Thesis Research

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Thesis Research 〰️

project goal:

designing to reduce financial stress for college students.

Background:
Many college students are so overwhelmed with the lack of resources and abundance of opportunities & obstacles facing them that their physical health, social wellness, and academic performance are paying the price.

Goal:
Make managing money more accessible and less stressful for cash-strapped college students.

1

Understanding the problem

approach

I started exploring this problem by reflecting on and mapping my own experience struggling to start budgeting and sticking to a plan for my finances.

Then, I cast a wide net from the beginning by analyzing the product offerings of ~15 leading fintech startups and survey results from 25+ people in my network from all regions of the country and all walks of life.

Social Listening, Business Analysis, Ethnographic Interviews, Research Synthesis, Insights & Strategy Development, Service Design, Information Design, User Storytelling, Project Management

APPLIED SKILLS:

research planning

research synthesis

After gathering information from a competitive industry analysis, an online survey, and ethnographic interviews, I organized and categorized the initial findings from my efforts to highlight shared problems and track emerging behavioral trends, so I could deeply understand the ways that people are currently experiencing the problem and discover the best path forward to design an effective solution.

quantitAtive data analysis

qualitAtive data analysis

Insight Development

User journey mapping

building on understanding

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building on understanding 〰️

To summarize what I learned in my research and establish a strong foundation of relevant information to guide the design of an effective solution, I…

  • defined the user needs that would deliver the most user value in potential moments of behavioral intervention.

  • charted the key moments and phases in the users’ journeys where implementing interventions could be most effective at changing user behavior.

2

designing the solution

with an understanding of how users were experiencing the problem, I designed a system of strategic product interventions that would intersect with key moments of need in their journeys.

user needs Mapping

concept system journey mapping

concept storyboard testing

Prototype wireframing

Pitch prep

Then, I concluded this project by designing a system of coordinated concepts to address the core needs of my target user(s) THROUGHOUT the journey of experiencing this problem and presenting my research findings & proposed solution at the 2022 Northwestern EDI Thesis showcase.