About
Piggy Pot offers a fun, interactive and safe way for kids to explore finance, making it easy for them to grasp essential concepts. Piggy Pot also builds trust and confidence in parents by focusing on education.
Problem
Most banking apps are designed for adults, and while some cater to teenagers, there seem to be very few options for even younger children that teach essential financial concepts early on.
Solution
Piggy Pot is a secure and engaging platform designed specifically for younger children to grasp the fundamentals of saving. It provides a safe, engaging platform where kids can learn essential financial habits through simple, age-appropriate tools.
My role
In this project, I was responsible for both the UX and UI design, including all illustrations and graphic design elements. I used Balsamiq for wireframe sketches and Figma for the detailed design work and prototyping.
The brief
The brief was to create a money-saving tool for people looking to save quickly for specific goals. The key messages I needed to incorporate were: "a finance app you can trust," "it’s like having a financial advisor in your pocket," "anyone can save money," and "you don’t need to be a financial expert to use our app”.
Approach
I used a design thinking and user-centred approach, focusing on the needs of both children and parents. To gain a deeper understanding, I interviewed parents to learn their concerns and expectations, while also considering how to make the app engaging and accessible for younger children.
User stories
My research allowed me to identify the following user stories, which guided my design decisions and helped pinpoint the core features for my MVP.
As a parent, I want my child to be notified and rewarded when they’ve reached certain milestones so they know when I have achieved my goals.
As a parent, I want the money-saving tool to be motivational, so that they stay on track with goals.
As a parent, I want to see a dashboard of the finances clearly and visually
Lily
Primary school
Lily is a 6-year-old primary school student who loves playing with friends, toys, and dressing up. She receives £2 a week from her parents and is just beginning to learn about money. As the world transitions from physical to digital cash, Lily needs a fun, colourful platform where she can easily track her savings and understand basic financial concepts. She responds best to simple, engaging tools that use visual aids and playful elements to make learning enjoyable.
Sarah & David
Professionals
Lily’s parents are professionals in their mid-30s looking for a safe, child-friendly app to manage Lily's pocket money in a cashless world. They want an educational, secure platform that teaches Lily good financial habits without requiring constant supervision. Their ideal app is intuitive, aligns with modern cashless living, and offers an enjoyable experience that helps Lily understand saving and spending, while providing them with oversight and peace of mind.
User flow
I next defined the MVP, which focuses on essential features that directly solve key user problems.
These tasks include: viewing the account balance, adding new saving pots, contributing to pots, accessing the Learn Hub, earning ‘Piggy Perk’ rewards, and providing a separate parent login for additional features and visibility into the child’s account.
Wireframes
Using Balsamiq for sketching was useful as it streamlined the initial ideation process. I could easily adjust layouts without the need to re-sketch, making the process faster and more flexible.
I next transferred my designs to Figma for prototyping and user testing. I added some extra details at this stage so users could comment on the text, layout and flow.
Can users intuitively add money to their saving pot?
Do users understand the ‘piggy perks’ reward tab and do they find this motivational?
Do users find the content on the homepage sufficient and is the layout clear and simple?
Can users easily find the learn tab and is this age appropriate?
User feedback
All users completed the tasks effectively and timely.
“The quiz is suitable for the intended age group, yet incorporating an adjustable difficulty feature according to age would enhance it”
Challenge
Ensuring inclusivity.
Some parents either choose to, or are able to give their children more money than others. This raised a concern for potential competition in schools, particularly with the introduction of Piggy Perk tokens. I wanted to avoid creating a system where children might feel left out based on the amount of money they could save.
Solution
To overcome this, I designed the reward system to focus on goal completion rather than the amount of money saved. Rewards are also tied to learning achievements, ensuring that all children, regardless of their financial background, can participate equally and stay motivated.
Style guide
The Piggy Pot style combines a friendly tone of voice with vibrant colours and playful typography to create an engaging experience for users. The core colours symbolise saving, trust, and growth, while the secondary colours add warmth and variety.
Challenge
One of the key challenges was striking a balance between creating an engaging, fun experience for children while simultaneously building trust with parents. Although a playful and approachable design was essential for kids to understand and enjoy the saving process, I was mindful that it would not resemble a traditional finance app.
Solution 1
To address this, I developed a separate parent log-in that maintains a more serious yet friendly aesthetic. I also used a more limited colour palette with blue as the core colour to convey trust and security. This allows parents to oversee all aspects of their child’s account and provide access to additional features.
Solution 2
The app also aims to instil trust in parents through its strong emphasis on education, assuring them that their children are developing essential financial skills.
Takeaways