UX & Visual Designer
UX/UI Design
Fintech × EdTech
Flip & Floss:
Financial Portfolio Builder for Youth​
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Building a bridge between education and fintech — teaching kids how to invest wisely through simple, interactive design.
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Team project — Research, Visual Design & Prototyping, Testing · 5-week collaboration
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Problem
Many young users are curious about investing but feel intimidated, confused by jargon, and unsure where to start.
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My Role
UX/UI Designer on a small team, collaborating with the founder, co‑founder, and other designers to create a new “Portfolio Builder” learning feature.​
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Outcome
Designed and validated a prototype of a youth-friendly “Portfolio Builder” that simplifies financial concepts through guided interactions and contextual learning.
01 CONTEXT
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Background
Flip & Floss is a fintech–edtech platform that helps kids and teens learn about money management through interactive lessons and real‑world banking simulations.
For this five‑week project, our UX team partnered with the CEO and Co‑Founder to design a new Financial Portfolio Builder, a feature that empowers young users to learn investing by doing, not just reading.
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My Role​
I contributed as a UX/UI Designer, leading analysis and key investing flows within the Portfolio Builder feature.
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Led competitor and heuristic analyses to identify gaps and opportunities in youth investing experiences.
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Designed the Trading and Order Status sections of the high‑fidelity prototype, with a focus on clarity and accessibility for young users.
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Defined layout, hierarchy, and typography in these flows, helping set the visual tone for the team.
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Collaborated in usability testing and refined the visuals and interactions based on insights.
02 RESEARCH
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Analysis
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Competitor Analysis
To understand where Portfolio Builder could add value, I analyzed three competitors: Goalsetter, KidVestors, and Acorns Early, and how they balance education with hands‑on investing.
Competitive Analysis Diagram
Education Focused: GoalSetter​
Goalsetter centers on classroom-style financial literacy with quizzes, courses, and challenges to reinforce learning. While it offers strong educational content, it lacks real investment interaction. Its teacher-parent-led approach limits independence for kids who want to learn by doing.​
Trading Focused: Acorn Early​
Acorns Early introduces children to saving and investing through a parent-managed app. It offers real-money functionality but provides minimal educational structure. The experience feels more like passive saving than active learning, leaving younger users disengaged.​
Blended: KidVestors
KidVestors combine classroom lessons with simulated investing, bridging the gap between theory and practice. However, its text-heavy and complex interface can overwhelm younger users, relying on structured tasks rather than intuitive design to maintain engagement.
Design Opportunity
Across all three competitors, I found a missing middle ground; a space where kids can both learn and practice investing in a safe, guided way. This shaped the vision: a gamified investing simulator with interactive dashboards, progress tracking, and playful guidance: blending the depth of classroom tools with the engagement of trading platforms.
Heuristic Analysis
I conducted a heuristic evaluation of Goalsetter, Acorns Early, and KidVestors using Nielsen’s usability principles to understand how young users interact with existing financial education tools. Insights from this analysis highlighted usability gaps and best practices, informing a simplified interface focused on progress tracking, contextual guidance, and a clear visual hierarchy.
Evaluation Focus​
Onboarding, dashboards, information hierarchy, feedback, and error handling​
Key Findings​
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Colorful visuals engage kids, but cluttered dashboards and dense data quickly overwhelm them.
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Important information is often buried, forcing users to work hard to understand what’s happening.
Design Direction​
Balance fun with clarity and prioritize actionable insights over raw data.​
Strategy ​
Use simplified charts, contextual tooltips, and clear progress indicators to build understanding and confidence.
User Interviews
We conducted 6 remote interviews with users aged 10–17 (with parental consent) to understand their motivations and expectations around learning to invest
Age Matters
Younger users prefer playful, gamified visuals; older teens want cleaner, professional interfaces.
Learning Styles
Younger kids need guided feedback; older users prefer self-directed exploration.
Progress Drive Engagement
All ages stay motivated when they can visualize growth through charts, streaks, and milestones.
Meaningful Rewards
Tangible progress and recognition outperform arbitrary points or badges.
How Might We Questions
From user interviews, we discovered how kids and teens approach learning about money differently — younger users look for playful guidance, while older teens value autonomy and realistic tools. These insights shaped our “How Might We” questions, guiding us to create an experience that feels approachable and empowering for young learners.
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How might we make portfolio actions intuitive?
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How might we give users financial confidence?
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How might we support self-directed learning?
03 DESIGN
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Design Process
Our design process focused on creating a clear, interactive, and educational investing experience for young users. Working collaboratively as a team, I owned the Trading and Order Status sections and defined their structure, layout, and interactions.
Key Interfaces I designed​​​​​
Stock Market​
Displays live-inspired data with gain/loss indicators and visual cues for quick comprehension.​
My Stocks​
Track holdings, average cost, and total performance at a glance.​
Order Status​
Simplifies transaction tracking by showing the full order lifecycle in an easy-to-scan format.​
04 USER TESTING
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Testing & Iteration
To evaluate the usability of the product, we conducted two rounds of moderated usability testing with a total of 10 participants, including both in-person and remote sessions. After the first round with 5 users, we synthesized insights and updated the design to address key usability issues. The revised prototype was then tested again with 5 additional users to validate improvements and identify any remaining friction points.
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Key Findings
Testing revealed that users often hesitated when encountering unfamiliar financial terms, creating moments of uncertainty during key interactions. Participants expressed that quick, in-context explanations would help them feel more confident while learning new concepts.
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Solutions
To address this:
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Added collapsible explanatory panels to define key financial terms without overwhelming the main interface.
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Introduced contextual tooltips at critical touchpoints to provide just-in-time guidance during important actions.
The second round of testing confirmed that contextual guidance reduced hesitation during key tasks and helped users better understand unfamiliar financial concepts. These improvements made the platform feel more supportive and easier to navigate for young, first-time investors.
Before
Before
After
After
06 REFLECTION
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Learnings
​Portfolio Builder was my first Fintech/EdTech project. Turning complex financial ideas into something fun and confidence-building was challenging but incredibly rewarding.​
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​Collaboration Matters
​Working closely with stakeholders through constant feedback reminded me that great design grows through teamwork and trust.
Learning New Domains
This project deepened my passion for exploring unfamiliar spaces and designing experiences that help people grow.
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Skills Strengthened
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Product thinking & UX analysis
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Visual design system creation
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Accessibility & information clarity
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Cross-functional collaboration.
Final Toughts
If the project were to continue, I'd focus on refining the tutorial flow, improving visual consistency, and expanding the reward system to make learning feel even more engaging. This project strengthened my ability to simplify complex concepts and design experiences that inspire confidence and curiosity in young learners.