Co-creating finances. A new perspective on designing for the financial world

This paper presents a series of solutions and ideas to financial topics developed by design students. The projects are based on human-centered design methodologies and are part of a design course. The course explores participatory design tools to understand the financial topics and find opportunities for innovation. The topics are 4: Money as a technology, Emerging Financial Clusters, Personal Finances, and Financial Inclusion. The design process consists of an exploration the topics, executing participatory sessions, analyzing and communicating results, and presenting the proposals. Students developed 15 projects that can be classified in a 2x2 matrix (digital vs. analog and products vs. strategies). Among the projects, there is an app that allows friends to collect money for drinks and keep a drinking journal, a moody wallet that will persuade people to spend less, and a digital legacy to complement life insurances, and a tree-shaped piggy bank for children, among others.