Afini · Graduation project · 2024–2025
Learning about money should feel less like a lecture, and more like a game.
Afini is a mobile game app that helps young adults learn the basics of money through short games instead of lessons. I designed it on my own, from the first idea through research, testing, branding and a high-fidelity prototype.
Role
UI/UX Designer and Brand Designer
Timeline
September 2024 – April 2025
Team
Solo graduation project
Platform
Mobile app (iOS prototype)
"Money stuff? Pass."
Overview
Young adults have plenty of money advice. What they don't have is a place to start.
Afini turns credit, savings and interest into swipe cards, real-life scenarios, flashcards and quizzes. Users choose how to begin, learn at their own pace, and gain enough confidence to make better money decisions, with or without the app.
10
interviews with students, finance students, consultants and organisations
3
rounds of user testing that reshaped the games and onboarding
4
game modes, each built for a different way of learning
The 30-second pitch
“Learning finances can feel all over the place.”
High schoolers need financial education most but were the hardest to engage, so I made a short video in their language. It sums up the problem and how Afini answers it: “Because learning should feel less like a lecture, and more like a game.”
▶
"Where do I even start?"
Problem
Most Canadians feel lost about money, and nobody taught them.
7 in 10
Canadians consider themselves financially illiterate
53%
were never taught to manage money in school
Without clear guidance, people make poor financial choices, and banks profit from them. Students facing loans, part-time jobs and rent for the first time are especially exposed, and a lack of confidence early on can lead to long-term instability.
Each of the usual places to learn about money falls short:
At home
Comfort · Taboo · Complexity
Many parents don't feel confident talking about money, and in some families it's never discussed.
At school
Sensitive · Unequal · Rare
Students have very different resources, which makes money a sensitive topic for a classroom.
Online
Dense · Endless · Passive
There's a lot of content, but it's dry, hard to apply, and has no clear first step.
"Let me ask around."
Research
I talked to people learning about money and people who teach it.
University students
Financial consultants
Students studying finance
High school students
Financial orgs
I ran 10 one-on-one interviews. I stopped interviewing students once their answers repeated, then turned to consultants and organisations to check what young people most need to know.
I also mapped podcasts, books, organisations and apps on two axes, from educational to non-educational and from fun to serious, to see where the gaps were.
Starting point
Overwhelmed by the volume, unsure where to start.
Participants feel overwhelmed by the amount of financial information and struggle with knowing where to start.
Confidence
Hesitant to ask questions.
Many, especially international students, find chequing, credit and taxes confusing, and don't ask in case they look uninformed.
Format
Bite-sized and easy to digest.
Learners already turn to Instagram and YouTube because the content is short and visual.
Topics
Savings, credit scores and taxes.
These are the topics students find most confusing, so the first games focus on them.
What people asked for
Asked for most
Content
concise
visual
videos
relatable
casual
friendly
jargon-free explanations
approachable
practical
simplicity
Structure
interactive
simulation
linear vs non-linear
topic based
customisable
revision
short quizzes
Credibility
‘non-educational’
reliable
real life examples
diagrams and flow charts
accessible
Let me pick my topics
Don't let me miss the basics
3 ways to start
The tension that shaped the app
People wanted to choose topics instead of following a strict path, but they worried about missing something important. Afini needed both a free path and a build-from-scratch path, and that became the onboarding.
"What if it felt like a game?"
Ideation
A starting point that helps people outgrow it, not a course with points added.
While sketching, I realised I was designing a gameful experience, not a gamified course. The app should spark interest, cover the basics, and then step aside so users can have better conversations with advisors and other resources.
Research, sketching and testing happened in a loop: sketch, show someone, adjust, repeat.
01
Small games for big topics
Short scenarios built around the topics students found hardest.
02
Many mini-games
A different mechanic for each kind of topic, instead of one game stretched over everything.
03
Test early and often
A concept test in class, a round with graduate and foundation students, and a final round with interviewees.
Round 1: three concepts, tested in lo-fi
Interaction based
swipe to learn
Familiarity based
quiz to learn and test
Scenario based
choose the best credit card
Don't make it feel like school
“I don't want to feel like I am being educated.”
“I want to explore, not be graded.”
Explain it my way
“Can you explain this in a different way?”
“I think I get it, but an example would help.”
Set expectations
“I want the app to guide me in budgeting, creating a plan, and staying on track.”
Users expected automatic budgeting. Afini teaches clarity instead, so onboarding needed to say so.
Make it visual
Finance is mostly text and numbers. Testers responded to illustrations and playful elements that broke that up.
Oasis
→
Afini
With the direction set, I renamed the app: Afini combines finance and affinity, and sounds more approachable.
"Wait, this is actually fun."
Solutions
Each feature answers something a tester said.
01
Testers said
“I want to focus on topics that are relevant to me.”
So I designed
Three ways to get started
Jump straight in, build a plan from interests and goals, or take a short assessment of what you already know. Onboarding also explains early that Afini teaches clarity and doesn't do your budgeting.
Quick start
jump in and explore
Assessment
test your knowledge
Guided
pick your top 5
02
Testers said
“Make it fun, not like a quiz!”
So I designed
Swipe to learn
Students already know the dating-app swipe, so learning a term feels casual. Swipe "I know this" to move on or "Teach me" to see the explanation.
Interaction based
credit basics
03
Testers said
“I think I get it, but an example would help.”
So I designed
Real decisions, no real risk
Scenarios like choosing a credit card for studying abroad let users apply what they've learned and get quick feedback. In interviews, simulations came up as one of the best ways to make learning both fun and useful.
Scenario based
studying abroad
Feedback
why this card?
04
Testers said
“I don't like being tested.”
So I designed
Quizzes that nudge instead of grade
Flashcards come first, then short, occasional quizzes. Some testers liked being nudged toward the answer, while others found vague hints frustrating, so there are two paths.
The nudge
A hint that keeps you thinking
The answer
Direct help when you need it
05
Testers said
“Can you explain this in a different way?”
So I wrote
Copy that sounds like a friend
Every topic has a short blurb to hook you and a longer definition for when you want more, written in everyday language and reviewed by financial consultants.
What is interest?
Blurb
Failing to pay credit card bills on time leads to extra costs. Interest is the price of borrowing.
Definition
Interest is the cost of borrowing money. If a credit card balance is not paid in full, interest accrues on the remaining amount, sometimes at rates exceeding 20%.
✓ Reviewed by financial consultants
06
Testers said
“I don't want to feel like I am being educated.”
So I designed
A mascot who feels it with you
Afini is a credit card character who reacts to how the user is feeling, inspired by Duolingo's owl. Afini is part of my first complete style guide and component system. I chose a warm orange and pink palette because most finance apps use blue.
"Okay. I've got this."
Lessons
People don't need more information. They need a clear place to start.
UX copy and information architecture shaped this project as much as the visuals did. A prototype can't measure long-term retention, but testers consistently said the interactivity and tone made money feel less intimidating and more fun.
What Afini sets out to do
Responsible
Practising money decisions builds habits that lead to independence.
03 Scenarios
04 Quizzes
Clarity
Knowing where money goes and what terms mean leads to smarter choices.
02 Swipe
05 Copy
Empower
Users gain confidence and eventually move beyond the app.
01 Onboarding
06 Mascot
Organise, don't add
Presenting existing content simply helps more than creating new content.
Hard topics, simple words
Short sentences and everyday examples make money relatable.
Components before screens
Building the system first kept the app consistent and made changes faster.
What's next
More simulations for taxes and savings, a way to measure retention over time, links to other trusted financial resources, and an animated Afini.