A toolkit for learning in the Greenlight app
Greenlight’s debit card and app are known for teaching kids smart money basics, but families were asking for more guidance around more complex topics with high stakes, like investing and credit.
Our goal was to create a toolkit of learning patterns to help both kids and their parents learn in real-time.
We began the process with a lit review of both internal and external research studies. Topics included Gen Z finances, parental fears, attitudes towards learning, and cultural trends.
We found three main themes:
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Youtube is king for learning, but not just because of the video format. Learners love being able to choose their topics, their teachers, and follow the videos a their own pace.
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Teens are stressed by everything competing for their attention. We can’t expect them to sit down with our app and spend an afternoon exploring our lessons. We need to surface information they actually care about at the right time.
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Financial literacy is only half the battle. Many young adults know what they are supposed to do – they just don’t actually do it. They need help applying their knowledge.
Next, we conducted stakeholder interviews with 8 members of the team to determine a definition of success.
We found people in different roles had very different ideas of what a successful project looks like.
This project is successful if…
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Marketing: The solution should be easy for media outlets to understand and talk about. It should allow Greenlight to stand out from the competition for our unique educational offerings.
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Product: The solution should be efficient to build because it leverages existing tools. It’s flexible, and other teams across the company are able to adapt it for their own purposes to drive deeper product engagement.
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Design: The solution motivates teens to identify and take action towards their financial goals. Their parents have peace of mind that their kids are on the right track and prepared for the future.
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Greenlight mission: It should ultimately help kids grow up to be healthy and happy in money and life!
We used our research findings to create "concept cards" for a brainstorm activity. Our team came up with 30+ ideas, grouped them into categories, and selected the most promising ones.
Results of the concept card brainstorm
Grouping ideas into concept categories
Six unique concepts were generated, varying from tactical to abstract.
CONCEPT 1
Tags and sorting
Organize our content library with tags for easy searching.
Opportunities
Increase engagement with our learn content
Helps us recommend the next thing or tailor content
Creates space for other types of media in the Learn Hub
CONCEPT 2
Up next
Give users a next step after a lesson is completed.
Opportunities
Cross-pollination between lessons and our tools
Creates a path through the content without requiring user action
Helps users dig deeper into a topic
CONCEPT 3
Quests
Kids take on their goals by selecting and finishing paths, earning rewards for success.
Opportunities
Creates a place to start and a path to get there
Parents can be part of the learning process without having to know all the answers
Easy to templatize and re-use
CONCEPT 4
Layered tips
Provide easy-to-follow tips in a user-friendly format with paths for further exploration.
Opportunities
Provides assistance in context, as needed
UI can be applied to many different areas of the app
Helps users identify a place to start, then allows for further learning if necessary
CONCEPT 5
Bites
Embed short stories with educational content to enhance learning during the journey.
Opportunities
Surfaces relevant content in context
Utilizes a familiar pattern that indicates quick information
Content is easy to create and can scale across different parts of the app
CONCEPT 6
Smart stages
Enable users to adjust complexity by toggling a module or domain.
Opportunities
Helps users choose what they’re ready for with complex topics
Easy to find a starting point regardless of age or experience level
Simple to revert back if you aren’t ready
The “Layered tips” and “Bites” concepts are already being incorporated into the Invest portion of the app.
Other concepts, like “Smart stages” and “Quests” are being considered for more long-term initiatives.
Overall, the concepts give project managers a library of ideas to consider when discussing and evaluating new product opportunities.