At the beginning of 2017, you (Choice (Viv and Kal)) pitched yourselves to BCII as an industry capstone partner. You wanted a self-formed group of students to choose their own issue, and deliver a product or service to address it.
So we set about tackling the lack of brief and along the way we gained new team members, creating the diverse team we have today, and rapidly tested and failed with ideas, as we did with Sugar Coat and Food Share.
We decided to tackle the broader societal issue of 'short termism' - where decisions are made without consideration of long term consequences. This led us to the topic of financial literacy, where we began to explore how we could simulate a full lifespan in a short period of time.
In order to do something brand new, demonstrate how we work, and to realistically ship a product by the end of the year, we landed on the issue of low financial literacy rates in Australia.
After researching this topic we realised just how prevalent the issue is for both adults and youth. But we decided, given our own age as well as the breadth of support available for adults already, that targeting 15-18 year olds just about to take their first steps into the world of finance, was our best point of intervention. We wanted to give them the confidence to make smart decisions, to stand up for themselves, and to know the risks associated with their choices.
We were motivated by ourselves and our siblings, all of whom had struggled to understand financial decisions without our parents. And we recognised that a lot of people aren’t lucky enough to have parents with high financial literacy. However, we were still unsure of the best way to engage and teach this demographic, and were struggling with our lack of tech skills - we were too caught on the idea that we needed to innovate using technology. But then we had a breakthrough!
Financial literacy education is one of the four foundational strategic aims of the Australian National Strategy, after a 2013 review of the National Strategy found widespread support for a focus on school financial literacy education (Ali et al., 2014). It is recognised as
‘the knowledge and understanding of financial concepts, and the skills, motivation and confidence to apply such knowledge and understanding in order to make effective decisions across a range of financial contexts’ (Ali et al., 2014).
Australian youth are expected to make more complex financial decisions at a much younger age than their parents. Financial literacy has been understood as a skill people acquire from their parents, however rapid economic and social changes have limited the role of intergenerational financial learning. In the absence of intergenerational learning, young people can be seriously disadvantaged by not having financial knowledge and skills that are commensurate with the financial decisions they are required to make.
The Australian Government Consumer Framework expects Year 10 students to
‘have knowledge and understanding of the value of money, income and expenditure and basic financial language. They should know why reliance on credit can cause financial difficulty and explain the consequences of over-indebtedness. They are expected to be able to identify their consumer rights and responsibilities and identify risks or scams.'
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But we would argue, they’re not being taught how to. All the tools currently provided to students aged 15-18 focus on rote learning and are taught in commerce and economics classes, which under 40% of the demographic take. If you take a look through our last semester submission we make strong arguments for the use of gamification to capture and maintain the attention of students.
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In order to evaluate our project success within this problem space, we created six criteria, targeted at 15-18-year-olds:
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Engage our target market in the financial literacy space
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Promote discussion of financial literacy outside of a domestic setting
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Make terminology translatable, understandable and digestible
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Clarify and stylise financial literacy without adding to the oversaturated market
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Guide millennials through the transition through financial independence
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Instil and encourage long-term financial habits
We’re very proud to present our fourth prototype and our MVP of FinWit - a financial literacy education board game!
We wanted to produce something game-like, to engage the demographic and to simulate a lifetime of financial interactions. And we wanted it to not be tech focussed, to make a case for non-tech innovation. But we did not want to just work towards a proof of concept, we wanted to complete the project with a sense of pride and accomplishment by having it ready for market.
Game Rules
FinWit features 5 key financial topics: superannuation, investments, banks, loans, and tax which you can see by reading through the questions and chance cards inside the box. These were selected to align with the OECD's financial education expectations and the report 'Australians understanding money' by the governmental organisation Financial Literacy Australia (OECD, 2014)(FLA, 2007). It is our understanding from research and testing that a basic understanding of these 5 topics will leave students prepared to interact with the financial sphere.
We wanted every student, regardless of their family’s socio-economic status, to access financial literacy through our game - so it is designed to be played in a competitive classroom environment over 1 class period of about 45 minutes. It can be played with 3-5 students, and is designed to increase financial literacy with a unique and interesting balance of education and gamification.
With no real knowledge of board game design, we began our design and iteration process by sketching board game styles following Henry Ellington’s ‘game design theory - a handbook of game design’ (Ellington & co. 1982). Our early iterations were primarily focussed on standard track patterns and simple circuit styles.
We spent a week individually designing mock up prototypes, each with our own rules and gameplay ideas. We then came back together to compare and discuss each other’s games, using the different ideas to derive a set of standard rules and guidelines. We decided that the game should have an infinite loop style with tiers of progression. We invented the concepts of ‘gates’, unlockable if players could describe a financial literacy term to a friend.
Collecting money and chance cards from Monopoly were altered to become ‘earning’ money by correctly answering questions and the opportunity to add humour to the reality and randomness of chance in the financial sphere. The functionality of the snakes from Snakes and Ladders were employed to represent your movement between the board game tiers like moving in and out of tax brackets.
The creation of the beginning of this game is a perfect example of transdisciplinarity. 5 students used knowledge which transcended their core degree to theorise and plan for a design problem. We then collaborated and shared their ideas to solve an overarching problem, and resulted in a physical product which manifests both our academic skills and our life experience.
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Please refer to our appendix for chronologically refined versions of FinWit.
The First Test​
We designed our first prototype based on the list of features created above. We also attempted to write a rulebook, and came to the conclusion that we needed to move from the conceptual to the physical stage, in order to realise the concept. We wrote 20 questions for each of the aforementioned 5 topics, but realised that half were in True/False (T/F) style and half were multiple choice. At this point, we made the decision to have two different styles of questioning, and to repeat content in both sections. Each of us were sent away again to adapt our questions, and bring back 25 T/F and 25 multi-choice.
Testing and Refinement 01
We tested with Rodney to try and understand movement and define spaces and challenge locations. The tangible nature of testing on a physical mockup was a good shift from existing in a blue sky and helped to produce a functioning MVP.
We began to refine how the game progresses. We added a spinner to determine game challenge partners. We also realised that the board spaces must be asymmetrical, so that players were incentivised to make full use of the ‘move either way’ function.
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This iteration, we timed this game from start to finish and ended up with 1.2 hours, so we began to refine the length of questions. We also changed our structure, adding different values to different questions based on difficulty, as well as changing the value of gate questions and the gates themselves to make finishing the game easier.
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Testing and Refinement 02
Along with UX and UI testing and refinement, we added in a series of comical chance cards that had monetary value, to add the ability to lose money and gain without any financial knowledge. This was done in an attempt to balance education with gamification.
Testing and Refinement 03​
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UX Testing
UX Test
Our next round of testing featured all components in rough form, including the first iteration of the app. Through play, we realised the need for gate money cards to avoid the need for a scorepad. The rules needed modification, and we noted where we had to step in and explain. Having our first hard board and questions printed made a huge difference to speed and flow.
Interim Presentation
Choice Test
In our interim presentation to you, you suggested a QR code, which we’ve implemented to access the app. Doug also suggested a prize for the winner, so we’ve created whiteboard trophies for each box. They recommended that we have a national leaderboard that functions similarly to mathletics. They also suggested scenarios and personas for the game, but we did not feel we had enough time before POC to implement this.
Caringbah Testing with MVP
We commissioned 5 full prints of our MVP to test in schools including all the equipment that can be seen in the image. These are our proof of concept.
Caringbah High School Test
We tested with a year 10 commerce and year 11 economics classes at Caringbah High School, a co-ed selective school with notably high HSC results but a low to middle average socio-economic status. We were looking to test engagement and confidence, as well as to map any improvement in financial literacy itself.
Both students and teachers gave positive feedback, speaking to the games functionality. The students also suggested that they would like to see definitions for gate questions, something we added in an iteration for the Reddam testing. We noticed that students did not realise when the timer had run out, so we added a flash feature to the app.
"I’ve never seen you [the students] have that much fun in commerce before.”
- Caringbah teacher
“I like this so much better than gumption [another financial literacy game]”
- Caringbah student
“I would pay to have the game as part of my faculty… definitely around the $100 mark”
- Caringbah Deputy Principal
IDE Group Testing
IDE Test
We iterated based on these changes and tested with a group of fellow BCII students. This was the first test where we were silent observers to the rules being interpreted without our interference. We found the rules need to be more concise, less confusing and delivered in a more engaging way. After hearing this concern echoed during a testing session with Choice, we decided to create a rules video instead - an easy 3 minute package so students could understand quicker and check the print in case of query.
Choice Check
We spoke to your design team to get approval, and learned that we had to test our game graphics against Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) standards. Some of the colour contrasts on the board weren’t acceptable, and to release the game under the brand of Choice, we needed to change. We then took the colour scheme through a series of tests, the ‘Benchmark Audit’ and ‘Colour Contrast Determinator’. After a series of passes, our game has now changed to match a 4.7 colour contrast, which achieves a Vision Australia ‘AA’ accessibility rating. When we checked in with you to get approval for branding, we were told to change ‘backed by Choice’ to ‘produced in collaboration with CHOICE™’ OR "Powered by CHOICE™. We’re currently in the process of getting all approved.
"Oh wow! This could actually make a lot of money.”
- Rodney
Actuary Check
To ensure that we would not be considered to be providing financial advice (illegal without a license) and to also review our content, we had an Actuarial Analyst check the questions used in FinWit. He reviewed each question, noting down any typos or wording alterations and flagging those that provided advice. He found no problems with our definitions, yet of our multiple-choice questions there were 22/76 modifications needed, and of our true/false questions there were 25/102. We also learnt that if we were to release this game in the mass market, it was advised that we would have to continually update terminology. If we proceed with the game past this POC, we will be sure to go through and audit the questions brought to our attention.
Testing at Fairfield
Fairfield High School is ranked 580/620 in NSW HSC rankings. It is a co-ed, low socio economic school with a large immigrant and refugee population. A complete contrast from Caringbah and the results reflected so. The students had very low literacy rates for spoken and written English let alone financial literacy. They enjoyed the game, but all in all we found that the wording was too difficult, and while students were engaged with the competitiveness, they did not truly understand the rules or the questions.
Fairfield High School Test
“That was great! Can we play it again, can you come back?”
- Fairfield student
"I think this is fantastic! Exactly what every child needs to learn - and an engaging way to do it.”
- Fairfield Head of Learning
Testing at Reddam
Before this testing we produced a rules video which included a refined version of the rules for ease of adoption.This saw much higher levels of understanding which was great. Although students only ended up with about 20 minutes to play after explanation and including pack up time, levels of engagement were obvious. Students didn’t feel they learned though, just that they were made aware of what they did not know - to be expected in such a short time frame. They also said they’d like to use the game for revision and after exam periods.
Reddam Test
"This is so fun! I’d buy this for home and use it for revision”
- Reddam student
Demographic
We created an impact assessment, however we found that it was not feasible to quantify impact when students had a limited time to play. The results showed that students realised all their lack of knowledge, but did not have time to learn. The assessment didn’t cover secondary aspects such as the students ability to interact or discuss the financial sphere.
Our main learning after all of our testing was the disparity in ability from school to school. Even in schools where HSC rankings were similar, the results were highly different. We assume that this is because of the varying levels of student engagement with learning between selective, public and private schools.
We also learned a lot about UX design, as processes we found intuitive were sometimes perceived as confusing by students who did not play board games frequently at home. We realised we may have skewed usability results by testing with friends and family who we know play board games.
We realised that our pre and post-game assessment may not present a comprehensive enough view of financial literacy. There is a high chance that players could move through the game without encountering any of our pre post survey questions, hence their knowledge would not be reflected. A large part of the game is to promote confidence and this is very hard to quantify in a survey.
This diagram shows the disruption FinWit will have on the ecosystems at play in the financial literacy sphere.
Introducing board games as a ‘game changer’ is a fun and interactive way to address the disconnect between youth and the financial ecosystem. At the moment, students are receiving varying degrees of inputs from their households, teachers and financial institutions. This can leave them with contradictions, more confused than necessary. Aside from the Commonwealth Bank Dollarmites Program, limited Australian programs attempt to intervene in the school system, let alone gamified solutions.
We are also addressing the stale and stagnant methods of teaching by attempting to disrupt current approach to financial literacy education. We provide maths and economics teachers with FinWit to aid their teaching abilities and classroom discussion, regardless of their own financial knowledge and education. This is in an effort to ensure that OECD standards are met (OECD, 2014). We found that teacher’s value unique ways to aid in their teaching, especially financial literacy, which is typically a topic difficult to initiate discussion around.
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In addition, our game disrupts because it promotes peer learning with social motivation between the group members, which many studies have proven to be far more powerful than didactic teaching. Students who engage with each other are more likely to continue engaging with topics individually.
By integrating accessible and interactive technology into classroom learning, we are attempting to break the stigma against smartphones in the classroom by treating mature students as adults. But as well as disrupting the education and information systems, we’re attempting to change the cycle for many students. Targeting students where they begin to enter the financial sphere means that the lessons learned from FinWit are directly applicable and will have a lasting impact. We are compensating for the discussion of financial literacy in a domestic setting.
As you can see we have a comprehensive set of steps we believe the game needs to take in order to be truly beneficial. After testing and refinement of the game, and approval by Choice we would like to launch a Kickstarter, as it poses a unique opportunity for validation and testing within a more diverse audience. It can help to prove that Australia cares about low financial literacy rates, and are willing to pay the determined RRP. It may even generate a need internationally, which could lead to the development of international content later down the track. We will explore methods of advertising the Kickstarter to schools as well, potentially using it as an expression of interest.
To launch the Kickstarter, we have set up this landing page to build momentum before the official release.
We recommend that www.finwit.online is approved to bypass the NSW Department of Education internet proxy and have already begun to see this through. As FinWit begins to expand, we further recommend that the domain is approved by other States and Territories governing education bodies.
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As the game sees further success we’d like to create expansion sets, to tackle specific syllabus content, or financial literacy for specific socio-economic locations. We also see the opportunity for the game to be adapted into other subject areas that may also affect the demographic through gaps in knowledge and misleading advertisements, or may just be another body of knowledge easily learned through game. These offer further monetary opportunities as well.
We have received multiple quotes for cost of production of one unit (a board game package). Although these are Australian-based, we are in the process of receiving other quotes, particularly from the Chinese market. We have calculated the following financial forecast based on our research and received quotes.
A profit margin of ~33.5-40% could be made on each unit. This is the best scenario, where we recommend the price point be tested in the market and adjusted accordingly given no sales. Breaking down this margin, if our cost to manufacture one game is kept less than $60, then we could introduce a price point between $90-$100.
We recommend shipping be sold separately. As our customer is a school, they are more concerned about the product and value they are purchasing. This segregated pricing method was recommended by our contact within VISY, who deal with similar distribution channels. After receiving advice and conducting our research, we recommend that FinWit be distributed by AusPost, MyPost Business; a Parcel Post 3kg Satchel packaging priced (estimated) at $13.45 (per unit <10) flat rate across urban and regional NSW. in additional to their business plan, they have discounts of 10% for 5+ units posted per week, 12.5% for 10+ units posted per week or 15% for 20 + units posted per week.
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We’ve really enjoyed the process of designing this game, and there are a few major things we’ve learned along the way.
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When designing something for millennials, you want to produce something that’s really engaging. Because they were born in the tech era they expect high intensity and instant gratification constantly. We had to be careful not to create something that explicitly explains definitions and concepts... and turns students’ brains off. But we also couldn’t have a mindless fun game with no substance. We balanced the line with a variety of question styles and chance cards.
There is a fine line between education and gamification.
We designed the game in peaceful bliss, not realising the impound of work that would be created by only thinking about prototyping half way through. The circle board and fold up card features made our game ‘custom’ and therefore much more expensive to print and mock up with a first prototype costing $110. We should have been asking for offshore and local quotes and letting them inform our designs. In saying that, we are now in contact with US and Chinese manufacturers to try and reach an inexpensive solution.
Prototyping is not a final stage thing.
Creating a physical product gave our group a sense of satisfaction that we have not felt as strongly in other projects before - we feel like we’ve completed a massive task just by having a physical prototype. Students really responded to the thought behind the design, enjoying the category graphics. They liked that they were free to use tech but not expected to be reliant on it. We received a lot of student feedback saying that so many solutions were tech based because everyone thinks that is all millennials will digest, and we as millennials feel subjected to the same misunderstanding. Trialing and seeing success with the game allowed us to prove this assumption wrong.
Physical products are really cool for multiple reasons.
The openness of our brief caused us to spend a lot of time trying to find a problem to tackle head on. But, we saw better success when we looked at the space around the issue, and how we could intervene in the same issue from a different context. While the financial illiteracy issue is currently affecting those ages 18 up in the working world, we intervened earlier, through education, to rectify the problem before it affects any more youth.
Why fix what isn’t broken?
We think that the creation of FinWit as an example of an innovative, transdisciplinary project has created value for 3 different stakeholders. Throughout the above report, we have discussed our value to you, the education system, and the financial literacy system.
Choice, you asked us for an innovative solution to a problem space of our choosing. So we produced a board game, one of the first physical products that New Things can consider shipped. Unlike many of your existing solutions, it is not tech-based, and caters to a very wide demographic. Through FinWit we have given an example of true transdisciplinarity, and as such have shown you the ways in which we work for you to integrate with your working practices.
In one meeting, you asked us how you could begin to engage with an audience younger than your current readership. So a great deal of our process was exploring the best way to engage millennials in a ‘dry topic’. The effectiveness of gamification is a great insight that can be used to engage millennials in the future. By adopting these practices your R&D team could strengthen its ability to move to the forefront of social innovation. And we believe that by supporting us in the development of FinWit, you’ll be making a start.
Value for education and financial literacy systems can currently be defined as ‘connection’ and ‘engagement’ with millennials - they’re currently struggling to get any kind of traction to counteract declining results. But FinWit will change that, and as it does it will change how they see ‘value’, from engagement in learning to active participation in the financial ecosystem. The goal will then become transitioning students from one to the other, ensuring they value their knowledge.
Thank you for taking us on, we’ve really enjoyed our time working for Choice. We’re proud of FinWit, and we believe it has the ability to improve the financial literacy of students Australia wide. So we want to continue working with Choice, to get this game verified, produced and distributed. We look forward to having this conversation with you.
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