How to be Young And Financially Intelligent: A Thesis for Women
How to be Young and Financially Intelligent: A Thesis for Women
By Grace Sunnell
How to be Young And Financially Intelligent: A Thesis for Women
How to be Young and Financially Intelligent: A Thesis for Women
By Grace Sunnell
How To Be Young And Financially Intelligent: A Thesis For Women
Table of Contents 0
Preface
1
Introduction
2
Money Management Trends and Socialization
i
Opening note
Problem Relevancy Thesis Statement
Demographics Professional Women and the Female Image Gender Gap Women, Finance, and Education
2 5 6
10 14 18 20
How to be Young And Financially Intelligent: A Thesis for Women
3
Emotions and Reason in Spending Habits Quality, Value, and Price Trends in Compulsive Behavior Magic 8 Ball Experiment Human Nature
4
26 32 36 38
Digital Economy and Product Development History of Money Products Prototypes
5
Conclusion
6
Resources
Thesis Statement Summary Opportunities
Figures Works Cited Image Citations
44 48 60
74 74 75
80 96 102
Chapter 0: Preface
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How to be Young And Financially Intelligent: A Thesis for Women
Hello, reader. Welcome to my thesis research book. I thought I’d start out with a little letter from the author, if you will, and let you know briefly about how this project came to be. Before you begin reading my research, you should know that I did have a major bias going into this project. As the project developed I began to overcome this bias and I think, once I did that, I was able to see the project from a better light. My bias was that I tend to be very hard on myself when it comes to money and I tend to be very judgmental of others who may not be as conservative or controlled with their money. However, without this bias I would not have been able to ask the questions that helped me so much. I could not understand why people behaved the way they did with their money. So when I studied abroad in London and had the amazing opportunity to visit the design firm Method, I was blown away by the project that one designer there had been working on. He was exploring the future of money based on people’s personalities.* Although at the time I had no idea what he was talking about, having very little knowledge of economics or personal financing, but the idea stuck with me and I thought it would be fascinating to shift the project into terms I would understand.
*See page 54 to read more about #MethodMoney
i
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How to be Young And Financially Intelligent: A Thesis for Women
INTRO An introduction to the multilevel problem I would like to solve and my research direction.
Chapter 1: Introduction
Problem The problem begins with a few initial insights. First, our economy is transforming into a digital platform. The phrase, “There’s an app for that,” has never been so real and relevant. There is no longer a reason to go to your bank or speak to a person. Everything is online and everything is instant. You no longer feel your money, it’s just somewhere in the Cloud. You no longer feel any actual decrease with just the swipe of a card. Everything has become intangible and the tangible is becoming a memory.
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How to be Young And Financially Intelligent: A Thesis for Women
Second, when it comes to personal finance, the future is not looking great for my generation. Social security is running dry and due to higher tuition rates and the growing consumer lifestyle, we young people are thinking only about the present. Not to mention the issue that we are probably going to have a higher life expectancy and so we also need money for a longer period of time than past generations.
Third, women can be better than men at a lot of things but they have not been expected to be. Finance is one of those things. Women are not afraid to ask the dumb questions, they are not afraid to learn, and then things become very clear to them. Women don’t just use their instincts but also their educational experiences. However, society has made it so that women feel like certain career paths and certain tasks are better for men (Katz, 2015).
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Chapter 1: Introduction
86% of people between the ages of 18-29 have a smartphone 83% between the ages of 30-49 *in the US (Anderson, 2015)
73% of employed Americans plan to work beyond age 65 – but only 27% of current retirees actually did
(JP Morgan, 2015)
“… motivation can account for up to 84% of the variance in how long a person stays in school and one’s ability to land a job” (Shin, 2014) 61% of Americans are unable to answer 2 out of 5 basic financial questions. - National Financial Capability Study (Poll, 2014)
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How to be Young And Financially Intelligent: A Thesis for Women
Relevancy
With wearables exploding as a popular trend and new apps being made everyday, there is an opportunity for a physical, tangible product that will help us naive young people improve our financial situation and create healthy spending habits. Additionally, this project could have the opportunity to collaborate with financial firms or areas of the economic sector. More and more banks are redesigning their products, branches, and systems to create a better customer experience. With every customer experience being streamlined, it is making it easier and easier for people to not think about their money and just go through the motions. I aim to prevent this from happening by also keeping the user in mind.
5
Chapter 1: Introduction
THESIS
By nature, this is a project of discovery. It’s something I was curious about and hoped to explore. But my goal is an intervention, to meet a need and ease the pain that is our stress level about money and our future money.
This thesis can be broken down into different categories of exploration as shown in my table of contents. I will be exploring:
• Money management trends in different demographics and its relation to socialization • Humans emotional and psychological habits in relation to money • Analysis of the current product market and possible design directions
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How HowTo toBe be Young Young And And Financially Financially Intelligent: Intelligent: A A Thesis Thesis For for Women
“I want to design a method of managing money with a physical product that triggers an emotional response that will make financial transactions feel more real.� 7
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How to be Young And Financially Intelligent: A Thesis for Women
Money Management Trends and Socialization This chapter will explore spending habits amongst different demographics including age and gender as well as how these habits are affected by socialization and gender roles.
Chapter 2: Money Management Trends and Socialization
Demographics
10
Age
Gender
When exploring spending habits, I started out by comparing different age groups, taking into consideration that humans have different mind sets and priorities throughout their lifetime. First, children start to manage their money once they can understand the concept of temptation. Children of certain ages can manage money on a formal level especially when they have something to look forward too. Children can understand saving up money to buy something but may not be able to fully understand the concept of future. This applies to both boys and girls (Otto, Schots, Westerman, Webley, 2006).
In contrast, young men and women in college tend to vary much more. Women are often less confident about their money, are more likely to say that they budget, are more likely to feel bad about making a purchase, and are more likely to be worried about their future. Men are more confident about their finances than women, often more satisfied with their financial situation, and are more likely to purse degrees in finance, economics, and math heavy subjects (Hayhoe, 2000). Once people get older, more differences arise. Women are more likely to save on daily expenses since they often are the ones grocery shopping and running errands for their family (although
How to be Young And Financially Intelligent: A Thesis for Women
this may change as more women enter the work force). In this case, fulfilling basic needs is the main goal. Because of this they are less likely to manage their money for the future and are more likely to focus on relative, short term goals. (Hayhoe, 2000). This contributes to why there are not more female financial managers. On the other hand, men are more likely to save for retirement, children, and growth. They are more likely to be in control of family finances regardless of whom in the family makes the most money. This all is caused by how we as a society have been socialized over time. We have developed as a society to automatically believe
phases like “She’s a nurse and he’s a doctor� but it goes deeper than that. Women are socialized to be less egocentric than men and instead more community centric. Women tend to band together to form groups and are more likely to consider other people in their decisions. Men are more egocentric and are mostly worried about their own personal well being, which explains one reason they may be better at retirement funds and long term plans. They are more focused on their own path and security rather than making sure everyone is taken care for that day (Evensky, 2015).
Opportunity: With these factors in mind, I believe there is an opportunity to target my product towards women in order to contribute to the current campaign for equality of women in mathematic fields as well as to promote financial literacy in young people.
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Chapter 2: Money Management Trends and Socialization
Women
Target Audience
•
Ages 50+ • • • • •
Ages 25-50 Physically can’t carry as much, could control how much they spend
Ages 15-25
• • • • • •
More likely to have a written budget
More likely to save on daily expenses Less likely to manage money for the future Women tend to not be head financial managers Women have been socialized to enjoy shopping More likely to admit they have a shopping issue
More likely to have credit cards Less confident about money More likely to say they have a budget More likely to feel bad about a purchase More worried about their future More worried about being successful or educated Reducing anxiety of budgeting leads to better performance Percieved value and perceived knowledge lead to confidence in spending
Ages 5-15
Ages 0-5
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How to be Young And Financially Intelligent: A Thesis for Women
Both
Men
Does men’s emotional intelligdence, or lack of, impact economics?
• • •
• • •
Adult spending relies on individual events, coping strategies, and individual spending Both spend money to boost self-esteem
70-80% have credit cards Spend most money on clothes, gas, travel, education, and food Impulsive spending due to negative attitudes of money management
• • •
• • •
Men think about longterm finances, beneficial since relatively can hinder decisions
More likely to save for retirement, children and growth More likely to keep a budget and coordinate/ manage finances Men are financial mangers Lack emotional intelligence, speak with logic not emotion
More confident about finances than women More satisfied with their current situation More liekly to pursue a degree/career in finance/exonomics
Men are socialized to be the money managers of the household When spending money, men are emotionally responsible
Do men worry about money and success the way that women do? • • •
•
Children can manage money on a formal level Need understanding of “temptation” Can develop strategies for money management Financial background when younger impacts future spending habits Cannot comprehend concept of future
Habits Purchases Professions Emotions Insights and Questions
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Chapter 2: Money Management Trends and Socialization
Professional Women and the Female Image These different habits between men and women are just one area preventing women from entering fields with heavy math. Jerry Evensky, economics professor at Syracuse University specializing in moral philosophy and ethics, described an experiment he tried on some of his students. When Jerry noticed some of his female students were not performing to their potential in comparison to their male counterparts, he was curious as to why and what he could do to help. Jerry found that these young women were not less intelligent in anyway but had not been refreshed in math concepts as frequently and recently as the young men. Once Jerry refreshed their memories with one or two math crash course lessons, they began to out perform their male classmates. He concluded that these women had been guided away from math because of a social barrier (Evensky, 2015). This is why awareness for products like Goldie Blox are being widely spread around the Internet. The consumer market has been a huge influence on the socialization of women and Goldie Blox is a toy set for girls that gives them all the tools they need to start thinking, building, and playing like an engineer. When a girl goes to Toys ‘R Us and is only given the option of Barbie Dolls, Bratz, and Easy Bake ovens, what type of message is that sending? (Thompson, Margulis, 2015).
Goldie Blox Goldie Blox is a toy for girls to learn building concepts and practice critical thinking. This game rivals the “boys toys� out there that aim to create interest in engineering and technical fields.
Image 1
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Title How to be Young And Financially Intelligent: A Thesis for Women
Ban Bossy When a woman is in a position of power and is confident about herself she is often described as ‘bossy.’ The Ban Bossy campaign strives to change how people percieve women of power and allow them to be percieved for what they are: strong leaders.
Fig. 1
Image 1
#GirlsCan The #GirlsCan campaign was launched by CoverGirl to encourage girls to be whatever they want to be and give them the confidence so that they can.
Image 1
#LikeAGirl This video begins with girls and boys mocking what it means to “run like a girl” and transitions into young girls showing what they are made of when they actually run like a girl. Always sends a message that to do something “like a girl” can be just as awesome and impressive as a boy. Image1
Not Sorry Women are constantly apologizing for things that do not need an apology. Pantene shows how women can play out a scenario without apoligizing that will make them seem more confident and less inferior.
Image 1
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Chapter 2: Money Management Trends and Socialization
Women have also been socialized to believe that they need to be perfect in every way. If women aren’t the smartest or prettiest or most stylish then they feel bad about themselves. This is why women are finally becoming more realistic about how we portray ourselves. Women empowerment campaigns are popping up everywhere to let women know that they are great just the way they are and maybe if they realized that then they would have the confidence they need to succeed. Sometimes women need a little reminder when they have so many forces working against them. Cosmetics products and similar companies have been latching onto this trend of empowerment. Women want to support companies that are supportive of their needs and have a good sense of self. Brands like CoverGirl, Always, Pantene, and Dove are creating full marketing strategies to motivate women. Slogans like #GirlsCan, #LikeAGirl, Not Sorry, and Real Beauty are telling girls to just be themselves. Women are willing to get behind big name brands if they believe the company has their best interest at heart. (Thompson, Margulis, 2015).
Opportunity: There is an opportunity to brand a product to show that it has women’s best interest at heart and presents a realistic image of women.
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How HowTo to Be be Young And Financially Intelligent: A Thesis For for Women Women
“Oh! Certainly,” cried his faithful assistant, “no one can really be esteemed accomplished who does not greatly surpass what is usually met with. A women must have a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, and the modern languages, to deserve the word; and besides all this, she must possess a certain something in her air and manner of walking, the tone of her voice, her address and expressions, or the word will be but half deserved.” “All this she must possess,” added Darcy, “and to all this she must yet add something more substantial, in the improvement of her mind by extensive reading.” “I am not longer surprised at your knowing only six accomplished women. I rather wonder now at your knowing any.” - Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
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Chapter 2: Money Management Trends and Socialization
GENDER GAP Although feminism and specifically workplace gender equality have been a long, widely discussed topic in the recent decade, The World Economic Forum thinks that we still may be far from close to gender equality. In the past nine years, the global gender gap has only closed by 4% and it is hypothesized that it will take 81 years to fully close the gap at the rate we are going. Not surprisingly, the more gender-equal societies are the Nordic countries that have been social and economic powerhouses for decades. Involving women in decision-making will more accurately portray half of our population (Cann, 2015).
4% growth
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81 years
How HowTo toBe be Young Young And And Financially Financially Intelligent: Intelligent: A A Thesis Thesis For for Women
“Achieving gender equality is obviously necessary for economic reasons. Only those economies who have full access to all their talent will remain competitive and will prosper. But even more important, gender equality is a matter of justice. As a humanity, we also have the obligation to ensure a balanced set of values,” – Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Form (Cann, 2015).
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Chapter 2: Money Management Trends and Socialization
Women, Finance, and Education In a TED talk, “Why the world needs more female money managers,” Frances Kinloch explains exactly this socialization in respects to money. As the finance and economic industry remains a so-called ‘boys club’, the women who are in finance are pushing harder and harder for women to stay interested (Kinloch, 2015). In economics at the undergraduate level, the classes are split pretty evenly by gender but when you look at the more focused graduate level, the percentage of women decreases significantly because women have more to overcome. This percentage varies and becomes more extreme in other math heavy fields like science, technology, and engineering (Evensky, 2015). One reason women are being guided away from these fields is due to their mindset. People have two types of mindsets: either a “fixed mindset” or a “growth mindset.” With a fixed mindset, the person will stick with their ‘basic intelligence’ but a growth mindset allows the person to change their mind with new information and improve with time and effort. Studies show that men typically have growth mindsets and that women have fixed mindsets (Dweck, Simmons, 2014). Additionally, because women tend to be more self-motivated and proactive, they are praised for their achievements instead of guided during their process. Meanwhile, men needed a little bit of a nudge and therefore are looked after throughout their entire learning process, which leads to growth. Women are applauded for their achievements but may not move beyond that success because they are solely fixed on the fact that they have succeeded (Dweck, Simmons, 2014).
“Parents and schools can teach girls that their ability is there to be developed, and that challenges and setbacks– and yes, even criticism– are precisely what make us smarter.” (Dweck, Simmons, 2014).
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How to be Young And Financially Intelligent: A Thesis for Women But this socialization can be changed with some hard work and enlightenment. FastCoDesign says women just need to find their creative confidence in order to survive in a male driven society (Molfino, 2015).
“Teachers and parents praise little girls to develop fix mindsets about their abilities, making it difficult for them to develop urgent optimism (i.e., persistence).” This quote represents exactly one of Kinloch’s points on why we need more women financial managers. Women are fearful, she says. But because women are fearful they can often out perform their male counterparts and use this fear as motivation. Women will out perform men and be overqualified but not enough women are proving this because we are still engineered to give up too easily when there is a struggle. Being fearful and giving up easier also has a plus though. It makes women less risky, which can be a benefit in finance* (Kinloch, 2015). Most importantly, women have something called “emotional intelligence.” Women don’t just use their brains, even though they have good ones, they use their emotions and their instincts to make decisions.
*See page 39 to read more about humans and risk
Financial planner Deena Katz* explained something similar to me. Women can be better investors once they learn how. When there is a “why” involved, financial concepts can become very clear to them. They are not expected to know or understand finance, just manage their household funds. However, they are not afraid to ask dumb questions. Men can be afraid to ask certain questions if they believe it is information they should already know. (Katz, 2015)
*See page 70 to read more about Deena
Image 2
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Chapter 2: Money Management Trends and Socialization
At the end of the day, women have the nature to succeed and the skill sets to be financially and professionally successful but just need a little bit of encouragement and reminding along the way. Society needs to break their bad habits and preconceived notions. With the help of a product, analyzing our consumer trends, and re-evaluating how we use our technology, we can be one step closer.
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How to be Young And Financially Intelligent: A Thesis for Women
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How to be Young And Financially Intelligent: A Thesis for Women
Emotion and Reason in Spending Habits This chapter explores how emotion and psyche impact our consumer habits and how we make decisions. It will explore the concepts of quality, value, and price, perceptions of control, and our natural consumer instincts as humans.
Chapter 3: Emotion and Reason in Spending Habits
How are consumers affected by quality, value, and price?
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How to be Young And Financially Intelligent: A Thesis for Women
An initial objective of this project was learning why people make the purchases that they do and defining the difference between quality, value, and price. I had some preconceived definitions in my head but having the facts laid out in front of me made it much more applicable in my mind.
Quality is made up of two subcategories of quality: perceived quality and objective quality. Perceived quality is the consumer’s judgment of the quality of the product they are purchasing. Objective quality is based on the mechanical quality and the humanistic quality. Both the consumer and the managers of that product typically decide objective quality. Value usually has associated with one or more of four definitions. Value is low price, value is whatever you want in a product, value is the quality you get for the price you pay, or value is what you get for what you give. This last definition is also the perceived value of a purchase. Price is the monetary amount you pay for something. However, the given price for something is usually pre-perceived by the consumer based on the quality and value of the product. (Zeithaml, 1988)
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Chapter 3: Emotion and Reason in Spending Habits Perception comes up as a key component of all three definitions. A consumer’s attitude towards their purchases and their money management is determined by what they perceive. One perception may be that a consumer believes that in order to cut back on spending, they cannot enjoy restaurants anymore. What that consumer does not realize is that there are many ways to manage your spending without having to sacrifice everything that you like. If you prioritize food over clothes, cut back on clothes and other miscellaneous items. Society of GrownUps, an organization helping people learn about finance and other life lessons through classes and social events, posted a blog post titled, “Don’t give up that latte” encouraging every consumer to reorganize their spending and prioritize what’s important them to create the budget that they need (Pascarella, 2015).
Image 3
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How to be Young And Financially Intelligent: A Thesis for Women Perceived Quality
Perceived Value
1) Consumer judgement
(highly personal) Consumer’s overall assessment of the utility of a product based on perceptions of what is received and what is given
2) Objective quality • •
Mechanic quality Humanistic quality
Perceived Price Monetary price is not the only sacrifice perceived • • •
Time costs Search costs Pyschic costs
1) Value is low price •
Coupons, sales
2) What I want in a product •
Subjective measure of utility
3) Quality I get for the price I pay •
Affordable quality
4) What I get for what I give • • •
Time costs Search costs Pyschic costs
Product + Functional Benefit + Practical Benefit = Emotional Pay Off (Zeithami, 1988)
Perceptions can also be used as a tool. While perception is hindering the consumer in the last example, sometimes perception can actually help the consumer in other cases. For instance, if a consumer was only willing to spend a certain amount of money on a purchase because that is what they can afford and would not make the purchase if the price were to go over what they perceived the price to be.
Insight: Perceptions could be what control our spending habits and can be used to our advantage.
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Chapter 3: Emotion and Reason in Spending Habits
Spenders
Creating personas based off of real people was a very useful tool to start tracking the user’s experience and gain insights. I was able to apply the secondary research I gathered to people that I could physically observe.* What I found was that spenders prioritize differently.
Persona 1 Well balanced between spending and saving, works steadily, has history of earning money for themself, is tech-savvy and uses tools to help keep track of finances, finds a purchase worth it if it provides use or makes them happy Insight: uses current emotion to make a purchase, that prioritizes price and value over quality, looks at spending more long term than most
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How to be Young And Financially Intelligent: A Thesis for Women
Persona 2 Worrisome, frugal, self-conscious, tempted by those around them, tries to be as self-sufficient as possible, believes value of a purchase is associated with a good memory Insight: is affected emotionally after a purchase, either positively or negatively, looks at spending for the very short term, prioritizes quality over quantity but also value and price over quality Persona 3 Compulsive, has zero money management information, buys what they want but not what they need, does not feel pressured by money in anyway Insight: over-consumer, impulsive, very shortterm spending habits but does not look at long term, quantity over quality, goes for price/ quality over value
(Zheng, Moskowitz, Warszawa, 2015)
I selected the above personas, based on women, and I asked them if they ever felt pressured in social situations. Persona 1 said she didn’t but that she often spent more when she was with other people than if she were by herself, Persona 2 said she always felt pressured, and Persona 3 said she never felt pressured. This proved true of what Yale psychology professor Laurie Santos said about conformity – people will choose differently in a group and may not even realize they are making a different choice than what they actually believe (Santos, 2015).
*See page 70 to read more about Deena
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Chapter 3: Emotion and Reason in Spending Habits
Trends in compulsive behavior
In order to understand how people use products, I wanted to understand why they originally purchased the product in the first place. I started out be researching the extreme: compulsive buying. Compulsive buying, unlike impulsive buying, tends to lead to extreme financial debt and negative consequences in a person’s life. However, it is often associated with strong feelings of happiness do to the amount of instant pleasure the consumer receives from making a purchase. This pleasure is counteracted quickly by a strong feeling of guilt from having spent too much money and by the realization that compulsive spending is usually triggered in order to avoid some
form of anxiety or stress (Edwards, 1993). Compulsive buying is also much more frequent in women than men. In a study sample taken on compulsive buying, 82% of participants were women and only 18% were men (Edwards, 1993). This could be for a number of factors. Women often do most of the basic shopping and errands for the household, women have been socialized to enjoy shopping, and women tend to have lower self-esteem, which causes them to buy things that will make them feel better about themselves (i.e. clothes, beauty products, or food).
Insight: This behavior is what we are seeing in young people with their phones. They have developed a dependence based off a social need as well as easy access to almost anything they would need all in one device.
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How to be Young And Financially Intelligent: A Thesis for Women
Opportunity: Use self-esteem branding and a new outlook on spending to create product for women who have created a negative lifestyle because of they spending habits. Similar traits are found in other types of compulsive consumption as well. Consumers will often explain that it “felt good” to buy and little or no thought was put into the decision. It becomes a physical and/ or psychological dependence on that product, activity, or substance. One study found that when spenders used their credit card they spent more than they would if they paid in cash or that they felt powerful and important. Both of these show how the physical dependence on a credit card can lead to bad habits. They end up spending more money and also start to develop a false positive sense of worth by having a credit card, which encourages them to keep spending (Faber, O’Guinn, Krych, 1987).
Opportunity: There is an opportunity to create a feel-good product that triggers the user into making educated, thoughtful decisions about their spending.
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Chapter 3: Emotion and Reason in Spending Habits
Analogous Products
So what’s something that’s addicting, causes people to spend money without even noticing, but that people also get value out of and want to participate in because it gives them instant gratification and happiness? Online games. People can get so addicted to online games. They are fascinated about building their fantasy lives on Sims as much as they are building the perfect farm in Farmville. Games like Farmville and Candy Crush are partly successful because they are connected to an already addictive platform, Facebook. They piggybacked off something that was working in order to get users and create revenue. When a curious person similar to me asked the Quora community, “Why are people willing to spend money on games like Candy Crush?” one wise person responded with,
“… people value their time intrinsically. If you do something for long enough, it doesn’t matter what that is, you’re going to give value to it. When getting a little boost to help you out in that area you spend so much time in is “within reach” (<$1), it becomes an easy decision to make. Multiple times, apparently.” (Quora, 2015) This got me thinking that maybe time could be one of the keys to making a good product.
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How to be Young And Financially Intelligent: A Thesis for Women
Opportunity: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Time is moneyâ&#x20AC;? could be applied in a functional way. Because in the business world, the more time you spend on something (theoretically) the more money you should make, this could be applied to a product that simply slows the user down from not spending. In this case, they would not be making money but they could possibly be saving money. With everything being instantaneous and relatively intangible like Venmo* and credit cards, users would be taking that extra time to weigh their decisions.
Image 4
Image 5
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Chapter 3: Emotion and Reason in Spending Habits
Magic 8 Ball Experiment
Meet Nicholas From: Coatesville, Pennsylvania Major: Industrial and interaction design Likes: Cats and graphic design Adjectives: Calculative, positive, intelligent, considerate
Selfactualization
Esteem Social Safety Physiological
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In the nature of addiction and making calculative decisions I decided to try out a little experiment. Since part of budgeting and having good money management is having self-restraint and being in control of your decisions, I wanted to see what would happen if someone didn’t have control. For one day, a friend of mine, Nicholas, was not allowed to make any decisions that were ‘want’ based, only ‘need’ based. I based the ‘need’ based criteria off of the first three pillars of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs: Physiological, Safety, and Love/ belonging. In other words, nourishment, school, bodily functions, and communication did not count. Some want related decisions would be regarding food/ drink for pleasure, non-school related purchases, and transportation.
How it worked: Whenever Nicholas needed to make a want-based decision he contacted me. I would then refer to my Magic 8 Ball phone app* where I would ask his question
How to be Young And Financially Intelligent: A Thesis for Women and shake the app. I would tell him the answer and that is the answer he would have to abide by. (See Appendix, Fig 2) I had him contact me to shake the 8 Ball for a couple reasons. If he had done it himself then it would not be as easy for me to record everything and it would just be one more thing to ask off the participant who was doing me a favor. But the main reason was that in the time it took him to text/call/ask me his question, I would have to accept, shake the ball, and respond. Although the overall time of this process would not be very long, it would still be longer than if he were to do it himself and therefore it gave him a little bit of extra time to contemplate his decisions.
*Ironically, I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have a physical Magic 8 Ball to use during this experiment.
Going into this exercise, I hypothesized that the participant would have a couple issues. I expected they would be frustrated at least once when they were forced to make a decision that they did not want and I hoped that this would bring awareness of how much control they have over their spending habits. Nicholas, however, being a fairly self-aware person, wanted to have a different approach. I expected the participant to want to splurge on coffee, food, or alcohol and would need to ask the 8 Ball if this was okay, just to be disappointed when it said no. Instead, Nicholas asked the 8 Ball questions about things that were more responsible but still a choice. For example, although our design studio offers a free bus service, many students drive to campus. Nicholas, however, does not like to drive and will bike whenever the weather is decent because he knows it is cheaper and reduces his carbon footprint. So instead of asking the Magic 8 Ball if he could drive to the studio, he asked if he could bike to the studio because he thought it would be the more responsible thing to do.
Nicholas: Should I bike to the Warehouse? Magic 8 Ball: My reply is no. Unfortunately that didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t go as planned and he was required to drive to the studio since he didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have time to catch the bus. He continued to ask questions of this nature for the rest of the day. Only once did he ask question that would benefit him.
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Chapter 3: Emotion and Reason in Spending Habits
Human Nature This exercise was also done in an ironic sense because of a video I had recently watched about the nature of people making financial decisions. Laurie Santos asked the question â&#x20AC;&#x153;Are We Wired To Be Bad With Money?â&#x20AC;? After working with monkeys and studying their behavior, she has discovered that we as humans may actually be doomed when it comes to money. Laurie and her staff decided to create a mock economic system using tokens and food. They very quickly trained the monkeys to use the tokens to pay for their treats using hand signals. Two things they found were that when given the choice, the monkeys always went for more food and always went for the better food. They also found that the monkeys never saved their tokens and occasionally tried to trick or steal other monkeys for their tokens. In comparison, when experimenting with humans, they found that humans react differently depending on whether they are getting money or losing money. They played out these theoretical scenarios:
Image 6
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How to be Young And Financially Intelligent: A Thesis for Women
Scenario 1: A person is given $1000. After given the $1000 they are given the choice to flip a coin. When they flip the coin they will either receive another $1000 or get nothing. They also have a choice to play it safe. If they play it safe they will get an extra $500 no matter what. Most people choose to play it safe in this scenario.
Image 6
Scenario 2: A person is given $2000. After given the $2000 they are given the choice to flip a coin. When they flip the coin they will either flip to lose $1000 or nothing will happen. They also have the choice to play it safe. If they play it safe they will lose $500. When starting out with more money people will actually choose to risk it.
Image 6
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Chapter 3: Emotion and Reason in Spending Habits Laurie describes that this is because of a couple biases we have. We as humans tend to think in relative terms as opposed to absolute terms in this case whether they will be getting more or less money. The other is that we try to avoid all losses and when we do that we tend to become more risky. These two biases are the main reason that people, and especially investors, make poor financial decisions. Even people who know better will make mistakes and not look at stocks in long term but get slighted by relative ups and downs. Interestingly enough, Laurie and her team gave the monkeys the same scenario and the monkeys made the same decisions that the humans did. Because of this, Laurie answers her own question on whether we are genetically designed to make bad decisions or can we use our technology and innovations to fix our flaws. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It might only be in recognizing our [biological] limitations that we can really actually overcome them.â&#x20AC;? (Santos, 2015)
Opportunity: Design a product that recognizes a personâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s flaws and creates good habits based off them.
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How to be Young And Financially Intelligent: A Thesis for Women
Our Digital Economy and Product Development This chapter will be a history of money, benchmarking finance related products, first round of research prototypes, and my general design direction.
Chapter 4: Our Digital Economy and Product Development
History of Money Before we get into where we are in our economy today, it is important to know where we came from.
Beginning
1200 BC
600 BC
•
•
•
Bartering: direct trade of goods and services
9000-6000 BC
1100 BC
•
•
•
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Cowries: the shells of a mollusk, widest use and longest use of currency in the world
Cattle, sheep, camels, and other animals were the first and oldest form of money Plants came soon after that
First official minted currency: Lydia’s king made coins from electrum (gold and silver) and stamped them with pictures
Oriental cutlery: Chinese began using tools and weapons, which transitioned into miniature replicas then coins
How to be Young And Financially Intelligent: A Thesis for Women
“Money derives its value by being a medium of exchange, a unit of measurement and a storehouse for wealth.” (Beattie)
118 AD
1100 AD
•
•
Leather Money: China used 1’x1’ pieces of leather, first documented form of bank notes
• •
European Tally Sticks: used as a medieval credit card Tally made on piece of wood when a debt was owed Used for 700 years to keep track of taxes
500 BC
806 AD
1535 AD
•
•
•
Modern Coinage: Outside of China, coins were made from lumps of silver and turned round then stamped, later used bronze and gold
•
Paper currency: China used the first known paper bank notes Paper notes grew in production then inflated and disappeared
Wampum: String of beads made from clam shells
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1593 AD • • • •
Tulips in Holland: tulips brought from Turkey became a novelty Bulbs were delt and a market was created Tulips were used as investments
1685 AD
1816 AD
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•
European Banknotes: Sweden issued the first European bank notes
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1600s AD
1685 AD
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•
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Czarist Russia Furs: Furs became valuable in Siberia Government regulated the prices and required to pay their taxes with the pelts
In summary, currency has traditionally been whatever resources were in abundance or were considered valuable, such as shells, pelts, bulbs, or metals. This transitioned into more practical materials that represented those things valuable, which is what we know of money today, paper. Even though cash once was a representation of actual gold and valuable objects like in the olden days, cash has now transformed to be wealth and be the thing that is valuable. Value used to be determined by the quantity and accessibility of a material but cash continues to be readily available and can be produced rather easily unlike its predecessors. Additionally, as we hold on to our coins, one of the only forms
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•
• •
The Gold Standard: Gold was created the official standard of value in England Bank notes were directly tied to gold Gold Standard Act created central bank in US
Paper Currrency in Europe and North America Goverments issuing paper to their colonies IOUs became a form of currency in Canada
of currency that connect back to traditional forms of money, we realize that these coins are actually too expensive to produce and are not ‘worth’ as much as they once did because of a lack in demand. With less and less people using coins and more and more people using digital formats of money, coins are being wasted and are not even seen as valuable anymore. Materials that have always had tangible valuable are being diminished and instead we are seeing value for what it truly is: a number attached to an idea. Since we have not fully transitioned away from paper money and coins and because our ‘numbers’ of money still do represent a physical amount of money that
How to be Young And Financially Intelligent: A Thesis for Women
Present - Future • • • • • • • • •
1930 AD • • •
Currency is becoming digital and is being represented by numbers Codes, drives, clouds have replaced vaults “Real Economy”: products and services “Financial Economy”: exchange of equities, stocks, and securities Electronic space for money can be owned by anyone, not just the government Cash, credit cards, debt/ATM cards Online banking, mobile transactions, online bill pay Everything is instant Numbers being representative of value and currency (Beattie) (Nova, 1996) (Rees, 2015)
End of the Gold Standard Massive depression, gold standard was revised Gold was devalued
we have stored somewhere, there is still hope for using this physicality to create good habits for our future digital economy. Lucky for us, unlike fur, metal, and trees, numbers are not likely something that are ever going to run dry or not be needed.
Unanswered question: Numbers are one of the few intangible yet understandable things. High math and science relate fields deal with numbers and are mostly men. Is intangibility harder for women to grasp? Does this contribute to women being less future oriented?
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Chapter 4: Our Digital Economy and Product Development
Products In order to understand our digital economy, I needed to understand the products that were fueling it. What makes these products so desirable? What features are productive and helpful and thoughtful and what is becoming default automation to create an instantaneous result? I researched different types of products based off of our current consumer market to see where there might be a gap or where products may be lacking. When researching these digital products, I realized there were different categories that these products fell into. There are banking products such as your personal banks phone application or website and there are third party banking websites and phone applications which tie to your actual bank account and allow you to keep track, organize, or use your money in a way specific to that product. There are also products, which I am calling transaction products, that tie to your bank account but are solely used for spending money, not for saving. A typical feature is that the app has a storage space that acts as a credit to save your money in that digital location for future use. The last category is what I am most interested in: the money management or investment products. These products work with complicated algorithms, goals, and attention to help you prepare for your future. They are probably the least used of the three categories but Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m finding they could be the most necessary and helpful for our day and age.
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How to be Young And Financially Intelligent: A Thesis for Women
Banking Products
Most Banking Apps
Simple
• • • • • •
• •
Online transfers Bill pay, automatic or manual Account summaries Account settings Mobile settings Photo check deposit
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Online third party banking Connects directly to your regular bank account Automatic saving and budgeting software Checks/photo check deposit Simple Visa Debit card
Image 7 Image 8
Transaction Products
Venmo
Google Wallet
• • •
• •
Credits account Connects to credit/debit card Send/spend money easily to contacts
• • •
Credits account Connects to credit/debit cardSend/spend money easily to contacts Can send money via email Google Wallet Debit MasterCard Instant notifications
Image 9 Image 10
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Chapter 4: Our Digital Economy and Product Development
Image 11 Image 12
PayPal
Starbucks
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•
• • • •
Used as a secure way to make online transactions Buy/Spend/Sell through website/app as a third party source Prevents users from sharing info Works with thousands of businesses worldwide Can send money to anyone with account
• • •
Can order online and have it ready for pick up when you get there Allows customers to skip the line Has a credit account attached Get rewards points and promotions
Image 13 Image 14
Apple/Android Pay • •
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Apps that organize your existing accounts and cards Are compatible with thousands of businesses worldwide
How to be Young And Financially Intelligent: A Thesis for Women
Management Products
Acorns
Betterment
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•
• • •
Can order online and have it ready for pick up when you get there Allows customers to skip the line Has a credit account attached Get rewards points and promotions
• •
Claims better returns than other investors Customizable investment options Rebalancing technology Image 15 Image 16
Image 18
Mint • • • •
Customizable saving/budgeting technology Credit checks Bill pay Alerts and advice
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Chapter 4: Our Digital Economy and Product Development
Banking Made Differently
Image 19 Image 20
Everbank by Ziba
Umpqua by Ziba
• •
•
•
Wanted to change by evolving Customers needed a better relationship with they money not their tellers “We don’t believe in bad behavior either. Get your money in line.”
• •
Recreating the banking experience Enjoy banking the way you enjoy your life Created a community area for slow activities such as reading a newspaper, getting a free cup of coffee, surfing the web
Physical Products
Image 21 Image 22
Coin
ERNIT
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•
• • •
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Digital, card looking device to electronically hold and organize your cards One button, one small screen Bluetooth connection Mobile app
• • •
Goal is to make kids smarter with money Can be used as a budgeting tool or just as a teaching device Physical representation of profit Physical companion during learning process
How to be Young And Financially Intelligent: A Thesis for Women
Money Made Differently
Image 23 Image 24
Bitcoin
Future of Money
• • •
•
• •
Payment network/currency 100% digital technology Can use email to send/transfer money Not managed by the government Needs a currency
• • • •
“Digital consumer behavior and transformation of banking services” Started by designing social experiences with money “If finances were public, what would they say about you?” “If money was smart, would it have a personality?” “If behaviour is hormonal, should financial services monitor the body?”
Image 25
Society of GrownUps • •
Community/education society to help educate young people on dos and don’ts of money Classes, dinners, coffee chat, and their blog help educate a
• • •
little bit at a time Located in Boston with new locations opening up Use technology and real people to work together Emphasis on financial planning
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Chapter 4: Our Digital Economy and Product Development
Image 26
Analyzing these products allowed me to decide on a couple things. First, as much as I try to fight apps and websites as an on-going product trend, there are times when they can be extremely useful. Although my intent is not to design a new money-management app, that doesn’t mean I’m not going to use existing products. I already use Venmo pretty regularly because it is usually a hassle for me to get money from an ATM because of my current schedule. Even though it allows me to spend less mindfully than if I had cash, I’ve also created good habits to accompany it. I try to only use Venmo if I have money in my account. Although that money is usually the money someone paid me back for, it allows me to only spend the money that I actually “have”. Not to say every Venmo user is going to use the app consciously but it proves what Jerry Evensky mentioned to be true¬–computers are amoral. They do things well but they do not care. It depends who controls it (Evensky, 2015)
Opportunity: Maybe the problem is not the product but the problem is creating a product that is useful and also used responsibly.
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How to be Young And Financially Intelligent: A Thesis for Women Second, the realization that this product should be evolutionary and not revolutionary became very clear after looking at Ziba’s banking experience branding. Banking has been a tradition for thousands of years. One reason why concepts like Bitcoin are so hard for people to grasp is because they are too revolutionary. They could possibly change our financial system as we know it and consumers are not ready for that. It’s the part of the reason why GoogleGlass cannot be accepted as a consumer product yet. Although it logically may fit into our world and day-to-day activities, it’s too much of a change.
Opportunity: Maybe this product should not be set up on it’s own with the intent to solve America’s young women’s future financial ignorance but instead be a baby step working with a pre-existing service or foundation.
“Financial services have an opportunity to position themselves differently, by catering to the individuals relationship with money.” (Oliveira, 2015)
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Chapter 4: Our Digital Economy and Product Development
Physical vs. Digital Tangible vs. Intangible
As I considered the concept of our money transforming into an intangible product, I asked myself: what is the value of using a physical product as opposed to a digital interface? When asking this question I realized that some people would consider a digital product still a physical product. You touch it with your hands and it has a form whether that is a small metal rectangle or a large folding metal rectangle. So for the sake of my argument and this product research, I am defining a physical product as a device without a screen interface. It may be a digital product and it may have an app or website associated with it but it is mainly appealing for it’s unique physical form or function.
So what value are we gaining from interface-driven digital products versus physical products? Initially, you can argue that interface-driven products are solving a problem by making something easier, more efficient, faster, instantaneous, all-in-one, etc. They are creating a “better” customer experience. Although this new technology that allows us to do a significant task at the click of a button can be a good customer experience, it might not be the right customer experience. The argument can be made that when it comes to technology, it’s better to have a person be
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controlling it than a computer. It may be faster but some things take time and attention. And as previously mentioned, Laurie Santos also proved to us in her monkey experiments that humans do not always make smart decisions. So between computers not thinking about things correctly and humans not being wise enough, it seems like the solution may be something digitally based with the time and attention of a human. In the financial industry specifically, these “robo advisors” as Deena Katz referred to them, are
How to be Young And Financially Intelligent: A Thesis for Women becoming a lot more available but it’s the financial advisors that allow finances to be personal and thoughtful. For younger generations, it might be okay to get started with automated software. They have less assets, less money, less to work worth, so there is less risk. Eventually, every person will get to a point in their life where they need advice about money. This age varies on the person but when it happens, a computer isn’t the answer (Katz, 2015). Jerry also made a good point when discussing the digital economy. Not feeling what you are taking in is good for saving money because if you don’t know it is there, it reduces the temptation of spending. However, feeling what you do have is good for controlling spending (Evensky, 2015). This concept physicality in money is one reason why piggy banks or jars of spare change have been around for so long. Not only does the piggy bank act as a reminder of your future savings and opportunity, it also is extremely practical and it feels good to put money in it. Hearing the clank of change hitting change is reassuring and allows us to grasp the amount of money we have. An app does not to the same thing. Seeing a number decrease on a screen on a screen has a message attached to it based on our pre-existing conditions of what number means bad and what means good, but a number like this can often be ignored until it’s too late.
Physical objects that represent intangible things: Piggy bank: represents money, saving, and your future Basket/shopping cart: represents online shopping, the idea of buying something Headphones/mp3: represent music files Stocks: represent a share of a company Watch/calender: represent day, date, and time
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How to be Young And Financially Intelligent: A Thesis for Women
Where am I going? These are two prototypes that I used as a proof of concept in order to help me finalize my design direction.
Chapter 4: Our Digital Economy and Product Development
The Managers of Moneyland Goal Analyze money concepts for men and women in a tangible, analogous way The Managers of Moneyland was a prototype directly converted from the strategy/probability-based game of Settlers of Catan. You can succeed at Catan if you have a grasp at two basic game concepts:
“I knew that two large parts of the game controlled how successful you were: 1) rolling the dice, having it land on a number I had a settlement on: this meant I made sure I was able to access a lot of the numbers (which determined where I placed my first settlements) [and] 2) creating access to all the resources so I didn’t have to reply on others through bartering or trading in my own cards.” Sally Zheng, prototype participant, first time player Based off this description, I asked the participants to go into the game with a certain mind set. I asked that they play out their strategy of gaining access to the resources as if they were playing out a strategy to be the most successful with their money. This meant that they might have to ignore Sally’s first point of paying attention to probability. Some game players were willing to do this and some where not. I asked if this game of strategy, probability, and bartering were modern terms, how would they behave and what would their decisions be based on? What would their strategy be?
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How to be Young And Financially Intelligent: A Thesis for Women
Hypothesis
Conversions •
I predict that each player’s strategy will be relatively reflective of his or her actual spending habits and personality but I think that the women will be more reflective than the men. During the game, I recorded and closely observed the players. I took basic notes on their strategy, attitude, conversation, and success and then asked them a series of follow up questions. Based off my observations and their responses I noticed some interesting things.
• • • • • • • • • • • •
Brick (foundation): money in savings; Bank Ore (mountains): tangible investment, collateral; Property Wheat (grain): nourishment; things, consumer products, food Sheep (wool, warmth, cushion): investments, stocks, bonds Wood (structure): money grows on trees; cash Knight (army) : consultant, accountant, education Progress cards: stay the same Victory points: won the lottery! Settlement: (savings bank + things + cash + investments) stability Road: (cash + savings bank) road to success City: (things + property) wealthy enough to upgrade your life Rolling a 7: paying taxes Robber: still a robber (being robbed)
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How to be Young And Financially Intelligent: A Thesis for Women
Participants • Nicholas being contemplative and passive during the game was reflective of his actual personality and habits. Nicholas tends to always make up his mind for himself no matter what people suggest to him. This was also the case during this game. When he asked the players what he should buy, they told him one thing but he went with the opposite. • Jay was not aggressive during the game but is also not very aggressive in real life. However, he stayed positive and fairly strategic the entire game, which was also typical of his money management style. He does not worry about money but does plan ahead to make sure he is secure. • Sally spends when she knows she can afford it, which was reflective in her aggressive playing strategy. However, despite being able to “afford” things, she does not think about saving because she doesn’t feel like she needs to. This is not only typical of young women but of young people in general. Additionally, having to rely on others made her feel unsuccessful, which was something she wasn’t used to feeling. • Alexander claims to be “a spender on a budget not a saver on a budget.” Shortly into the game, he realized that his wealth did not matter in comparison to someone else’s wealth so the end result of the game was inaccurate. If the game had truly been representative of his money management, he would have been content with his status part way through and would have quit the game.
“You’re being mean.” “It’s because she has money.” “What do you want more? Money or property?”
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What was successful • Nicholas did become more aware of his financial habits because I specifically prompted the task to reflect and because he was given a tool to compare it to. • Part of Sally’s success was being very logical about her game play. Part of Nicholas’s failure was his risk taking. An obvious insight would be that a strong, practical game plan is what is best for money management as well. • The game made Alexander more aware of how he spends money in video games, which was similar to what I had been exploring previously. He thinks video games are more realistic to his habits because he lives vicariously through the characters. Regardless, he became analytical of himself. • Players thought the physical pieces were a good tool overall.
“I got my house back. I did not suffer from the the house bubble bust thing.” “I earned it.” What was unsuccessful • Nicholas thought it was odd that he had to rely on other people in order to gain resources since in the real world, no one is very open about their money. Sally commented on the same thing. • Nicholas did not think the resources’ identities mattered in the game. He began to associate “more” with “success” but not what each card or game piece actually represented. This was due to the nature of the game. • Because it was a game and there was an actual end goal of winning, Nicholas believes the players did not play as realistically as they could have. • Sally felt exposed during the game regarding her “finances” as opposed to real life where she feels safer. • The players thought the physical pieces should exaggerate their representation.What would I do differently: • Change the end goal to reflect personal success, not success measured in the game • Minimal conversation/bartering • Resource play should be more considered • More real-world interactions: loans, taxes, debt, etc. (consequences)
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How to be Young And Financially Intelligent: A Thesis for Women
What would I do differently • Change the end goal to reflect personal success, not success measured in the game • Minimal conversation/bartering • Resource play should be more considered • More real-world interactions: loans, taxes, debt, etc. (consequences)
In conclusion, this prototype showed that personality does reflect game play and also spending habits. My hypothesis was correct in thinking that Sally, the only woman playing, would become more emotionally invested in the game than the men. One thing that I found interesting was a comment that Alexander made about the nature of observing women versus men. He was originally offended and concerned that the motive to observe the difference between men and women would bring a bad connotation because it would be comparing men and women in the lens of “good vs. bad” and who was “winning” and who was not. I found this very insightful and very important to the overall goal of the project. I do not want to future the gap between men and women by isolating them. Lastly, it was reiterated that goals are an important part of our financial decisions. The players did not feel like they were striving for anything realistic because of how the game was structured. Setting personal goals would have been more beneficial for them.
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Chapter 4: Our Digital Economy and Product Development
BOX Goal Provoke conversation through a set of tools and example products in order to get feedback on money management needs, observe and analyze how women use it/could possibly use it
Description The kit would be a branding project. It would help educate women, give them daily tips, and create a proactive financially aware life style. It could be paired with bank or it could be a starter kit or a monthly subscription by a third party source.
The kit included: • Decorated Box • Coupon type promotion for good money management • Monthly note with some food for thought and message from the company • Post-card/poster-ish to spread wisdom and the brand, can hang on the fridge or the wall • Wallet filled with goodies Paper checks Budgeting calendar Things you should know, monthly tips and such Things to consider, ques tions to ask yourself
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Stickers as reminders and frame of mind Business card for help/ advice/customer service • Notebook for misc • Helpful accessory as a promotion for other money management goods and services on the market Ring Smart watch Bracelet Phone case • Tip/Task of the month • Treat yo self privilege coupon
How to be Young And Financially Intelligent: A Thesis for Women Once the users looked through the kit and gave me any initial thoughts, I asked them a series of questions based off their experiences and interaction with the product.
Feedback Overall, the general feedback of the product kit was good. The users saw this as a product they would use and spend time with. However, they did have concerns. One user felt she would need a little push or personal feedback with the product, that she needed reassurance or that there would be some connected feature to her bank. “What keeps them aware of their
past purchases? What if it connects back to their system and gives them an end of the month review?” The other users saw this as an organizing tool. They wanted the kit to teach them how to file their taxes and keep track of their receipts, which was an approach that seemed a little too hands on in my opinion. I was also thinking that I could pair this with a bank but I was given things to consider if dealing with a bank situation: “If it was with a bank it would definitely be more trustworthy. But at the same time people don’t like banks for the controlling reason, maybe both so it’s linked to a bank.” (See Appendix, Fig 3)
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How to be Young And Financially Intelligent: A Thesis for Women
Prototype Development After receiving feedback from my users, I decided that any items in this kit needed to act as a purposeful tool that laid out a definite foundation to getting on track with your personal financing. My prototype worked well because the users were able to tell me what they would definitely use and what they thought was missing. There were subjects I had not considered that could be really valuable, such as filing your taxes, as well as items that they had not considered such as needing these tools on-the-go and not necessarily at home at your desk. Because of this, I’d like this next prototype to be an all-in-one starter kit. Part of it will be portable, compactible, and ready for you to take with you wherever you may need it, but part of it will also be stationary, at home, where you do a lot of your serious thinking and reorganizing. Certain tools are better in different environments. Although the feedback from my test subjects was very helpful in developing a concrete next prototype, I felt like I needed more information about what the young generation needs to get started and what the strategy should be. That’s where Deena Katz comes in. Deena has been a financial planner for 40 years. She currently teaches at Texas Tech University on top of being a copartner of a financial planning company. Two characteristics that made Deena specifically valuable to me is her focus on independent women and her experience with teaching. She advised that what will be important in this product exploration is speaking to a teachable moment. It is one thing to create financial literacy. It’s another thing to create financial literacy where people know what they can do not just what a term means.
“There is opportunity to add some depth [to the work that has already been done on gender differences and financial literacy] because of your age. The millennial perspective will be beneficial.” – Deena Katz
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Chapter 4: Our Digital Economy and Product Development In order to get started, the user needs to evaluate what they already know, how it can be applied, and what are the gaps in their knowledge. Every situation is going to be different and specific, but there are basic principles users can abide by. Second, the user needs to set goals and recognize what is achievable, what is possible long term, and what is possible short term. Third and most importantly, users need to be consistent and disciplined. A little bit can go a long way (Katz, 2015).
“Our avoidance of the topic is compounded by the fact that we don’t understand money management. Personal finance feels overwhelming, complex, and scary. We suspect we’re not doing it right, but we have no idea what “doing it right” looks like.” - Society of GrownUps As briefly mentioned in the previous section, Society of GrownUps has been working to break down these hindering mindsets that says money is super complex. And as Deena mentioned, it’s one thing to know what a term means and it’s another to know how to apply it to your own life. To create this next starter kit, I used the feedback from my test users, Deena, and Society of GrownUps to develop something slightly more concrete.
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How to be Young And Financially Intelligent: A Thesis for Women
The New All-in-One Personal Finance Starter Kit At Home: Things You Might Want To Know Booklet •
Pamphlet with a list of financial terms and easy examples of how they may apply to your life
Magnets • •
Business Card • •
Slow And Steady Wins The Race • •
•
Brief guide to investing Serious investors may need some expert analysis, but for now, you just need some starter advice and information to start your portfolio Plan to what is going to be best for you?
Budgeting Plan • • •
Personal promise to yourself to keep your budget Set personal budgeting goals keep it simple and manageable Make sure your budgeting reflects your values – allows you to reflect on your life
How To Not Go To Jail and Also Get The Most Money Back • •
How to do your taxes in easy steps Things to consider when talking or thinking about taxes – Politics
Inspirational quotes Tips/Tasks to keep in mind
Help information/Customer service IC of Financial E
Branded Paper Checks/Envelopes/Stamps Organizational Form To Hold All Supplies On-The-Go: Stickers • •
Inspirational quotes Tips/Tasks to keep in mind
Accessories to help keep aware • • •
Phone notification Ring, bracelet, or necklace notification Smart wallet – notifies you of increased spending/excessive spending (paired with existing application)
Coupons •
Treat Yo Self
How To Pay For Things • • • •
Write a check/balance a check book Good consumer habits Paying back friends/splitting the bill Paying bills
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How to be Young And Financially Intelligent: A Thesis for Women
Conclusion Summary of insights, opportunities, and things to keep in mind when progressing onto the prototyping stage
Chapter 5: Conclusion
“I want to design a method of managing money with a physical product that triggers an emotional response that will make financial transactions feel more real.” The logistics of my design intension has changed based off my original thesis statement. Going into this project I thought I would be designing something resembling a wearable device that notifies the user of increased spending and trends. I also imagined my project evolving into a dystopian idea where the user will literally feel the weight of their spending on their body has they live their life. With these initial responses to my problem, I’m happy to say I believe I’ve uncovered a deeper issue within the original issue. With the development of the starter kit mentioned in the previous section, I can answer my problem of creating a method of managing money in a physical product. Based on careful implementation of content, I believe I can trigger an emotional response in a positive way to allow women to feel more confident about their current situation, their lifestyle, and their goals. By planning ahead through a series of tools, I can create awareness and revelation about the possibilities in their future in order to bring realization to their financial situations.
“Users became dependent on services that looked after their best interests.”
(Oliveira, 2015)
Lastly, I feel it important to say that although this project is intended to be encouraging and empowering for women, it is only intended to even the playing field between the sexes on the topic of finances and is not intended to belittle men in anyway. As Laurie Santos said, it is only in recognizing our limitations can we over come them and this is a very specified, targeted example of that.
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How to be Young And Financially Intelligent: A Thesis for Women
Summary of discovered opportunities Target my product towards women in order to contribute to the current campaign for equality of women in mathematic fields as well as to promote financial literacy in young people. Brand my product in a way that shows it has women’s best interest at heart and presents a realistic image of women. Use self-esteem in the branding and a new outlook on spending to create product for women who have created a negative lifestyle because of they spending habits. Feel-good product that triggers the user into making educated, thoughtful decisions about their spending. “Time is money” could be applied in a functional way - a product that simply slows the user down from not spending A product that recognizes a person’s flaws and creates good habits based off them. A product designed mindfully of how it will be used A product that is a baby step working with a pre-existing service or foundation
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How to be Young And Financially Intelligent: A Thesis for Women
Thank you
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How to be Young And Financially Intelligent: A Thesis for Women
Resources
Chapter 6: Resources
Appendix
Figure 1 1. How would you describe yourself as a spender? a) When I have more money I do tend to spend more because I know I can. But in general I try to always look for the lowest prices for the highest quality/best value. b) Logical for the most part but sometimes too cheap..I also get persuaded (by friends) to purchase things quite easily if its food or activity related. I also feel very guilty when I spend money and I need justification for it. c) compulsive, unpredictable, irresponsible d) A practical spender that likes to buy in bulk or on sale to save money, but with splurges on things that are of interest to me (ie. motorcycle stuff) e) Generally fairly conscious of how much I am spending, but at the same time aware of the fact that I generally spend more then I would like to admit. 2. Would you consider yourself good with money? a) Mediocre, I think I have a decent sense of self-control in that even if I want something if I don’t have the money for it I won’t buy it. But if I do have the money, I would buy it. b) Saving yes...but I am terrible at paying off bills. I know i have to pay but i’d rather ignore the fact until I have a shit ton of late fees in my bank. I am also dread checking my bank account and just don’t do it without pressure from someone else. c) probably not... d) Yes, I do not like to over spend, and I am fairly good at saving money
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How to be Young And Financially Intelligent: A Thesis for Women
e) I am very good at making educated purchases, and I work hard to make sure to make sure that my savings accounts and investments are doing okay. However, I definitely spend too much week to week and am very reliant on my parents for funds. 3. Do you have any saving/budgeting strategies that you use on a daily/weekly/monthly basis? a) I always take note of how much I’m making and how much I’m spending and always end the month with a plus. Basically meaning, I try to never spend more than I make. b) Not really...spend money on only what I need is my budgeting which is why I never really purchase for pleasure (clothes, treats, ect) I also tend to buy cheaper even thought the item might not last due to quality and I will end up spending more in the future--I know this but I can’t stop it. c) I often try to go to the farmer’s market to save money on produce. I am super into sales and coupons when it comes to clothing shopping and supply shopping and anything I buy online. If I feel like I’m starting to spend too much money, I will only use cash as opposed to swiping my card because spending cash seems more tangible to me. d) Trying to not spend more than a certain amount of food daily is key, as well as not buying stuff that won’t last (buying snacks before you plan on eating) e) My main strategy is simply to cook at home as much as possible instead of eating out. Most of my extraneous costs come from getting take out from restaurants so I am always trying to do more cooking myself. I don’t really spend too much money on frivolous things, with stuff like supplies being the majority of my major purchases. I am able to save a good amount on gas by riding my bike instead of driving to most places. 4. What tools/apps/products do you use to control your spending? a) Having the Chase banking app on my phone has been great, I get to really keep an eye on my money and seeing my statements whenever I want to, helps me see how much money I have and can spend. b) None right now...don’t like looking at money. c) I honestly really don’t use any. I should probably get the app that tells me how much I have in my bank account but I honestly don’t remember my log in info...
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Chapter 6: Resources d) My bank and credit card apps e) I have the app from Chase which is the main thing I use to keep track of where my money is going. I have an E-Trade account to look at how my investments are doing. I use PayPal to make occasional online purchases. I use Venmo to pay rent or receive money from friends. Finally, I have several hundred dollars in a Google Wallet account to be used as an emergency buffer in the event that my main account becomes inaccessible. 5. What makes a purchase valuable to you? a) If it is something I need or something that makes me happy. I don’t usually buy gimmicky items or things that are “funny”. b) If I associate it with a good memory (timeless). If it goes in my belly or if I’m the only one not doing something because I don’t want to spend money. c) I really enjoy shopping, especially for things like clothing, accessories, and shoes. It makes me happy, and when I find things that I really like, I often have a hard time controlling myself and telling myself I can’t buy it all. d) Will it be worth the money in the long run, does it solve a need that I have, are there no other options to complete a task than to buy it, do I need to eat to stay alive. e) How much usability I “get” out of an item is what I usually use to decide whether or not I should buy an item. If I buy something and find that I am still using it for a long time after purchasing it, even if it is fairly occasional, I would consider that a valuable purchase. If I buy something and use it intensely for a short period of time but eventually end up not using it very much, I would not consider that to be a good purchase. 6. How much of what you spend is need based vs. want based? a) I always account for the things I need first. Then wants get satisfied but not all wants. b) Most stuff is need based, but I fall into spending habits with ppl I live with. Cristina buys a lot of want based things and I fall into that trap with her. c) I would guesstimate probably around 75% want based, 25% need based d) 90% of purchases are need based ie food and specific clothing 10% is material goods and beer that make me happy to have e) I would like to say that the majority of what I spend is need based
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How to be Young And Financially Intelligent: A Thesis for Women (mostly food) but the reality is that it is that there is probably a fairly even distribution between what I spend on what I need versus what I want. (Maybe around 60%-65% need based spending?) 7. What thoughts go through your head when making a purchase? a) I usually super excited about things I purchase...it’s kind of thrilling to get new stuff. b) GUILT! c) “I literally will die if I don’t get this venti extra shot latte” “These cowboy boots will be a fabulous addition to my boot collection” “I need a new furry vest and this one is only $40. Hell yeah.” “This whole store is 50% off? I obviously need it all.” d) Do I need it, do I have one already, are there better options, can I make it, can I borrow it from someone e) When buying food at the supermarket, I am usually trying to think about ways to remember what I have purchased so that I don’t forget about certain items and they go to waste. When buying more expensive and less necessary objects, I am always trying to figure out whether the quality of the item justifies the cost, and whether or not I should instead purchase an item with a different price/quality ratio. 8. What do you spend most of your money on? (rent and tuition excluded) a) Tuition for sure, then rent, then car insurance, then car payments, then groceries, then phone bill, then utilities. b) Helping my family, fro yo, food, dranks/going out, activities, traveling. c) food? d) Groceries, car insurance, cellphone plan e) I think I spend the most on food. 9. What did you first get a savings account? a) My mom opened up a joint savings account when I was 15 or 16, I can’t remember exactly but I was a freshmen in HS. b) Did not. c) Probably when I was 13 (after my Bat Mitzvah) d) 10 years old, to save money from birthdays and holidays e) I think I was around 7 when my parents first set up an account for me.
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Chapter 6: Resources 10. How often do you move money between different accounts (savings, checking, other)? a) I mostly keep all my money in my checking account, but every month the surplus of money I have I try to move some of it to my savings account so I can have emergency money...but I’m not very good at that. b) All in checking baby c) I’ve never done that d) Once a month to pay my bills through my credit card e) Almost daily, probably at least 3-5 times per week. I have a credit account, savings account, debit account, stocks account, and an additional Google Wallet account that serves as an emergency buffer. Money gets transferred between all those accounts very often. 11. What was your first job? a) Working for my mom when I was 12. I didn’t make money for it. My first paying job was at a frozen yogurt store when I was 16. b) Waitress at my family restaurant. c) When I was 13 I started tutoring people to prepare then for their Bar/Bat Mitzvahs. I wasn’t legally allowed to get paid for it until I turned 15. d) Lifeguard for Seabreeze Amusement Park e) I scanned documents and did quality control on those documents the Summer of my Freshman year, that was probably my first job. 12. How much of what you spend is from your own money that you earned as opposed to money from an outside source (parents, loans, etc)? a) It wasn’t until this year that I started using money for a loan. Other than that almost my entire life I have earned my money. My mom gives me money...but I kind of see that as earned money because I work for her and she doesn’t always pay me on the regular. And then I’ve always had a paying job since I was 16. b) Leisure spending I prefer my money. My parents pay for me when I am home and when the purchase is something that is bigger ex. rent. plane ticket to London. I hate asking my parents for money. c) Probably around 30% d) 100% is my own money, and I live off what I have taken out from loans after e) My parents pay for pretty much all my food and supply costs. If they
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How to be Young And Financially Intelligent: A Thesis for Women and less necessary objects, I am always trying to figure out whether the quality of the item justifies the cost, and whether or not I should instead purchase an item with a different price/quality ratio. 8. What do you spend most of your money on? (rent and tuition excluded) a) Tuition for sure, then rent, then car insurance, then car payments, then groceries, then phone bill, then utilities. b) Helping my family, fro yo, food, dranks/going out, activities, traveling. c) food? d) Groceries, car insurance, cellphone plan e) I think I spend the most on food. 9. What did you first get a savings account? a) My mom opened up a joint savings account when I was 15 or 16, I can’t remember exactly but I was a freshmen in HS. b) Did not. c) Probably when I was 13 (after my Bat Mitzvah) d) 10 years old, to save money from birthdays and holidays e) I think I was around 7 when my parents first set up an account for me. 10. How often do you move money between different accounts (savings, checking, other)? a) I mostly keep all my money in my checking account, but every month the surplus of money I have I try to move some of it to my savings account so I can have emergency money...but I’m not very good at that. b) All in checking baby c) I’ve never done that d) Once a month to pay my bills through my credit card e) Almost daily, probably at least 3-5 times per week. I have a credit account, savings account, debit account, stocks account, and an additional Google Wallet account that serves as an emergency buffer. Money gets transferred between all those accounts very often. 11. What was your first job?
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Chapter 6: Resources a) Working for my mom when I was 12. I didn’t make money for it. My first paying job was at a frozen yogurt store when I was 16. b) Waitress at my family restaurant. c) When I was 13 I started tutoring people to prepare then for their Bar/Bat Mitzvahs. I wasn’t legally allowed to get paid for it until I turned 15. d) Lifeguard for Seabreeze Amusement Park e) I scanned documents and did quality control on those documents the Summer of my Freshman year, that was probably my first job. 12. How much of what you spend is from your own money that you earned as opposed to money from an outside source (parents, loans, etc)? a) It wasn’t until this year that I started using money for a loan. Other than that almost my entire life I have earned my money. My mom gives me money...but I kind of see that as earned money because I work for her and she doesn’t always pay me on the regular. And then I’ve always had a paying job since I was 16. b) Leisure spending I prefer my money. My parents pay for me when I am home and when the purchase is something that is bigger ex. rent. plane ticket to London. I hate asking my parents for money. c) Probably around 30% d) 100% is my own money, and I live off what I have taken out from loans after e) My parents pay for pretty much all my food and supply costs. If they see certain other stuff on my statement like a charge for concert tickets they’ll usually try to pay for those too. I usually pay for electronics, gas, and other more frivolous costs out of my savings. 13. How often do you think about your retirement? Or the future of your money? a) Wow, I have never thought about retirement...I’m still working on making enough money where I don’t have to worry about having enough of it...therefore I haven’t been trained to start thinking about saving up money for a new lifestyle...I usually save money for objects I want to buy or things I want to do i.e, a trip. b) I get jealous that some people have the luxury to save and I cant really afford that or so it seems so to me. c) I recently had to fill out a lot of paperwork to have some of my accounts that family members had made for me switched into my name. Otherwise, not that much.
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How to be Young And Financially Intelligent: A Thesis for Women d) I think about money for the year ahead but not much further than that e) I don’t honestly think about retirement too much. I have a lot of money in savings but that’s probably going to have to be used once I exit college and have to support myself more. I just don’t know what kind of salary I will be getting once I get out of college, so I don’t think there’s much point in thinking about how to invest for retirement. 14. Do you ever feel pressured to spend money in social situations? a) I wouldn’t say pressured, but I am generous person so I like to pay for my friends or when I go out to eat I’ll buy food for every to share. I hate the idea of money getting in the way of my joy. So when I’m in social situations I’ll forget or push my lines of what I should or shouldn’t spend because I want to be able to enjoy my time. b) YAAAASSSSSSS. When I am home with friends from a similar economic backround we do things for fun without money and here it s not like that at alll. c) Yes d) Yes but I keep limits on what I am going to spend, but outside of the situation I wouldn’t spend the money. e) I don’t usually feel “pressured” but I certainly enjoy and am more likely to do it.
Figure 2 Nicholas: Should I sleep in for another 30 minutes? Magic 8 Ball: Signs point to yes Nicholas: Should I eat more for breakfast? Magic 8 Ball: As I see it yes Nicholas: Should I bike to the warehouse? Magic 8 Ball: My reply is no Nicholas: Should I buy dinner? Magic 8 Ball: Signs point to yes Nicholas: Should I bike to dinner? Magic 8 Ball: Very doubtful
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Chapter 6: Resources
Figure 3 1. How would you describe yourself as a spender? How much control do you have over your finances? Are you proactive? N: I think I can be pretty disciplined/conservative when it comes to spending. I will set (strict) rules for myself to follow or ignore depending on how I feel. Generally I follow them, but I can ignore them if I feel it’s appropriate, or if I simply feel like it. I should specify that I think I spend more often then others, but what I spend money on is pretty limited––food and gas. So I might splurge with eating out, but I apart from that I don’t really think I spend a whole lot. I am pretty confident and comfortable in my spending habits; I feel my emotions are closely tide to my spending. But it should go without saying that I have the financing to spend money, and I think it impacts my perception of spending. J: I am very intentional in my spending. I rarely by luxuries unless they need to be bought. Which I suppose makes them more necessities. The only thing I generally splurge on is eating out. I am proactive in the sense that I do not buy things if I cannot afford them. If I want something enough to consider buying it I will make sure to save up until I can afford it. S: I like to spend my money when I have it. When I know I have to begin saving then I will, but that isn’t very often. I don’t enjoy the idea of money being the reason why I can’t get what I want. Meaning, if I see something that I want and I know I can afford it I will make the purchase. I work hard and earn my money so I feel justified spending it often and I am also an independent which means I don’t have to provide or care for anyone other than myself, which makes it easier to have 100% control and say over my finances. I always calculate out how much money I can’t spend because it goes towards my essentials (rent, food, car payment, utilities, etc.) and then the rest I use for whatever I want and when I want it. I’ve never really have had a time where I needed to save up my money for something grand. Every month I reset my finances and make sure I have enough to survive. A: When I make money from my job or from gifts through out the year, I will take a look at how much money I have and try to keep it at a certain budget. The budget acts as a boundary for me so that I will slow down my spending when I get to close to my budget. Though, this might not be the best form of money management (because it allows me to be more of a spender rather than a saver), It still allows me to keep my money at a comfortable level without me crossing my budget. I am always actively thinking about what I am spending and how that affects my bank account. Typically, every time I get cold hard cash, I
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How to be Young And Financially Intelligent: A Thesis for Women will save that in a separate location purely meant for the most important circumstances. In the end, I would say that I am a spender with a budget (rather than a saver with a budget). 2. When playing the game did you have a strategy? If so, what was your strategy? Would this strategy have been different if it had been the original game? (answer this if you can) N: At the very beginning I played really conservative, since I didn’t really understand the game yet. But once I thought I did, I decided to play a little more recklessly/arrogantly because I find that entertaining. So my strategy transitioned from, “how do I build a stable presence?”, which emphasized trying to spread myself out, but enough to build uniformly, “how do I win the fastest way possible?”, which was about spending money whenever I had a chance. Ironically, it didn’t work at all, which I find really interesting; my ‘strategy’ was really just try to take advantage of the game, and in some sense the players. J: Yes. I had the first move which meant I got to choose my placement of my settlement first so I was sure to place it in a place that had access to resources (high likelihood of resources). My strategy was different because I did not have as intense a focus on expanding my reach as normal. As long as I had resources I was reasonably comfortable waiting until I could make a purchase. S: I wasn’t familiar with the original game strategy and I had only played once before but I understood the essence of the game. I knew that two large parts of the game controlled how successful you were: 1) rolling the dice having it land on a number I had a settlement on: this meant I made sure I was able to access a lot of the numbers (which determined where I placed my first settlements) 2) creating access to all the resources so I didn’t have to reply on others through bartering or trading in my own cards. A: I started out playing it normally. My strategies for the game were about focusing on collecting cards so that I can create buildings and roads etc. However, I will try to keep my cards until I have a sufficient amount of playable cards, but with still having some leftover. However, I ended up thinking more in terms of how you framed the game should be. About half way through the game, I realized that there was no need for strategy anymore (especially when donations came into play). If this game was a sign of each others financial decisions, then it doesn’t matter if one was more successful than the other. Also, I noticed Nicholas had the least amount of points in the game. After the game ended, I was thinking about the outcome of the game and how it ended up not making a difference on if someone won or not. If I had this thought more developed during the game, I would of stopped
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Chapter 6: Resources playing because I would of been happy with my where I was. This of course, is in complete contrary to the original games. Though, there is a fantasy aspect to the game, the original is solely based on getting cards, settlements, trading, etc. Because of that, I tend not to think of what those cards are actually representing, I simply play to have fun and hopefully win. 3. How much do you think this actually portrayed your money management in real life? What was different? N: It’s hard to say. One thing that I noticed was in reality my spending habits aren’t impacted, or really impact other people; I don’t save, spend, or manage money for/with other people. But in the game I had to barter with other players, receive advice from other players; something about the game environment introduced this into my decisionmaking and also made me care less about it. So in reality, am I charitable or do I concern myself only with my own prospects? In the game it was so, so in reality it might also true, but maybe less so. With that said, I think I have the capacity to be an impulse spender, although I normally try to constrain that urge; in the game it really came out at the end, probably because I knew it wasn’t real and I wanted to do what I couldn’t in reality. J: Honestly it was a decent representation. I do not obsess about making money nor do I worry about making progress towards better financial security. However, I do try to position myself so that I have potential opportunities in the future (making sure I am employable or can upgrade strategic settlements into cities) S: I realized that in the game I didn’t want to rely on others to be supported (I did not enjoy bartering) and so I would say that applies to my real world attitude. I very much enjoy the idea of being financially successful on my own. While I didn’t like bartering in order for me to receive what I wanted, I was more than happy and willing to help others and donate my resources. I would say this is true in real life, I love being able to treat my love ones. The main difference in the way I actually money manage versus how I did in the game, I had to share my money management in front of everyone, in the game everyone was directly effecting another with their choices I don’t think that’s true in my current lifestyle. A: I can’t say this portrays my money management in real life. Partly cause I don’t have properties or stocks that I maintain. Also, I was more or less indifferent with what i was giving away or getting because wanting to win (or success) requires sacrifice and patient. But, even after I stopped having a strategy, I more or less had a fun with it while playing the game as well. If it was a real portrayal of my money man-
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How to be Young And Financially Intelligent: A Thesis for Women agement then I would only own consumer goods cards, I would live under my parents, who are part of a settlement which is apart of a city, that is run by Sally haha 4. How did you adapt to the new game rules? What was your mindset/ attitude in comparison to other games of this type? N: I really haven’t played these type of games before, and I don’t really enjoy them very much. Every now and then I will be asked to play and I will, but I don’t look for the opportunity. So my mindset was at first less enthusiastic and conservative and turned to, in some sense, driven to ‘succeed’. J: I did not try to win. I built my resources and made sure I was in a secure set-up with my financial income but did not stress over not having more. S: I think I am a very logical thinker and I understand things pretty easily. So as soon as the game was set up I paid attention to what was necessary to survive in the game and I made sure that was taken care. I would say I do that in real life too. I haven’t played any other game like this other than the game of life, but that’s different because it’s so close to real life that the pretending makes the game seem extra fake. A: It was interesting. At first it was a bit difficult because I was afraid that I was going to get really confused with different labels and mindsets, but since everyone was trying, then it made it a lot easier to get into it. I would say that because of that, I got into it surprisingly easily. Despite this, I didn’t really allow the new game rules to change my way of playing or thinking. It was fun imaging what this game is like with these new rules and talking about it with each other. However, like I said, I ended up realizing that since the game was financially based that strategy did not really matter because I was happy with how much I had. I also took advantage of donation aspects because It didn’t make that much sense. It made it not into a game into a game rather into some sort of experience that. 5. Did this make you more aware of your finances? If not, what was preventing you from doing so? N: I think it has, especially since I realized how I felt I acted differently in the game was different then how I expected I would, or in reality how I do. J: In a sense? I am in a comfortable financial position but I do need to be mindful to not spend needlessly (in game buying a settlement when or a dev card if I really should get a city)
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Chapter 6: Resources S: It definitely gave me a moment to reflect but it didn’t make me make any changes to my life. I don’t think I have money spending problems. A: It didn’t really. It actually made me think of how I spend money in video games. Video games tend to make me feel like my decisions are actually having a affect on others and myself in the game. I think it has something to do with the fact that I am living vicariously through the player. So basically, I am manifesting myself into the game. Which, in turn, makes me care about my player and how I play the game. I can’t say that fully I understand why, but I think it could be a good avenue to look into. 6. Did you ever get frustrated during the course of the game? When and why? N: I got frustrated in the game when I realized that my ‘plan’ wasn’t working and when I noticed I was financing differently than I thought I would have in reality; I can be competitive, and in reality I don’t think I am competitive with my financing. I think that ultimately clouded my vision, my goals in the game, etc. J: Yes once. The turn after I donated a card to Nicholas he played a card that allowed him to steal one of my resources. I went out of my way to assist him in one of the only ways I was allowed to in the game and he went ahead and stole from me afterwards. S: I got really frustrated when I need help from others and no one could help me, I did not like that reliance because it made me feel like I was unsuccessful. A: I really enjoy playing games. All types of games. I don’t really like when the game has alternative intentions that deviate away (like unfair treatment) from the completing it. Just cause I find a lot of enjoyment, learning, and interaction from playing something from start to finish. Initially, I did not appreciate that this was geared towards how genders make decisions. I think it bothered me because I make conscious effort to have my gender not be the reason for making financial decisions or play games. Further more, I am not sure if reenforcing gender norms about making finical decisions is a good thing or not because I didn’t want to see males or females as good or bad financial managers while playing a game to win. Either way, I got over the feeling and didn’t want to assume with what your intentions were and so I enjoyed playing the rest of the game. 7. Reflection of tools: How did using physical pieces as a representation of types of money and success make you feel? Would you have felt differently if this were an online game?
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How to be Young And Financially Intelligent: A Thesis for Women N: Although each piece had it’s own identity––cash vs stock investment vs property investment, or the probability cards––I saw them all the same in that, the more you had, the better you were doing, of course in conjunction with the amount of pieces you had on the board. So I guess in general, more = success, or good financing. What is interesting about this game is that the chance that exists when financing money in reality is more drawn out and is more significant than in the game; it was almost 50/50 chance to strategy, although strategy could push that ratio positively or negatively. J: I think it had some effect but the online would have been equally effective. However, if the slips of paper were substituted with physical representations (actual money for finances ect) I would have felt very much more strongly. S: There was a point in the game where I had a lot of resource cards in my hand and having all of them in my hand made it feel real...which is very different in life because most people just have 1 card that represents their money. The success factor wasn’t that obvious and huge because the highest you could score was 10 and the game moved so slowly so I didn’t really get any feedback of being success or thriving like I might when I get a big paycheck. A: Interesting! I think it was a great idea. I enjoyed imagining the physical pieces as a representation of success and money, but it ended up not really playing much into the game aspect of Catan. Like I said before, playing games is more imaginative for me, which allows me to feel as if my decisions have more impact. ß 8. Do you think the conversations were fitting? What worked/didn’t work? N: Hm, yea I think so, even though they were influenced by the competitive context. Maybe it was kind of like a stock broker relationship with another stock broker? J: I think the conversation fit primarily because we did joke a lot about the topic at hand but is such a serious and relevant topic made it more serious and would always stick in the back of our heads. S: don’t really have much to say to this...it was a fun time playing with people I didn’t know too well. A: I think we were dabbling with the conversations in the right reality. I do think we were all joking around and having fun with imagining that these pieces were financially related. It sometimes played into the bargaining, but I am not sure if we played to affect each others financials success. 9. What do you think should have been done differently?
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Chapter 6: Resources N: I think I would want to have taken myself out of the game and played like the resources were real resources. J: Maybe make a few more rule changes? The introduction of allowing donations was an interesting change. Maybe having more taxes? Or purchase of actual items? Like you could exchange some of your money for chips and dip or a soda but that has no other effect on the gameplay. Something real world interacting. -maybe intrducing taking out loans? S: I think it would be more real life if there were times where people actually felt the suffer of poor management. Like other than knowing if you were willing or had a lot of resources you didn’t really get that feeling that you were in a bad spot. Like in real life if you don’t manage well you can’t eat. In the game if you didn’t manage well you just couldn’t do much in your turn. A: I think if there was more an aspect of competitiveness that would challenge each others financial management strategies to show how people’s strategies will change or not when it comes to playing game or winning would be interesting.
Figure 4 Isabelle: “What would be in the next box?” “What keeps them aware of their past purchases? What if it connects back to their system and gives them an end of the month review?” “Gives them advice” “This month work on this.” “This [could work] really well but I feel like it would become repetitive” “The questions.. I liked the questions. They make you think before you do and that’s what people need.” “if it was with a bank it would definitely be more trustworthy. But at the same time people don’t like banks for the controlling reason, maybe both so it’s linked to a bank” “You could definitely do it on your own” “Depends on the price” whether they would pay for a subscription Sarah and Lindsey: L: Likes birch box general idea S: It would be really awesome if this thing told me when to file my taxes. I have no idea what taxes are - how to do them, where to do them, where to get them
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How to be Young And Financially Intelligent: A Thesis for Women L: coupon or cash back, coupon I like that! I love coupons L: how about a thing to help write out checks because I know how to do them but I forgot S: a sample check S+L: coupons are ironic because it could be encouraging to spend L: coupons for necessities R: incentive L: treat yo self S: January is give back month L: wearables with minimal function, if you bought too much it was vibrate a lot L: Branding is important L: less inclined to spend on money on this, more inclined to use it if it was tied to a bank R: Quality of life product that just happens to cover your finances, or financial product that happens to affect your quality of life S: notebook isn’t helpful but if it was something to hold receipts could be S: would like a weekly reminder of how much money I have, never in context L: likes reminder stickers S: depends on money situation and after college situation, would use it more then instead of right now ——> how to start in college, lead to after college S: could be about redesigning a monthly bill instead of reorganizing everything else, we don’t want to scare you we are here to support you L: I save all my statements and put them in a folder, some sort of filing system Side thought: wearable made out of recycled materials so that it costs no money to buy, just pay for labor time - make a series of objects - get a kit with a ring, case, or wallet - organization kits for receipts and such - at home kit and portable kit - physical because its attempting to grab hold of the only physical things we have left for money organization
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