Vancity x BrainStation Hackathon
Date: January 28 + 29, 2020
Location: BrainStation - Vancouver Campus
Duration: 48 hours
Team: Rita Law, Nick McInnis (User Experience Design)
Rylan Ferrer (Web Development)
Mona Vadhat (Data Science)
The Brief:
How might we…
Proposed Solution
Build a digital solution for young professionals to start investing money by rounding up everyday purchases.
Encourage young professionals to start saving money in order to meet their long-term financial goals and feel confident about investing.
The Round-Up program, an addition to the existing Vancity application. The Round-Up program allows Vancity members to round up their everyday transactions to the next dollar and add the difference to be invested.
About Vancity
Vancity is a value-based financial co-operative serving more than 523,000 member owners and their communities.
As Canada’s largest community credit union it is imperative to stay on top of the latest tech trends for the benefit of their members and community.
Members can rest assure their money is making an impact on their community. Through investments in local businesses and organizations that create a positive impact.
Our Journey
My team and I were challenged with the problem of younger members starting an investment plan. The wealth industry has been built around providing more access to those that have more money. Resulting in younger members feeling less trust from financial institutions. This often stops them from creating an investment plan.
Our challenge was to research, design, and build a solution over a period of two days. Our team consisted of BrainStation alumni from the UX Design, Development, and Data Science programs. My role in the project was project manager, digital design, and user testing.
Research Findings
3/4 of millennials have to use a credit card to pay for basic daily necessities. over 25% had late payments
7 out of 10 young people define financial stability as being able to pay all of their monthly bills.
Millennials feel pressure to conform to financial habits of their peers such as home and car purchases.
Problem Space Explored
Millennials don't feel confident when it comes to investing.
The wealth industry has been built to provide more access to a those that have more money.
This often stops millennials from creating an investment plan.
Millennials want something that is easy, convenient and does not mean major changes to their everyday life.
User Journey
Persona
Data Analysist & Visualization
Solution
Armed with our research, How might we, Persona, and her User Journey, we built the Round-Up program, an addition to the existing Vancity app.
Customizable settings will allow members to meet their goals over short or long terms. Keeping in mind Vancity’s values to support the local community. We added a feature where members could earn rewards from local businesses while working towards their savings goals.
Fin!
Participating in the Vancity x BrainStation hackathon was an amazing experience because we had the opportunity to help solve real-life problems. The problem statements given to the teams were problems that Vancity has provided and have been trying to solve. Receiving mentorship and support from both the BrainStation and Vancity team helped us focus on the solution.
In addition to the fun, challenging and unforgettable experience, our team won #1! That was the cherry on top!