Dream Garden
Project G.A.R.D.E.N.S
During our Senior Capstone class, our objective was to develop a pitchable project that integrated the 'Community' theme. With a timeline of 14 weeks, we transformed our ideas into an industry-level end-product. Throughout the process, we actively participated in stand-ups and presented bi-weekly pitches to showcase our progress.
The Challenge
How can we uncover strategies for NewRetirement to expand its audience while remaining aligned with its core brand and values?
What is Dream Garden?
Dream Garden is a mobile application designed to offer young adults an interactive experience that fosters financial literacy and encourages budgeting.
Goals
Entertaining - Gen z has a short attention span and needs something quick and fun to use.
Habits - Assist our audience in developing and practicing healthy financial habits.
Education -Offer a more accessible learning experience.
Walkthrough
Onboarding
Dream Garden's onboarding process ensures personalized feedback tailored to the user's specific needs.
Assessment
The initial plants and goals in Dream Garden encompass retirement, savings, and debt management.Through the assessment process, Dream Garden helps users create their gardens by setting initial goals and selecting appropriate plants.
Close-ups
In the close-up view, users can access more detailed information about each plant and goal in Dream Garden.
Garden Features
Within Dream Garden, users will frequently encounter secondary screens such as the shop and the creation of new plants. These screens play a vital role in enhancing the overall user experience. In Dream Garden, users can water their plants, which allows them to contribute money towards their goals either manually or based on specialized recommendations. This interactive feature provides a tangible and engaging way for users to make progress towards their financial objectives.
Other Features
On the profile page, we utilize the ad tab to direct users to the NewRetirement page externally. This strategic placement encourages users to explore additional resources and information related to retirement planning.
Process
Guiding Questions on Generation Z
To better focus our research we created the following questions to help guide us.
- What are their acccessibility to resources for financial education and professional advise?
- What are their goals and methods?
- What are their restraints on managing their financial responsibilities?
- Their motivation on saving/budgeting?
- Their views on retirement planning?
How Do we Tap into Gen Z?
From our own personal experience, surveys our classmates took to market research the we gathered the following insights that helped determined our design decesions.
- They are the most hopeful generation.
- A false sense of security leads to them needing to slow down and figure out where they are.
- Risk averse due to being born into chaos (Great recession).
- Passionate about social justice and equality.
- Keen on questioning authority.
- A very independent mind set, artistic and entrepreneurial spirit.
Disruptive Thinking
To gather unique and out-of-the-box insights from the research data, we employed a methodology known as disruptive thinking. The process involved the following steps:
- Identify a cliché
- Create a hypothesis using invert, deny, and scale
- Identify research questions to validate feasibility, viability, and desirability of your hypothesis
Our Path of Iteration
For Dream Garden, we began with a user flow to outline necessary screens. Initial sketches explored the visual design and clarified the user flow. These sketches also aided in testing the design's logical coherence and user-friendliness. Wireframes helped fine-tune any adjustments before moving into production.
Outcome
Gen Z Can Tackle Finances
Generation Z can develop financial proficiency and enjoy the process when provided with an engaging, habit-forming, and educational solution like Dream Garden
