Covet

A future banking UX concept done in collaboration with Umeå Institute of Design and Brazilian Bank ITAU. This single person, 1.5 month project investigates ways to satisfy existential needs of future bank clients. Brief requires a physical product that is set 10-15 years into the future. The final design is executed within the graphical guidelines of ITAU brand.

Covet is a digital picture frame badge that represents a small savings goal. Image of a goal develops like a Polaroid as the savings grow. Covet was designed to motivate everyday saving and give unobtrusive budgeting feedback when shopping. It draws budgeting information from user’s account, analyses shopping behavior and heats up, if spending exceeds the limit.

Apart from budgeting ITAU digital platform also provides playful ways to save and motivate better shopping habits. For example, user can self-tax for items that need to be avoided. The difference is then transferred to their savings. On the other hand, user’s network can contribute to the saving, while keeping the wish and account details private.

Online wishlist gives bank clients a place to store and manage their saving goals.

Covet is a part of your online banking it arrives at user’s home, after they open a savings account with ITAU.

Covet badge from ITAU, helps bank clients connect with a future bank service.

Image is transferred to the badge after the saving goal and the budget are set.

Image of a saving goal develops with time as the saving grows. It becomes clearer on good days and fades away if the budget limits are overlooked.

User can set spending limits for a specific category.

Self Tax is a new playful saving technique introduces by the bank. User can self-tax for the products they want to avoid or encourage.

Covet learns about places where user spends and enters a shopping mode when user is at the store, cafe or even online.

User is adding an item to a digital cart at the store.

Digital shopping card makes the shopping data available to other connected services.

Users can pin their wishes directly to their online savings portal, where it can be set as a saving goal.

Network can contribute to the savings goal without infringing on user’s privacy.

Opportunity area

Research showed that saving & budgeting are traditionally done after the fact and at home, which is not the most efficient way to manage personal finances. After all analyzing a past month does not directly effect our shopping habits in the future. Covet helps bring budgeting insight from home-accounting journals and Mint Apps to the store.

This opportunity exists due to a more aware and connected shopping context of the future. It assumes that information about the items in the cart is digitally available to other connected services. Covet uses this data for budgeting cart items even before they have been purchased.

Design Process

User-centered design process was used in this project. It started definition of the unique opportunity area and followed with a survey, 6 interviews, 1 brainstorming & 1 ideation workshop, low-fi prototyping. Finally digital and physical assets were developed and captured in a concept video walk-through.