madrid, Spain and it was targeted for young adults belonging to this country. Under this context, the research of the project provided valuable findings which led to the final design. Those findings can be extrapolated to non-spanish young adults. Young adult’s current money habits and the desired financial behavior for a sustainable well-being were identified and mapped in two frameworks. The transition between both was possible through the creation of a new product- service-system. As a result, a product-service-system, named Volt, was designed. Volt crafts a new meaningful relationship between young adults and money and consists of a smart phone case, a related digital application and the system that sustains both. Through the phone case, young adults will progressively save by clicking a button and check their financial health thanks to a coloured light. The digital application will first help young adults to budget on their personal financial goals into vaults or buckets and keep track of their financial health and progress. After some digital application use, the digital application will provide young adults with actionable financial advice and the entrance to a community of young people with similar financial situation, so they can feel supported and have the peace of mind they crave.Strategic Product Desig