Product Designer
Product Design · UX Research
2023
Financial transparency for Gen Z
A Brazilian fintech wanted to acquire and retain people aged 15 to 21 in socioeconomic classes C and D. The initial hypothesis prioritized gamification. Research pointed to a more basic need: understanding their own money and trusting the experience. I led the exploration and delivered a design direction and roadmap. The project was not implemented.
UX Research · Product Strategy · Fintech · Exploration
Product Designer
Product Design · UX Research
2023
Financial transparency for Gen Z
A Brazilian fintech wanted to acquire and retain people aged 15 to 21 in socioeconomic classes C and D. The initial hypothesis prioritized gamification. Research pointed to a more basic need: understanding their own money and trusting the experience. I led the exploration and delivered a design direction and roadmap. The project was not implemented.
UX Research · Product Strategy · Fintech · Exploration
Product Designer
Product Design · UX Research
2023
Financial transparency for Gen Z
A Brazilian fintech wanted to acquire and retain people aged 15 to 21 in socioeconomic classes C and D. The initial hypothesis prioritized gamification. Research pointed to a more basic need: understanding their own money and trusting the experience. I led the exploration and delivered a design direction and roadmap. The project was not implemented.
UX Research · Product Strategy · Fintech · Exploration
Context and problem
The product was known for financial inclusion among adults with limited access to banking services. Younger people were opening accounts but were not sustaining the expected engagement. The initial business proposal was to add missions, rewards, usage streaks, and social features.
The research challenged this starting point. Particularly among people aged 16 to 18, the expressed need was to understand balance changes, gain autonomy, and feel that the product reflected their circumstances.
Evidence and methods
12 in-depth interviews with people aged 15 to 21 about financial habits, expectations, and frustrations.
8 conversations with guardians of people aged 15 to 17, covering supervision, consent, and autonomy.
Structured analysis of 5 competing apps, comparing features, onboarding, and trust signals.
One co-creation workshop with 6 participants, covering ideation, prioritization, and reactions to concepts.
Exploration of different gamification approaches within the existing user base; A/B results were inconclusive in the available material.
Development of 3 personas to represent different financial contexts.
"I want to know why my balance changed" appeared in 9 of the 12 interviews. Transparency and clear language were prioritized over rewards. Conversations with young people and guardians also distinguished visibility from control.
Educational features were better received when tied to the context of a transaction. Spending comparisons, visual goals, and simple descriptions were already part of the expectations set by competitors. Hypotheses about color and perceived trust were treated as estimates, without establishing causality.
Constraints and trade-offs
Parental supervision required a permissions model that did not yet exist. The direction was documented for a second phase: optional visibility, without allowing guardians to reverse transactions or change limits.
The visual evolution needed to retain a connection to the adult brand. A reduced palette was a consistency choice based on competitive analysis. The four-color limit is neither a WCAG requirement nor a universal accessibility standard.
Decisions and proposed solution
1. Use gamification to support understanding
Missions and challenges were reframed as guidance on using the product and progressing toward financial goals chosen by the individual. The intent was to support capability and confidence; increased engagement was not demonstrated.
2. Evolve the tone while preserving the brand
The visual direction retained the core identity and adjusted the emphasis of the palette and typography for a more approachable style. Using yellow as an accent was a design hypothesis to validate, rather than a proven color psychology effect.
3. Design supervision as optional visibility
The proposal allowed guardians to follow activity without blocking or reversing actions. The model and its technical dependency were documented for the second phase. No version of this project was launched.
4. Embed education in the transaction context
Educational information was incorporated into the account statement, spending analysis, and goal progress, rather than relying on a separate learning area. The prototype examples were illustrative, rather than user outcomes.
Deliverables and limitations
Research synthesis and personas.
Direction for evolving the design system.
Gamification framework linked to financial understanding.
Parental supervision model and permissions dependencies.
Prototypes for onboarding, account statements, and savings goals.
Feature roadmap organized by phase.
This was a strategic exploration. There was no implementation, and there are no metrics for retention, conversion, or post-launch impact.
My role
I conducted the 12 interviews and 8 conversations with guardians, defined the discussion guide, and synthesized the findings. I facilitated the workshop with 6 participants, analyzed the 5 competitors, and reframed the gamification direction based on the evidence. I designed the prototypes and documented the visual evolution, parental model, and roadmap.
Reflection
The work reinforced the need to test the premise of a brief before choosing features. The direction would need to be validated through financial comprehension tasks, assessment of the supervision model, and usage measures before attributing engagement gains to it. The sample and findings describe this exploration, without representing all of Gen Z.
Evidence and methods
12 in-depth interviews with people aged 15 to 21 about financial habits, expectations, and frustrations.
8 conversations with guardians of people aged 15 to 17, covering supervision, consent, and autonomy.
Structured analysis of 5 competing apps, comparing features, onboarding, and trust signals.
One co-creation workshop with 6 participants, covering ideation, prioritization, and reactions to concepts.
Exploration of different gamification approaches within the existing user base; A/B results were inconclusive in the available material.
Development of 3 personas to represent different financial contexts.
"I want to know why my balance changed" appeared in 9 of the 12 interviews. Transparency and clear language were prioritized over rewards. Conversations with young people and guardians also distinguished visibility from control.
Educational features were better received when tied to the context of a transaction. Spending comparisons, visual goals, and simple descriptions were already part of the expectations set by competitors. Hypotheses about color and perceived trust were treated as estimates, without establishing causality.
Constraints and trade-offs
Parental supervision required a permissions model that did not yet exist. The direction was documented for a second phase: optional visibility, without allowing guardians to reverse transactions or change limits.
The visual evolution needed to retain a connection to the adult brand. A reduced palette was a consistency choice based on competitive analysis. The four-color limit is neither a WCAG requirement nor a universal accessibility standard.
Decisions and proposed solution
1. Use gamification to support understanding
Missions and challenges were reframed as guidance on using the product and progressing toward financial goals chosen by the individual. The intent was to support capability and confidence; increased engagement was not demonstrated.
2. Evolve the tone while preserving the brand
The visual direction retained the core identity and adjusted the emphasis of the palette and typography for a more approachable style. Using yellow as an accent was a design hypothesis to validate, rather than a proven color psychology effect.
3. Design supervision as optional visibility
The proposal allowed guardians to follow activity without blocking or reversing actions. The model and its technical dependency were documented for the second phase. No version of this project was launched.
4. Embed education in the transaction context
Educational information was incorporated into the account statement, spending analysis, and goal progress, rather than relying on a separate learning area. The prototype examples were illustrative, rather than user outcomes.
Deliverables and limitations
Research synthesis and personas.
Direction for evolving the design system.
Gamification framework linked to financial understanding.
Parental supervision model and permissions dependencies.
Prototypes for onboarding, account statements, and savings goals.
Feature roadmap organized by phase.
This was a strategic exploration. There was no implementation, and there are no metrics for retention, conversion, or post-launch impact.
My role
I conducted the 12 interviews and 8 conversations with guardians, defined the discussion guide, and synthesized the findings. I facilitated the workshop with 6 participants, analyzed the 5 competitors, and reframed the gamification direction based on the evidence. I designed the prototypes and documented the visual evolution, parental model, and roadmap.
Reflection
The work reinforced the need to test the premise of a brief before choosing features. The direction would need to be validated through financial comprehension tasks, assessment of the supervision model, and usage measures before attributing engagement gains to it. The sample and findings describe this exploration, without representing all of Gen Z.