Increasing financial literacy and promoting healthy financial behaviors utilizing AI

project overview

august 2024-december 2024

KLI (Keylime Interactive) is a user experience (UX) research and customer experience (CX) service design agency with 15 years of serving over 150 clients in all industry segments across Fortune 1000s, including Amazon, Roku, Bose, and Google. Our shared purpose is to advise companies on their customer experience (CX) so that we make a difference through better-designed products and services.

The goal of the project was to increase financial literacy and promote healthy financial behaviors for college students by conducting research and creating solutions to promote beneficial financial habits.

How can we create a solution to help college students build healthy financial habits, specifically within budgeting?

my impact

accelerated design and research through AI integration
Led the end-to-end project as team lead, strategically integrating AI tools into our design, research, and documentation workflows. This significantly streamlined tasks like protocol writing, user testing analysis, and early ideation—cutting our timeline nearly in half while maintaining high quality.

facilitated stakeholder alignment
Owned communication with client stakeholders, running feedback sessions and weekly syncs to ensure our solutions aligned with business priorities and delivered measurable value.

mentored and supported team growth

Provided guidance and mentorship to team members throughout the project, helping them strengthen their research, ideation, and design skills. Created a collaborative environment where everyone could contribute confidently and grow in their roles.

current experience

There are currently no consumer facing AI banking tools.

milestone 1:

identifying relevant users and beginning to explore the user journey

This project began with an in-depth exploration of Gen Z college students and their financial behaviors. Using literature reviews, Reddit analysis, and user interviews, the research uncovered patterns around compulsive spending and emotional triggers such as guilt, stress, and fear.

key findings:

Students often want to budget—but don’t know how, or feel too overwhelmed to try.
Budgeting usually means “try not to spend money” or “check my bank account and hope for the best.”
Many said they know they should be investing, but have no idea where to start.
Financial tools are often too complex, or they feel irrelevant.

This information was then synthesized into 2 personas:

sam

alex

knows very little about anything finance related, but is curious and overwhelmed

knows a bit about financial tools, but lacks motivation and doesn’t trust most tools

Research revealed not just a skills gap—but a motivation gap. Students don’t just need better tools. They need ones that are simple, trustworthy, and motivating.

milestone 2:

uncovering what’s missing from today’s financial tools

After identifying gaps in students’ financial knowledge and motivation, the initial direction focused on designing a tool to help college students begin investing. Interviews revealed strong curiosity around investing, but also hesitation driven by intimidation and lack of guidance.

However, conversations with financial experts revealed a consistent message:

“Investing is important—but students need a strong foundation first. Without a budget, they’re not ready.”

That insight prompted a major pivot.

The focus shifted to budgeting—specifically, helping students understand their current financial habits and develop a healthier relationship with money before introducing more advanced tools.

To identify gaps in existing solutions, a comparative analysis was conducted on popular financial platforms including Mint, Rocket Money, Acorns, and CLEO. A discovery workshop with college students further revealed real-time reflections on spending behavior and unmet needs.

comparative analysis

what stood out:

Most apps don’t integrate well into students’ day-to-day lives
Users ignore features like categorization and long-term planning
Tools feel boring, complicated, or even judgmental
There’s a clear lack of personalization and motivation

workshops and interviews

3 sequential workshops, 30 users, building on insights from one session to the next.

"I get way too much anxiety trying to sift through my own account and make a budget"

“I thought I budgeted well...until I looked at my account.”

Users were often surprised by their own spending patterns, but expressed frustration that existing tools didn’t offer a clear or supportive path to improvement.

Insights from expert interviews reinforced this disconnect—tools are unlikely to stick without intrinsic motivation, and budgeting emerged as the foundational habit worth reinforcing.

Students don’t need more complexity—they need a tool that helps them make sense of what’s already happening. A tool that feels approachable, forgiving, and just smart enough to be helpful.

milestone 3:

designing for simplicity, trust, and real use

Building on this momentum, a co-design workshop and ideation session were conducted to involve users directly in the creative process. Participants brainstormed and sketched concepts based on their real needs and behaviors.

Two standout ideas emerged:

1. receipt scanning + cashback (already exists in the market)

2. ai budgeting assistant that works inside your existing banking app
(our direction)

key findings:

Students don’t want to download another app
They prefer tools that do the work for them
Visuals and simple nudges (like alerts before overspending) are helpful
They want real-time feedback—not end-of-month regret

The final direction focused on an AI-powered budgeting feature integrated into an existing banking app. The concept offered personalized suggestions, auto-categorized spending, and actionable tips to help users stay on track—eliminating the need to start from scratch or manage separate tools.

milestone 4:

testing, iterating, and refining our vision

With a working prototype in hand, the concept was tested with users to evaluate its effectiveness. Overall reactions were positive—users appreciated the simplicity and found the direction promising.

However, the testing also revealed unexpected friction points. Some features caused confusion, others lacked a sense of trust, and certain moments didn’t resonate as intended.

This feedback prompted a strategic pause to re-evaluate how to make the tool feel clearer, more approachable, and genuinely supportive.