Overview
Cache - a new hybrid tangible wallet and mobile application system--empowers users to take control of their spending, without having to change their preferred credit or debit card payment method.
Cache seeks to increase spending awareness and change spending behaviors through a tangible wallet that gets harder to use to the closer individuals get to the budget limit they set with a connected mobile application.
Duration
Fourteen Weeks
24 Jan 19 - 01 May 19
Team
Whitney Walker
Neha Khatri
Parth Patel
Bhavna Ganesh
My Role
Product Design
User Experience Design
Interaction Design
Deliverables
App Prototype
Product Prototype
Presentation
Project Report
Executive Summary
Abstract
Some individuals find it difficult to manage their personal spending, resulting in poor spending behaviors and debt. Not only does debt negatively influence an individual’s financial health, it also can negatively influence individual emotional and psychological well-being. Personal spending is affected by payment method; individuals spend less with cash than other payment methods. This reduction in spending seen when using cash is due to an increased “pain of payment” at the time and place of payment. However, credit and debit cards are surpassing cash as the most popular spending methods.
Our design solution, Cache--a new hybrid tangible wallet and mobile application system--empowers users to take control of their spending, without having to change their preferred credit or debit card payment method. Cache seeks to increase spending awareness and change spending behaviors through a tangible wallet that gets harder to use to the closer individuals get to the budget limit they set with a connected mobile application. In this study, multiple prototypes with various physical and visual indicators are developed and tested, showing the potential for this tangible technology.
Keywords
Spending ; Credit ; Debt ; Cash ; Digital Pay ; Tangible Interfaces ; Money management ; Consumer Behavior ; Reward system ; Ubiquitous computing ; Payment methods
Final Design
The Scenario
A brief summary of what we are trying to do, and our application scenario.
PROBLEM
Personal debt
Lack of control in spending habits
Lack of spending awareness with common payment mechanisms
CONTEXT
Personal spending is impacted by payment method at the point of purchase
Tangible payments like cash result in lower spending--but are less secure and convenient
SOLUTION
The tangible tech that emulates the pain of payment seen in cash purchases--but in a more mindful, secure, convenient way
Goal : Users become more aware of spending so that they are better able to change their behavior
Understanding the Payment preferences
Through this research, we seek discover design recommendations that build a new, tangible paradigm for spending.
First, we will identify design recommendations through a literature review and some user exploration studies if needed.
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Prototype : Version 1
To meet the needs identified through our research in the related works, we developed a tangible system called 'Cache'.
Cache is composed of two elements:
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A rechargeable smart wallet that requires thumbprint authentication and sliding actions to release the securely stored payment cards inside, much like its namesake indicates.
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A mobile-friendly application that complements the tangible wallet by empowering users to be more aware of their financial status, see real-time impacts of purchases on their finances, change the currency they’d like displayed, set goals/budgets and see trade off costs that connect users with the future impacts of their purchases.
Even though Cache aims to make spending harder in a sense, it does not make spending overly inconvenient. Because most individuals carry some form of wallet with them every day, the Cache wallet does not create an unwanted additional tool to carry around. Additionally, Cache works with a payment cards, a popular, widely accepted payment that is often coupled with appealing rewards points.
Step 1: Fingerprint authorization
To use the Cache system, users must first authenticate on the wallet using their thumbprint. This incorporates the feedback that most users said they consider a biometric method of authorizing a payment most trustworthy than other methods.
Step 2: LED lights
Next, depending on the budget or goals set by users via the applications, users will see between one and five lights lit up on the side of the wallet, showing how many times they must swipe a lever on the side of the wallet to access their cards.
Step 3: Swiping
The closer a user is to their maximum set spending limit for the day, the more times the user will need to swipe the lever. This action increases the tangibility and pain of payment at the point of sale.
Step 4: Access the cards
Thumbprint authentication and sliding actions to release the securely stored payment cards inside.
Physical Prototype
The paper prototype was useful for testing because it allows users to try the sliding gesture proposed in the design solution. Unfortunately, the technology limitations allowed us to only test what it’d be like to get a card out with one swipe. However, we still asked the users during testing to swipe multiple times and provide feedback on the effects of different numbers of swipes. But, as the main intention of the paper prototype was to test how adding a tangible gesture can elevate the pain of payment; the prototype served its purpose in mimicking the action.
Low Fidelity App Prototype
We also created a complementary smartphone application prototype in low-fidelity. This application was very rudimentary, limited to a few screens, and only served to show a proof of concept, ensuring that the test users would be able to get the complete experience of what using the Cache wallet would be like. This mobile prototype showed users they could set up their bank accounts, pair the Cache wallet with their phone, and set weekly budgets that affect the number of swipes required.
The pairing process for the smartphone and wallet requires Near Field Communication (NFC). The application will need to be linked to the user’s bank and credit accounts as well as a budget for the spending that can then be reflected in the wallet.
User Testing
The first round of testing was with an interactive, low-fidelity paper prototype version of the Cache system, coupled with the app screens interactively programmed in Marvel. This testing sought to answer our three research questions and discover recommendations that can inform an improved second iteration prototype.
The first step was a pre-testing survey, created in Qualtrics, that set baseline behavior information and asked basic demographic questions. Users then tested the prototype itself using a think aloud protocol, which was be recorded and transcribed for evaluation. Users were also asked general questions such as “tell me more” or “can you explain what you’re thinking” if they did not have many comments throughout testing. After user testing, users completed a post-testing survey, asking follow up questions and gaining more concrete and detailed feedback on the prototype.
Evaluation
Based on the information gathered from Qualtrics and the audio recording of the think aloud protocol from the usability study, the results were analyzed using an affinity diagram. This was done by grouping data into categories based on user feedback. We divided the results into two parts: 1) feedback on the Cache wallet paper prototype and 2) feedback on the mobile application.
Prototype Iteration
In Version 2, we propose a new design solution that change the visual indicator and physical action so that it still communicates the pain of payment but doesn’t require users to complete multiple swipes, which they found embarrassing and cumbersome.
Conclusion
Cache proved to be a promising tangible technology that could help improve the lives of many individuals who want to take charge of their spending. Building upon existing research that shows payment method can heavily influence spending levels in individual users and the promising results of tangible budgeting and payment technology. Cache leverages tangible gestures and visual indicators that replicate the pain of payment seen in cash payments. With the new and improved prototype, Cache has additional potential to be a commonly-used payment method that is preferred by users who want to have more awareness and control over their spending.
Research that connects users with their actions through tangible interfaces is significant because it can lead to improved spending trends and wellbeing in consumers. Additionally, this exploration of incorporating tangible interfaces into human interactions can potentially be extended to other areas in which users are too far removed from the consequences or meanings of their interactions. In a digital age, where it may be too “easy” to spend and consume energy, it is not difficult to imagine additional use cases for our “tough love technology.”