“I buy everything with Rappi because I don’t need to talk to anyone and I can have everything quickly”
UX Research – Women and Investing (2020)
How an actual investment barrier can be overcome
What is the reality of women in the Brazilian investment scenario?
During a crash course at Digital House, one of our mission was the creation of a project with the theme “the Future of Money” and, through our research phase, we discovered an infinity of subjects that permeate this theme.
It was a bit challenging to understand how to narrow down the theme, but we noticed that there was a trend in the Investment subject.
First Numbers
We found out that:
Over 73% of Brazilian women use their savings as a form of investment
19,6% has never invested money in ways other than savings
A low number if we notice that:
1/3 of them take care of family financial planning and when it comes to family wealth management, the number rises to 45%.
Interviews
We conducted 6 interviews with women who save money between the ages of 25 and 45, as they represent 52% of all women who invest and we could understand that in this range they are in different professional stages.
Our goal with the interview was:
● Obtaining information about the interviewee’s level of knowledge about financial investments. (e.g. early-adopter, heavy user);
● Mapping the range of wants and needs for financial technologies, devices, services or content;
● Sharing knowledge: if the interviewee has someone with whom to discuss/learn about it? Who are the people who surround the interviewee on this topic?
● What reasons arouse the interviewee’s interest in investing;
● Context (people, places, time): how and when does the interviewee save? Are there forms of consumption in which the interviewee saves more often or in which she avoids doing so? Are there other people with whom the interviewee saves?
● How your income is distributed in your daily activities;
● Education: How does this influence or help?
● If gender issues are impediments that the interviewee sees for her to make investments. What are these questions?
What did we notice?
Despite having studied a lot about investing, there is a lot of pain points:
By the kind of expressions and terms used by the related apps;
Due to the complexity of the theme;
Due to the lack of connection with everyday life – the financial system seems to be a reality detached from our daily lives;
And that leads them to believe they are going to lose money.
The interviews also showed us how these women see themselves in these investment and financial market issues.
They said that these are not very receptive environments and noted that what exists gives the feeling that it was made for those who already have advanced knowledge and engagement with these themes.
If we consider that 74% of the financial market is dominated by men, it is not absurd to assume that what exists and is being done reflects male needs and reality.
Our Personas
Based on ethnographic research we distinguish 3 different personas
All have the ambition to save money in the expectation of obtaining financial return, but each with specific motivations and needs.
AMANDA SOUZA (26 y.o.)
The first of them is Amanda, who has just entered the professional field, usually holding the position of analyst, lives with her family and saves most of her income. Her costs are limited to personal expenses.
She follows trends that friends or bloggers point out, and that’s why she abandons everything she starts in the middle, without getting very involved. She has downloaded financial apps, but doesn’t use them very often or, when she gets bored, ends up delegating administration to acquaintances.
“Women these days are less afraid to take risks.”
TAMIREZ COSTA (34 y.o.)
Tamirez is highly independent and responsible for managing the finances of the house. She shares the house with friends or her own family and is therefore very controlling and organized in terms of her accounts.
She holds supervisory and coordination positions, saves only what is left and seeks more financial stability through investments, which is why she gathers a lot of knowledge before taking a chance on the subject.
“I always research thoroughly before making any financial decision. I’m a conscious shopper!”
CAMILA SILVA (40 y.o.)
Our last persona is someone more senior with a consolidated professional career, occupying high-level positions.
Camila is the “Owner of her world”, has a specialization or master’s degree and seeks to learn about various subjects that bring intellectual and personal return. She participates in NGOs and other philanthropic activities. She has high knowledge of the financial system and invests so that income maintains her social level. Seeks unique and personalized experiences.
We built the journeys of these personas
Identifying their consumption drivers and analyzing them together with all the ethnographic material, placing on an analysis canvas (not necessarily being a negative side and a positive side) that represents a relationship of each one with the future or with the community that surround them .
Our approach and conclusion
Our project should focus on the moment when, after extensive study on the subject, women decide to take a risk in investments through applications recommended by friends, with solutions that:
Facilitate investment;
Have uncomplicated language;
Have clarity and direction in the steps;
And that make the investment something more tangible.
Our Benchmarks
Ellevest
Robinhood
Acorns
Qapital
ElasBank
Mint
Which path should we go
After analyzing benchmarks and other processes, we consider that the way forward has solutions inspired by:
Gamification
In which users interact with investments at their own pace, as they advance or explore the interface, acquire rewards and gradually lose their fear of investing.
Social network of financial influences
These users can connect and exchange ideas about the subjects, forming a networking related to the subject.
Own pace of investment
Taking the investment process as part of the user’s daily life without major problems and with a similar language.
(Project developed by Fabiana Cordeiro, Daniele Auletta, Fabio Lando, Angelin Saccon e Henrique de Moraes)
Thank you for reading my case study!
Want to work with me? Feel free to contact me!