$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $$ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ Design at the Edge | Cash Conscious | Chantra M-P, Betsy R, Maryia S, Ian D

Cash Conscious

Introduction 1-2Methodology | Subject Matter 2-4

Findings 4-5Problematic 5-6

Concepts 7-10Credits 11-12

1

Our project, Cash Conscious, studied Generation Y/Millennium and their interaction with money. We approached our research with the following questions in mind: Does our target group want to save? Or, do they care to save at all? Either way, we wanted to learn from our research what drives our target to spend, what drives them to save, and what (if anything) incentivizes them to save. Given the nature of the project to recognize a problem with the current money system and a particular niche and suggest a solution, we also wanted to find what medium communicates with our target most effectively.

Introduction

2

3

The disclosure of one’s financial status is, for most, a very

private and often uncomfortable matter, therefore, we deduced

we could gather the most valuable and informative research

through conversation - asking not formal Q&A, but engaging

in a form of storytelling. This personal “interviewing” method

allowed us to obtain detailed information of the lives of the

interviewees and their financial situations. Every member of Cash

Conscious conducted several one-on-one interviews with our

target age group 18-30, who are either college students or young

professionals living in or near urban areas; each interview lasting

20 or so minutes. This group has accumulated debt from student

loans, daily spending and/or credit card purchases. Although we

did not format our interviews to be too structured we made sure

to get answers for the following questions during the interviews.

Methodology | Subject Matter

Age:

Occupation:

How many hours do you work and/or go to school per week?

Where do you live?

Marital Status:

How many people do you live with?

Annual Income:

Why did you choose to live where you do now?

What is your favorite day of the week? Why?

4

Explain your perfect day:

What do you spend most of your money on?Groceries UtilitiesRestaurants DrinksClothes/Shoes,etc other…SchoolRent

Do you keep track of your money/expenses?If so, How?Online Banking Phone Email Other…Text

Are there any large investments you hope to make in the future? If so, what?

Tell us a story about the worst and/or best experience you have ever had with money?

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5

Findings

We find people are less forthright when asked direct questions about money, therefore the framing of the questions focused on the interviewee’s lifestyle; questions about their actual interaction with money was secondary. We asked what activities they are involved in, what they find most important in life, and more playful questions like what their favorite day of the week is. Their answers allowed us to see their overall attitude toward money.

To our surprise, we found that savings is not much of a priority for our target group. A lot of our interviewees cared simply about meeting their day-to-day financial needs. Some said that they spend money on “silly things” and “don’t save at all but maybe will in the future.” We realized that there generally lacks an ambition to save in this age group and most of the money is spent on everyday necessities and small “silly” things. Our target group has a fairly shortsighted perspective on money, focusing on its power as a liquid asset that can be consumed quickly.

#6

“So depending on the month, I can spend a bigger chunk of my income on something that is clothes or shoes or some sort of device. But usually a good chunk of it is rent and food.”

“In the future sometime when I’m more mature about how to spend my money, yes. In the meantime, no.” (Referring to getting another Credit Card)

“Food, that’s one thing – like I’m not a greedy person, but I love restaurants. So, I feel like as long as I can pay rent and eat at restaurants pretty consistently I’m like really happy.”

“I use my credit card because I don’t have money in the bank.”

“Um, just like silly things. Clothes, just going out, dinner, going out with friends or whatever.”

7

The Tracklet is used in conjunction with the user’s bank. To

activate the Tracklet, the user will receive a new debit card

issued by the bank containing a new addition to the standard

black magnetic stripe located on the back of the card. The

magnetic stripe has three tracks, The magnetic stripe has three

tracks, but only the first two are most commonly used and

contain information related to the cardholder such as name,

primary account number, expiration date, country code, and

other discretionary data. The remaining track, track three, is a

read/write track that includes an encrypted PIN, country code,

currency units, and amount authorized.

The way a debit card works is after it is swiped through a reader,

the EDC software at the point of sale (POS) terminal dials a

stored telephone number via a modem to call an acquirer. An

acquirer is an organization that collects credit authentication

requests from merchants and provides a payment guarantee to

the merchant.

When the authentication request is finalized by the acquirer

company a small sensor on track three will send the amount

authorized information and encrypted PIN to a sensor located

Concept A | Tracklet

To track spending on a particular card, the Tracklet sends Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) signals like Ben Greene’s Digitial Matchmaker.

A small sensor on track three will send the amount, authorized information, and the encrypted PIN to a sensor located within the Tracklet.

within the Tracklet, that will then access the user’s bank

account and deduce the amount spent from the balance.

When the account has reached the certain amount the

user wishes to be notified of, the Tracklet will either heat

up or light up using LED lights.

#8

9

Pity Bank makes money more tangible through imaginary

methods. Money is imbued with an emotional value when

concerning your Pity Bank monetar. The user feels more

personally invested- he/she is no longer saving solely

for themselves, but for the livelihood of their digital

companion. The user will adopt the monetar they relate

to best. Feeding the monetar is equivalent to transferring

a certain amount of your money in your savings account.

The more money the user moves to their savings account,

the more emotionally rewarded they become through their

monetar. If you don’t feed your monetar within a certain

amount of time, his/her health will deteriorate. Typically,

feeding your monetar once a week should do the trick.

We’re approaching a serious matter and making it more

fun and approachable. Pity Bank reveals the simplicity of

saving.

Concept B |Pity Bank

The user chooses the Monetar that they best relate to. The cuter they think they are the more likely they are going to want to take care of them.

# 10

Pity BankPick your monetar. Requires love & care.

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